If you're bored with the preset avatars included with online gaming, social message boards and chat sites, create your own with a few clicks on your computer. Introduce yourself to the Internet with an avatar of you and your house, letting your forum buddies and chat friends know a little bit about whom they're talking to. Use a bare-bones, basic graphics program included with your computer, such as Paint, to draw an avatar of you and your house, or upgrade to Adobe Photoshop, where you can layer actual photographs to create a custom personalized avatar.
Instructions
Using Photoshop
1. Open Photoshop, click "File" and click "New." Name the file "MyAvatar" and set the "Width" and "Height" boxes to 2 inches. Pull down the "Mode" drop-down, and select "RGB Color." Click the "White" button under the "Contents" menu, and click the "OK" button. Click "View" and choose "Fit on Screen." This just gives you more room to work--it doesn't increase your avatar size.
2. Click "New Layer" icon, which looks like a flipped-up Post-it note, on the "Layers" palette. A new Layer 1 is added. Right-click it, and select "Layer Properties." Name the layer "MyHouse." Add another layer and name it "Me."
3. Click "File," click "Open" and browse to where you have photos of yourself, such as a head shot, and your house. Double-click both photos to add them to your workspace.
4. Click once on the picture of your house to give it focus, and click the "Crop" tool, which looks like two angled elbow joints, on the "Tools" palette on the left side of the screen. Draw a box around just the part of your house to include in your avatar; remember that avatars are very small. When the screen goes dark, press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
5. Click the "Select" menu at the top of the screen, and choose "Select All." Press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys on your keyboard. Click back to the "MyAvatar" box, and click once on the "MyHouse" layer so that it is highlighted. Then press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys on the keyboard. The house picture pastes in, probably very large.
6. Click the "Edit" menu, choose "Transform" and select "Scale." Push one of the boxes in the corner of the house picture to shrink it into size on the avatar. When satisfied, click off the "MyAvatar" box.
7. Click once on the picture of you to give it focus, and click the "Crop" tool. Draw a box around just the part of your face, entire body or head and shoulders to include in your avatar. When the screen goes dark, press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
8. Click the "Select" menu at the top of the screen and choose "Select All." Press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys on your keyboard. Click back to the "MyAvatar" box, and click once on the "Me" layer so that it is highlighted. Then press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys on the keyboard. Your picture pastes in, probably completely blocking the picture of the house.
9. Click the "Edit" menu, choose "Transform" and select "Scale." Push one of the boxes in the corner of your picture to shrink it into size on the avatar, letting the background of your house show through. When satisfied, click off the "MyAvatar" box.
10. Click the right-pointing triangle in a circle at the top of the "Layers" palette, and choose "Flatten Image." Save the file by clicking "File" and then "Save As" and choosing a destination on your computer to save the file.
Using Paint
11. Open Paint, click "Image" and click "Attributes." Set the width and height to 2 inches by 2 inches; avatars are small files. Click the "OK" button. Click "View," click "Zoom" and choose "Large Size." This won't increase the actual size of the avatar, but it gives you more room to draw.
12. Click the "Paintbrush" tool on the "Tools" palette, and choose the large square brush head below it. Choose a color from the "Color Picker" at the bottom of the screen, and draw the frame of your house. Click the "Fill" tool, which looks like a tipping paint can, on the "Tools" palette, and then click inside the house to fill it with color. Repeat to add a roof, windows doors and other accessories.
13. Change brush heads on the paintbrush to add other house elements such as a garden, lawn flamingos or flowers. Change the brush again to one of the line brush heads, and pick a color from the "Color Picker" that resembles your skin tone. If you can't find one, double-click any box, which brings up a rainbow of colors to choose from.
14. Draw an outline of yourself, and fill it in with color. Change brush heads and paint colors to add facial features, clothing and accessories. Click the "Spray Can," which looks like an aerosol can, on the "Tools" palette, click a color for your hair and drag your cursor to draw it.
15. Save the file by clicking "File" and then "Save As" and naming it "MyAvatar" and then choosing a destination on your computer to save the file.
Related posts
Putting your house on the market can be a stressful experience, but if you know your house better than anyone else, you may be the most ideal person to do the selling. Generate interest in the hom...
Download a free program for designing your own home.One of the benefits of designing your own house plans is that it frees you from the worry that a hired architect will draft a plan you don't lik...
Make a virtual room before you spice up a real one.If you don't have the budget or time to let your child makeover her own room, give her the next best thing: One fun resource for online room make...
You can use Microsoft Paint to color your drawings digitally. MS Paint is a basic computer program that comes with all Windows operating systems, and it allows you to upload your drawings and colo...
Avatars are digital creations, usually designed to look and function like humans. Avatars can be created in many different video games online. These games are free to download, and making an accou...
