In the Club
Use your mouse as a laser pointer in presentations
Whether you’re using a projector at a club event or sharing your PC screen as part of an online presentation, you’ll want your audience to see what you’re referring to on your screen. If you rely on the standard Windows mouse pointer to do this, your viewers will probably struggle to see it (especially if they’re watching on a small screen). Here, we’ll show you how to make things much clearer by using your mouse as a laser pointer.
Tweak your mouse properties
The simplest way to make your cursor more visible is to adjust its settings in Windows. Open the Settings app (press Windows+i), then go to Devices and click Mouse in the list on the left. Now click the ‘Adjust mouse & cursor size’ link (this will be on the right-hand side or at the bottom, depending on the size of your Settings window). The first option lets you increase the size of your cursor – simply drag the ‘Change pointer size’ slider to the right to make it bigger. To make the cursor even more prominent, try changing its colour using the four options below the slider.
However, a large cursor can be distracting. For more subtle changes, click the ‘Additional mouse settings’ link, then ‘Additional mouse options’ (again, at the side or the bottom of the Settings window). The ‘Mouse Properties’ window will now open. Select the Pointer Options tab and you can increase the visibility of your cursor by adding a trail effect when it moves (select ‘Display pointer trails’, then adjust the slider to change the length of the trail).
We also recommend ticking the ‘Show location of pointer…’ option at the bottom of this window (see screenshot below left). Once you’ve done this, you can press Ctrl at any time to display an animated circle around your cursor, briefly highlighting whatever it’s pointing at.
Turn cursor into crosshairs
While Windows’ tools are useful, you’ll have more options available by installing additional software. As its name suggests, Pointerstick ( www.snipca.com/35255) adds a stick to your cursor. You can change the size and transparency of the stick in the settings, as well as choose from a range of styles (including wands, arrows and crosshairs, see screenshot below left).
By default, the Windows cursor displays alongside whichever stick you use, but you can choose to hide it by ticking Hide System Mouse Pointer in the settings. Other options include setting a shortcut to show/hide the stick (tripleclicking the left mouse button or pressing Ctrl+alt+y to show or Ctrl+alt+z to hide).
Highlight when you click
If you’re willing to spend a small amount, consider Pointerfocus (£10 from www. snipca.com/35256). By default, this adds a yellow circle around your cursor, but it also offers plenty of options. Click the cog icon within the circular Pointerfocus menu to reveal these. If you want to highlight when you click your mouse button, select the Highlight Cursor tab, then tick ‘Show Click animation’ (see screenshot above). Just below this setting, you can choose to show a different colour for left- and rightmouse clicks. Also in this tab, you’ll find options to adjust the size and colour of the circle around your cursor.
Pointerfocus also displays which keys you’re pressing in a bar along the bottom of the screen. This might be useful if you’re providing complex instructions on how to use a program, for example, but for most presentations you’ll want to turn it off (press F9 to switch this on or off).
If you want to give Pointerfocus a try, there’s a free trial, which has all the features of the paid-for version, but a small window appears every five minutes, nagging you to upgrade.