Create Your Own Banner Avatar

The continuing growth of the Internet has created a type of online identity for many web users. A banner avatar acts as the alter identity for people online, and can be used to personalize our forum signatures, blogs, websites, online profiles, and social media sites like MySpace or Facebook. Even without a fancy graphics program, you can create your own banner avatar that reflects your online identity.

Instructions

1. Go to the Create Banner website (see Resources). Click the drop-down menu and select the size of the banner you want to create. Click the "Create a New Banner" button.

2. Upgrade your banner for $5 if you wish to remove the "createbanner.com" text from your banner. If you want to upgrade, click the "Remove createbanner.com from your banner" link.

3. Click the banner to add your text. Enter the text you would like to use. Select the location of the text, the font type and size, as well as the text color. Click the "Update Preview" button to see the banner with your text.

4. Select the colors for both your banner's background and borders. You can also use a picture or image as your background. Select your border's size in pixels.

5. Check your banner design. When you are satisfied with how it looks, click the "Save Banner" button.

6. Save your banner as an image file to your computer on the final page. You will also be provided with HTML code that you can copy and paste to use in your emails, website, blog, MySpace or forum signature.

Tips & Warnings

• Check for the clarity and readability of your banner avatar. Use strong color contrasts to make sure text comes across clearly. For $35 a year, you can upgrade to a VIP member of the site. This allows you to return, access, and edit all of your created banners at any time. Banners are created without the "createbanner.com" branding, and members are provided with priority support.

Resources

• Create Banner website