# how do you make avatars?



## Wolfy_the_beast (Aug 4, 2009)

Is this the right place to post this... maybe

Well i've been drawing for a while, but i still cont know how to make avatars correctly. If someone could inform me, i'd appreciate it


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## InuAkiko (Aug 4, 2009)

Are you asking about sizing, or making them move and whatnot?


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## Wolfy_the_beast (Aug 4, 2009)

InuAkiko said:


> Are you asking about sizing, or making them move and whatnot?


 Just the sizing


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## KaiFox (Aug 5, 2009)

Wolfy_the_beast said:


> Just the sizing


 
You can go and resize it in a program like paint (for example). It's very easy.

EDIT: I don't quite understand your question, so this answer may be useless. XD sorry.


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## Silkstone (Aug 5, 2009)

They're normally 100 pxels x 100 pixels if that helps  Biggest for these forums is 150x150.


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## Wolfy_the_beast (Aug 5, 2009)

i just thought there might be a special way to do it, but if i just have to resize, thats easier


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## Kawaburd (Aug 5, 2009)

Ehh... if it looks ugly to make an entire piece that small, cut out the most relevant chunk (usually a face) and make THAT the avatar.  Some of us even do pieces specifically to BE avatars, but that's its own subject.

Most of the time it's just a resize.  MAYBE something like sharpness-up or other pretty-it-up tweaks, but nothing major.


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## Wolfy_the_beast (Aug 5, 2009)

Kawaburd said:


> Ehh... if it looks ugly to make an entire piece that small, cut out the most relevant chunk (usually a face) and make THAT the avatar.  Some of us even do pieces specifically to BE avatars, but that's its own subject.
> 
> Most of the time it's just a resize.  MAYBE something like sharpness-up or other pretty-it-up tweaks, but nothing major.



Well like that, how do you make a piece specifically for an avatar?


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## Blue2k (Aug 5, 2009)

I use GIMP to re-size my images...you can also crop off what you don't need by selecting the image and then crop outside. Example: my avatar was originally 300 by 250


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## Silkstone (Aug 5, 2009)

> Well like that, how do you make a piece specifically for an avatar?


Well, I'd suggest actually starting off with an ara of 100x100 or 150x150 to draw on, instead of just re-sizing. That way, you know any details you add will not be lost. One thing that's neat to do is have the face straight on, as if it's staring at the computer viewer. It's also important to pay close attention to the eyes, because they're usually the first thing people see in an avatar  A lot of people also like adding their name ('Wolfy') on their avatars if there is space. Keep the background uncomplicated (or even no background at all), and any animation subtle. I hope this helped you some x)

Or, you can do as others suggest, and merely crop around the facial area, like I did with my ave (see the big pic on my FA gallery). The easiest way I've found to do this is go like this:

1) Make a new file, 150x150 and color the whole thing lime green
2) copy this
3) open your original art file that's too big to be an avatar
4) paste your green square
5) fill in the space around your green square with white, and erase the green square
6) move the white "frame" around untill you like what you see in the box
7) select the area th green box used to be in and crop


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## Gnome (Aug 5, 2009)

how to make a avitar?
you commission me ^___^

...but if you decide to use photoshop to do it, make sure you "save for web"


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## Kawaburd (Aug 5, 2009)

Wolfy_the_beast said:


> Well like that, how do you make a piece specifically for an avatar?



Draw (only) what you wanna use (like, say, a bust), then save it as a .jpg ...or if you need a transparent background, .gif.  Those, however, can be a bit fiddly.

If you're doing it purely digital, 500x500 is a good starting res.  Small enough not to kill the image quality when you resize, but big enough to work with.


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## ChapperIce (Aug 6, 2009)

I draw a picture out in sai, then put it in photoshop, and save for web, reducing the size to 100x100  and voila! Though sometimes it doesn't look as good that small, so I crop it  a bit C:


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## InuAkiko (Aug 6, 2009)

Silkstone said:


> 1) Make a new file, 150x150 and color the whole thing lime green
> 2) copy this
> 3) open your original art file that's too big to be an avatar
> 4) paste your green square
> ...




Nice trick! Thanks for this <3


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