Make a Better Avatar

I learned how to make avatars when I was on a chat program called Excite. In those days, each person in the chatroom could have an avatar, and the picture was posted above the chatroom. It was a lot of fun and there were avatar websites with literally thousands of pre-made avatars you could choose. And people would sit there and make you a custom avatar too.

You can make an avatar on almost any computer graphics program. I use Paint Shop Pro for mine. Sometimes I use Thumbs Plus.

Before you make one, read the website requirements. No use making one the wrong size. If your avatar won't load, most likely it is either the wrong size, or a file format they don't accept. Most sites accept .jpg or .gif. It will also specify the size. 100 x 100 pixels is probably the most common size. If your animation is too many frames they may turn it down for exceeding the bandwidth space allowed.

Some sites have a feature where you can upload any photo and then edit and resize it after it's on the site. However for most sites, you have to make it before you download it and they are very fussy about it being just the right size.

Also make note as to whether they allow animated avatars or not. Livejournal.com allows animated avatars. Yahoo profiles used to but don't anymore.

Many sites these days want to approve your avatar before it appears on the site. So be prepared to wait a few days if they have this rule.

Once you find the photo you want to use, consider doing something artsy with it. Use the text program to add your name. Use one of the art features like 'hot wax' or 'emboss' to add a texture. Experiment and make yourself a handful of avatars. Make some for your favorite holidays too.

It is easier to make it big and then shrink it when you are done playing Picasso. But when you shrink it down, make sure you can still read all the words.

Make a special folder to keep all your avatars in. That way you can find them quickly when you need one.

I'll post some of mine so you can get the idea.

Some places won't let you upload an avatar directly to their sites. In that case you have to find a place to host the image like www.photobucket.com or www.picturetrail.com

and park your avatars there. Then your blog site will tell you which code to paste in order for your avatar (icon) to show up.