How to Turn a Photo Into an Avatar with PaintShop Pro

Have you ever wanted a custom avatar for a forum or website, but didn't know how to make one? This tutorial will teach you how in a few simple steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A photo
• PaintShop Pro (I'm using version X2 for this demonstration, but earlier versions will work in a similar manner.)

1. 
    
   A photo

   Open the photo of your choice in PSP. For this I'll be using a random celebrity photo. You could use a photo of yourself, your pet, child, or anything you like.

2. 
    
   Cropping the photo

   Use the crop tool to highlight the section you want to have appear in your avatar. Perform the crop action. The smaller the area you have highlighted, the better the quality of the avatar will be. (We will be resizing the image in the next step, and the more you have to reduce the image, the worse the final avatar will look.)

3. 
    
   Resizing the image

   Choose Image > Resize and make the image 100 x 100 pixels. If your cropped image is not square, Before you apply the resize, use the crop tool again to trim the image until it is. 100 x 100 is a standard avatar size, although some sites will use as small as 70 x 70. You can always save multiple copies, one at 100 x 100, another at 90 x 90, etc, if you want to use the avatar on multiple sites that have different size requirements.

4. At this point you can save your avatar as a .JPG or .GIF file. If you want something a little cooler, continue reading.

5. 
    
   Adding a bevel effect

   Go to Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel. Play with the settings until you get a look that you like, then apply.

6. Save your image and enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Try experimenting with other effects settings to get different results.