Avatar smilies in multiple colors
If you are bored with your old avatar, it's time to create a fresh, new design--a custom image that represents you and your interests on the Web. The possibilities are endless and your avatar can stand out on forums and instant messengers. Use any number of graphics programs to create your avatar. Adobe Photoshop is a good example. Programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements, which often comes bundled with printers and scanners, is a popular and less costly choice. There is also Gimp, the graphics manipulation program, which is powerful and free to download and use.
Instructions
1. Select the image you want to use to create your avatar. Scan the image if it is not already in digital format and import the image into your graphics program. Open the image file if it is already saved in digital format.
2. Make a duplicate layer of your image and work with this duplicate alone. Begin to build your avatar design. Use any combination of photographic, line art, text and additional elements you desire. Place each element on a different layer for easy manipulation.
3. Examine your image in terms of size as you work. Size the image down
using your viewing settings but do not change the actual file dimensions yet. Text and graphic elements may look fine when large but they can become too small to read when resized for use on the Web.
4. Save your avatar in the file format native to your graphics program. Size your image down when you are satisfied with the design. Use a sharpening filter to make your avatar more crisp if resizing causes a blurring effect.
5. Save your new avatar in a web-ready file format. The most common image formats are .jpg, .gif and, in some cases, .png.
Tags: your avatar, your image, Adobe Photoshop, create your, create your avatar