Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Gromit-MPX VS PointerFocus

Compare Gromit-MPX VS PointerFocus and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Gromit-MPX logo Gromit-MPX

Create annotations by directly drawing on your screen.

PointerFocus logo PointerFocus

Allows you to highlight the cursor using either the toolbar or hotkeys.
  • Gromit-MPX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13
  • PointerFocus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-03

Gromit-MPX features and specs

  • Open Source
    Gromit-MPX is open-source software, which means it is freely available to use, modify, and distribute. This encourages collaboration and improvements from a community of developers.
  • Platform Compatibility
    Gromit-MPX is compatible with X11, making it useful for a variety of Linux distributions that rely on this windowing system.
  • Ease of Use
    The tool offers a straightforward functionality to annotate the screen, making it user-friendly for both casual and professional users.
  • Lightweight
    Gromit-MPX is a lightweight program that does not require significant system resources, making it suitable for older or less powerful systems.
  • Real-time Annotation
    It allows annotations directly over the desktop, making it ideal for real-time presentations and walkthroughs.

Possible disadvantages of Gromit-MPX

  • Limited to X11
    Gromit-MPX is limited to systems running X11, which may not include users of Wayland, the newer display server protocol.
  • Basic Feature Set
    The tool is relatively basic compared to more advanced annotation solutions, potentially lacking features that power users may need.
  • Manual Installation
    The installation process might be challenging for users who are not experienced with building software from source or using GitHub repositories.

PointerFocus features and specs

  • Highlight Mouse Pointer
    PointerFocus allows users to easily highlight the mouse pointer with a customizable circle, making it ideal for presentations and screen-sharing sessions to keep the audience's attention focused on the key areas.
  • Mouse Spotlight
    The software offers a spotlight feature that dims the surrounding area of the screen, highlighting the mouse pointer position. This is particularly useful for focusing on specific parts of the screen during demonstrations.
  • Keyboard Shortcut Commands
    PointerFocus includes customizable keyboard shortcuts that enable quick toggling of pointer effects, increasing efficiency and ease of use for presenters and instructors.
  • Drawing On Screen
    Users can draw directly on the screen, which is beneficial for annotating or emphasizing certain aspects of a presentation or a teaching session.
  • Affordable Pricing
    PointerFocus is reasonably priced compared to other presentation and annotation tools, making it accessible to individual teachers and small businesses.

Possible disadvantages of PointerFocus

  • Limited Operating System Compatibility
    PointerFocus is only available for Windows, meaning that users on other operating systems like macOS or Linux cannot use this software.
  • Basic Feature Set
    While it provides essential features for highlighting and annotation, some users may find PointerFocus lacking in advanced options and customization compared to more extensive presentation software.
  • Occasional Performance Issues
    Some users have reported minor performance issues and lags when using PointerFocus, especially on older hardware or less powerful systems.
  • No Cloud Integration
    PointerFocus does not offer any cloud integration features, which could be a drawback for users who want to save and access their annotations or settings across multiple devices.
  • Aesthetic Limitations
    The visual customization options, while functional, might seem limited or outdated, potentially affecting users who need polished, professional aesthetics in their presentations.

Gromit-MPX videos

Desktop Annotation, Draw Anywhere on Screen: Gromit-MPX for Thinkpad Yoga 12 on Ubuntu

More videos:

  • Review - On-screen annotation (Free draw on desktop): Gromit-MPX vs Compiz Annotate

PointerFocus videos

No PointerFocus videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Gromit-MPX and PointerFocus)
Digital Drawing And Painting
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Image Editing
100 100%
0% 0
Note Taking
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Gromit-MPX and PointerFocus. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Gromit-MPX seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Gromit-MPX mentions (2)

  • Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
    I have an XP-Pen as well. Works great in Linux. I'm still amazed at how high quality these non-Wacom tablets are today. I had one of those cheap 6" Wacom Graphites back in the early 2000s and that was the best you could get. My XP-Pen blows that thing away. Still haven't found a great place to put it though. I'm just stashing it off to the side but it's awkward moving it around all the time. If you're on Linux,... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Image viewer with annotations (etc add rectangle)
    I use Gromit-MPX. With it you can toggle "painting mode" with a hotkey (e.g. F9), making your screen essentially a big whiteboard on which you can draw in various colors and thiccnessess. Source: over 4 years ago

PointerFocus mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of PointerFocus yet. Tracking of PointerFocus recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Gromit-MPX and PointerFocus, you can also consider the following products

Epic Pen - A windows tool for drawing over your desktop and applications

Pen Attention - A free program that places a highlighted circle or square around the cursor for use in a classroom...

ZoomIt - Presentation utility for zooming and drawing on the screen.

SpotOnTheMouse - SpotOnTheMouse is a mouse pointer and keyboard action visualization software.

Pointofix - Pointofix unterstützt Sie bei Vorträgen, Schulungen und Präsentationen. Zeichnen Sie direkt auf dem Bildschirm und heben Sie wichtige Inhalte hervor. Pointofix ist kostenlos.

Mouseposé - Mouseposé is the indispensible mouse pointer highlighting tool (aka "virtual...