Posted:
18 years ago
Right, here you go. Someone send me a PM asking me how to do it, and this was the response I gave them. Thought I'd post it here.
First of all, you need Image Editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. I'd reccommend Paint Shop Pro since you're a starter. You can get a copy at www.jasc.com.
Then, when you have PSP opened, choose out a picture you like. If you find like a wallpaper, it's going to be too big for an avatar, but we can work on it. For one, pick the crop tool from the menu on the left (move your mouse over the tools, and they'll show you the name) and try and make the box around the person's face alone. Then, look at the menu on top, and click on Image > Resize, or simply press shift and S. Then, type in the width and height you want the image to be. I would suggest 100 x 100, as that is the ideal size, but if you want it slightly bigger, I'm sure it'll be OK.
Once your image is resized, look at the left menu and press the 'A' button. That's text. Press wherever you want the text to appear, and then type it in. Once you press OK, the text is selected, and you can move it around.
Then, go to File > Save, and save it. You're done! It's very simple.
Making animated ones aren't very complicated either, but you might want to be a little used to making regular ones. Try it out a few times, and tell me if everything's going OK, and then I'll proceed to tell you how to do animated ones.