How to Create a Personal Avatar for Free
- 1). Open Paint and click "Image," then "Attributes." Set your preferred avatar size; avatars are very small, so choose something like 2 inches by 2 inches, then click "OK." Pull down the "View" menu and select "Zoom," then "Large Size;" this won't increase the avatar's dimensions, it just gives you more room to draw. Click the "Paintbrush" tool, then choose the small, round brush head and a paint color from the "Color Picker" at the bottom of the screen. Draw the outline of the avatar, such as a cupcake, your face, sports ball or flower. Click the "Paint Bucket," then click inside your drawing to fill it in with color. Click back to the "Paintbrush," change brush heads and paint colors, then add accents to the avatar. Add glitter sparkles by clicking the "Airbrush" tool, which looks like a spray paint can, and clicking the large whirl head below it. Click around the avatar's white space to add specks of glitter.
- 2). Create a new Publisher file and click "Blank Print Publication." Pull down the "File" menu and select "Page Setup," then set your dimensions and click the "OK" button, which automatically updates the Publisher workspace. Pull down the "Insert" menu and select "Picture," then "Clip Art." Pull down the "Search in" menu and check all the boxes. Pull down the "Results should be" menu and check "Clip Art" for a cartoon avatar, or "Photographs" for a realistic one. Type a word or phrase such as wine bottle, hockey player or fairy into the "Search for" box, then click "Go." Scroll through the results, then double-click a graphic for it to appear on the avatar. If it opens too large, shrink it down to size by dragging a corner and pulling it toward the middle.
- 3). Open Photoshop and click "File," then "New." Name the file "MyAvatar" and set your dimensions. Pull down the "Mode" menu and select "RGB Color," then choose "White" from the "Contents" menu and click "OK." Open another file, this time a photo of you, your child, pet, motorcycle or any other image to use for the avatar. Click the "Lasso" tool, then draw an outline around the area of the photo to use. When the blinking dotted line appears, press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys. Click back to the "MyAvatar" box, then press "Ctrl" and "V" to paste in the image. If it pastes in too large, pull down the "Edit" menu, select "Transform," then choose "Scale" and shrink it into size. Click the "Paint Bucket" tool on the "Tools" palette, then double-click the top left box in the "Color Picker," which is the two colored squares. Select a color for the avatar's background and click "OK." Click your cursor into the white space of the "MyAvatar" box to fill it with color and create a backdrop.
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