Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Come up with a design
• Method 2 of 2: Create an avatar
• Tips
• Warnings

Your avatar is a representation of you on internet forums and other internet communities. A good avatar will help other users recognize you and help shape a more cohesive online character. You can use one avatar across all your favorite sites to develop your personal brand, or you can use different avatars for different communities. To learn how to create a good avatar in minutes, see step 1 below.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Come up with a design

1. 1 Explore the community. A great way to get an idea of ​​your avatar is to explore the community where you post. A lot of people use an avatar, which in some way refers to the community and helps define your interests.
2. 2 For example, if you post on gaming forums, consider using an image of the hero of your favorite video game. If you are posting on automotive forums, select an image of your favorite make and model.
3. 3 Check your name on the forum. Almost all forums require the creation of a unique username, and many people base their avatar "more remote" on behalf of the user. This helps create a visual connection to your username, as people can quickly tell who is posting.
   • For example, if you chose the name of your favorite comic book hero, you can use the image of that character as your avatar. If your username is "Rider", then you can select the image of a horse.
4. 4 Consider your online character. Everyone acts differently on the Internet than they do in real life. Take the online character into consideration when designing your avatar. Your avatar should be a reflection of who you are in this community.
   • For example, if you've taken the time to cultivate a funny personality, your avatar should probably be quirky and unexpected.

Method 2 of 2: Create an avatar

1. 1 Find the image. If you don't want to paint your own image, you need to find one that you can use. Use tools like Google Image Search or Bing to find the perfect image, or use an image you made yourself.
2. 2 Make sure the object will scale well. Forum avatars are almost always quite small, so your avatar object should be easily distinguishable when reduced in size. Landscapes and other full-frame photographs are not good for avatars. Faces, shapes, objects, drawings and other easily distinguishable objects make avatars much better.
3. 3 Open the picture with image editing software. You don't need anything fancy to create your avatar, unless you plan on adding effects or text. Any image editing software will work - from Paint to Photoshop.
4. 4 Crop the object. Since you don't have a lot of room to work with the avatars, crop everything around the subject. There are several ways to do this, depending on the program you are using; but there is one way that is universal for all programs:
   • Click the rectangular selection tool and select only the object.
   • Copy it to your clipboard and then open a new file in an image editor.
   • Paste the copied block so that only the object is on the canvas.
5. 5 Check the dimensions allowed on the forum. Different forums have different rules for the size tolerance of the avatar image. The range is usually 50 x 50 px to 100 x 100 pixels. Most forums will inform you of the limits when you use the Avatar upload feature in your user profile.
   • Some forums allow the use of rectangular avatars, not just squares.
   • Some forums allow very large avatars.
6. 6 Select scaling or cropping the image. Now that your object is detached and you know your avatar's size limits, you can choose whether you want to scale the image down or crop the portion that fits the dimensions. Different programs will have different ways of doing this, but usually there is a "Resize Image" option. Paint has a Resize button on the Home tab, while in Photoshop you can click Image → Image Size to zoom in and out.
   • Scale or Crop All - Depends on object and image size. If the object occupies the entire image, for example, a car image, then scaling will ensure that this is all included in the avatar. If only part of the subject will be used for your avatar, such as a face, then you could only crop that part.
   • You can do a combination of the two, too. For example, if you have a superhero picture (too big), you can scale it down a bit and then only crop the head to fit.
   • When scaling an entire image, be aware that changing the aspect ratio will result in a stretched or squished image. For example, if the original image is rectangular and you scale it down to square, the image will look squished. To avoid this, first crop the image to fit the proportions of the avatar.
7. 7 Save the thumbnail image. After the image has been scaled down and cropped, you are ready to save it. Double check that it meets the size requirements, and then save the image as a PNG file. This will result in the best quality at the smallest dimensions. This is important as many forums have file size limits as well as size limits.
8. 8 Add text to your avatar. If you have space, you can add text to your avatar. Keep in mind that depending on the size limits your forum imposes, you can't help but have a lot of space.It can be difficult to add crisp text to a 50 x 50 image.
9. 9 At this point, you may be finished. You can upload your avatar using the upload function in your user profile. If you want to add effects or text to your avatar, then read on.
   • If you are going to add text, it is recommended that you use an image editing program like Photoshop or GIMP, as they provide much more options for fonts and scaling than programs like Paint. Check out this tutorial for details on adding text with Photoshop.
10. 10 Add effects to your avatar. If you want to bring your avatar to life, you can use advanced editors like Photoshop or GIMP to add special effects to your image. Proper use of effects can really make your avatar stand out and can add a professional flavor to it.
    • Add shadow to make your avatar appear more 3D.
    • Adjust the light and shade to brighten the image.
    • Add a glitter effect to make your avatar sparkle.
    • Add chiaroscuro to your avatar to make it look more menacing.
    • Turn your avatar into a project to make it look more mechanical.

Tips

• There are many online avatar maker tools that will allow you to upload and customize images without the need for editing software.

Warnings

• Do not include personal information in your avatar.