Era and hardware
Era: 1977 · Hardware: Apple II HGR mode
Key facts
- The 'colors' are actually NTSC artifacting from black-and-white pixel patterns
- Green and purple come from one bit alignment; blue and orange from another
- On a real CRT, the colors fringe softly; on emulators, they look harsh
How to use this palette for cursor design
Pair this palette with a soft CRT emulation overlay for the authentic look.
Open your pixel editor of choice (Aseprite, Piskel, or LibreSprite), import the palette, and follow the five-pass cursor design tutorial: silhouette, outline, fill, highlight, accent. The palette will impose its own discipline — that is the entire point. For deeper background on retro palettes in general, see the retro palette guide.
Cursor packs already in this palette
If you would rather download than design, browse the collections page — collections are organized by palette family and several map directly to the historic palettes documented here.