PinPoint is a program which puts an animated or static graphic around your mouse pointer when you want it, so you can always locate the cursor. Great for people whose eyesight isn’t the best, or users who have large or multiple screens. I find PinPoint to be most helpful when I’m typing or reading text and the mouse pointer turns into the tiny and hard-to-locate “I beam” cursor that I can never see.
OS X does have a built in method for enlarging your mouse pointer but the pointer gets blocky when it’s more than about 1.5 times normal size, and there’s no option to change the colour of the mouse pointer or do anything else to make the pointer more visible. This is where PinPoint, or similar programs, can help you.
There are a plethora of options which can be set about when the PinPoint graphic is visible:
There are many options about when PinPoint should be visible.
The way I have the settings means the graphic is always visible, which is my preference, but it can be set to only show up briefly when you move the mouse or when the computer wakes up, or even only when you press a key combination – that’s the “Toggle Key” keystroke you see in the graphic.
Every pointer in the default library also has at least 4-5 options which can be set. The PinPoint graphic on your mouse pointer will change in real time as you change the options, so you can get it exactly right. If you are switching cursor options quickly the cursor graphic may become jumpy for a few seconds until it’s properly loaded into the system, but I had no other problems testing multiple options on every cursor available.
Options available to customise the 'Thin Target' pointer graphic.
There is a great library of free pointer surrounding graphics, some static and some animated, which can be downloaded for PinPoint 3 users. Some pointers also respond to mouse clicks by changing their animation briefly so you know your click was successful.
PinPoint 3 can be trialled for 15 days for free, and costs US$10 to register. It works for users of OS X 10.4 and up but the very latest version requires version 10.5 and up.
- Ricky Buchanan
jonathanchacon May 22, 2010 at 5:57 pm
PinPoint 3 – Never Lose Your Mouse Again #a11y http://bit.ly/94lyt1
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jmortizsilva May 22, 2010 at 8:26 pm
RT @jonathanchacon: PinPoint 3 – Never Lose Your Mouse Again #a11y http://bit.ly/94lyt1
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DHC May 23, 2010 at 11:46 am
Saw the post and I thought you should know about Mouse Locator. It is pretty similar to what PinPoint seems to do but is free. You should check it out. The site is: http://www.2point5fish.com/
webaxe May 23, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Program to help locate screen cursor: PinPoint 3 “Never Lose Your Mouse Again” http://bit.ly/94lyt1 HT @jonathanchacon #a11y #lowvision
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DaveBanesAccess May 23, 2010 at 2:14 pm
RT @webaxe: Program to help locate screen cursor: PinPoint 3 “Never Lose Your Mouse Again” http://bit.ly/94lyt1 HT @jonathanchacon #a11y
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VasuTweets May 23, 2010 at 2:37 pm
RT @webaxe Program to help locate screen cursor: PinPoint 3 “Never Lose Your Mouse Again” http://bit.ly/94lyt1 HT @jonathanc#a11y #lowvision
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blacktelephone May 23, 2010 at 3:10 pm
RT @webaxe: Program to help locate screen cursor: PinPoint 3 “Never Lose Your Mouse Again” http://bit.ly/94lyt1 HT @jonathanchacon #a11y …
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mediaaccessaus May 24, 2010 at 11:30 am
PinPoint 3 (software for Mac OS X) – Never Lose Your Mouse Again http://tinyurl.com/34eph45
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bgilormini May 25, 2010 at 12:03 am
from ATMac never loose your mouse again with pinpoint 3 http://bit.ly/dB0Mk0
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Ching Ya May 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm
What a thoughtful, smart invention. You never ceased to share these impressive findings on how to help people in need, Ricky. Good discovery!
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
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abilitycntr May 27, 2010 at 4:22 am
Assistive Technology for Apple and Mac Users: http://atmac.org/pinpoint-3-never-lose-your-mouse-again
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abilitycntr May 27, 2010 at 4:25 am
Assistive Technology for Apple and Mac Users: http://atmac.org/pinpoint-3-never-lose-your-mouse-again http://bit.ly/cSVdVo
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GraniteStateIL May 27, 2010 at 4:51 am
RT @abilitycntr: Assistive Technology for Apple and Mac Users: http://atmac.org/pinpoint-3-never-lose-your-mouse-again http://bit.ly/cSVdVo
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
utahrrci May 27, 2010 at 5:40 am
RT @abilitycntr: Assistive Technology for Apple and Mac Users: http://atmac.org/pinpoint-3-never-lose-your-mouse-again
This comment was originally posted on Twitter