microsoft
Find My Mouse Spotlight Transparency
Description of the new feature / enhancement
This is likely already requested, but why not just make the spotlight area transparent instead of white?
There's no setting to change the color opacity here.
We ideally are able to just make the content we want to highlight transparent and visible instead of lighter and hard to see. Let's make it transparent 🙂.
Scenario when this would be used?
This is important to ensure that you're able to see whatever you're highlighting or focusing on in general.
Supporting information
Just make it a slider to add color transparency, or alpha values on the color itself.
this may be as easy as adding these to the color picker control.
IsAlphaEnabled="True"
IsAlphaSliderVisible="True"
IsAlphaTextInputVisible="True"
@crutkas +1 to this request. Is this in the pipeline?
Not yet, I think. PR is welcome :D
Just saw that a 100% overlay ends up with even the spotlight being 100% white without any background being visible. Maybe another transparency slider for the spotlight would make it most customizable?
please add the color transparency, so it's not only "find my mouse", but can also be used as "find the mouse" for youtuber and the audience
I had a go at modifying the source a few weeks back but couldn't find a simple solution.
In the mean time I whipped up a standalone solution which people are free to use here: https://github.com/mimhufford/mouse
I had a go at modifying the source a few weeks back but couldn't find a simple solution.
In the mean time I whipped up a standalone solution which people are free to use here: https://github.com/mimhufford/mouse
Nice. Thanks for sharing! Can you please explain this detail here? https://github.com/mimhufford/mouse/blob/5c69a6e8b30e8e0bcd0254a2d07520713879ff16/mouse.cpp#L47
I'm honestly not sure, it relates to this comment at the top of the document. For some reason if the width and height of the window is the exact resolution of your monitor then transparency doesn't work at all. Adding 1 to the height is a simple workaround that doesn't seem to have any negative side effects, so I just went for it in order to keep moving forwards.
Or - in stead of adding more and more settings - we could just choose to keep the spotlight tranparent. Period?
@crutkas your idea for the alpha slider is simple and sensible. Does it need any changes in the code to work correctly? Does the idea need any more second opinions?
You want to see what's in the spotlighted, so there shall be no color overlay on the spotlight area. Please make separate opacity controls for spotlight and background.
I was looking for other solutions and found this Auto hot key script https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=40113
If you want to try you need to install AutoHotkey version 2 (https://www.autohotkey.com/download/) and then save the script (https://gist.github.com/biswajit-saha/53e8e84a969eda7469a61979bfbb31d0) with extension .ahk
I have also created a shortcut in the start menu and added it to the startup program list. Now press the F1 key to activate the spotlight. and F1 or Esc key to deactivate the spotlight. It's lightweight.
Just wanted to +1 this, as a Spotlight is SUPER helpful for presentation, but the white centre reduces contrast of the thing you're trying to bring attention to, making it a bit of a compromise. I see the ToDo being shuffled down the version numbers, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the can doesn't get kicked much further.
I hope you work on the feature, just make the spotlight transparent. I am checking the versions, unfortunately you keep pushing this feature from one version to another version.
I hope you work on the feature, just make the spotlight transparent. I am checking the versions, unfortunately you keep pushing this feature from one version to another version.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/15512#event-7806489676
Indeed. I think this is on the "Never gonna happen" list, despite it being both simple and super useful :(
@jaimecbernardo I am just wondering if this feature is so difficult to be implemented that takes you keep pushing it from one version to another version? if you already planned to dismiss this requested feature, you could have just simply said it will not be added.
It's tagged as Help Wanted, meaning it'd be good for someone in the community to pick up. 😄 Still want to keep track of it in case there's some time for someone in the team to pick it up, but new priorities keep appearing. 🤷 Sorry for the delay.
Such an easy, my be, fixed by a one line of code is pushed way too far. I would say it is better to say we don't do it, then delete it.
Such an easy, my be, fixed by a one line of code is pushed way too far. I would say it is better to say we don't do it, then delete it.
Go and send in a pull request then
Here's the line. It takes a Color struct which supports Alpha.
I don't know much about Windows Dev, in fact nothing at all, but it feels like if the colour picker in the settings allowed an alpha to be specified, it'd "Just Work".
Would love to be corrected by someone who knows better, as I'm genuinely curious and have a huge potential for ignorance.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/e7175302c9226d7fab8ef3d9271abd188758ffbb/src/modules/MouseUtils/FindMyMouse/FindMyMouse.cpp#L720C46-L720C62
Here's the line. It takes a Color struct which supports Alpha.
I don't know much about Windows Dev, in fact nothing at all, but it feels like if the colour picker in the settings allowed an alpha to be specified, it'd "Just Work".
Would love to be corrected by someone who knows better, as I'm genuinely curious and have a huge potential for ignorance.
@Jay-o-Way
+1 My $0.02 isn't anything you haven't heard before, but wanted to show my support.
Leaving the spotlight on for a few moments makes the spotlighted content almost harder to see. 100% transparency would really focus your eye on the spotlighted content.
This function doesn't seem difficult to implement. I hope the developers will pay attention to it and make it happen.
