How to Turn a Photo Into an Avatar With PaintShop Pro

You can choose any image as your avatar.

If you’ve spent any time at all surfing the Web, you have probably visited discussion forums and come across interesting images that participants use to identify themselves. These photos and other images are called “avatars.” Some are cool; others are silly, informative or revealing. Chances are you've wanted your own avatar to display with your message posts. All you need is a graphics program such as PaintShop Pro and a photo to work with. Create your own custom avatar in a few easy steps.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• PaintShop Pro installed
• Photograph

1. Launch PaintShop Pro and load up the photo that you want to use as your avatar. You can use a photo of yourself, your pet, a child, a flower, a car, a wild animal or anything you like.

2. Use the Crop tool to highlight the section of the photograph that you want to use as your avatar. Select an area that's square, then perform the crop action. The smaller the area you select, the better the quality of your avatar will be.

3. Click “Image” on the main toolbar and click “Resize.” Set the image dimensions to 100 by 100 pixels. If your cropped image is not square, then before you apply the resize, use the Crop tool again to trim the image so it's no larger than 100 by 100 pixels. Some sites use even smaller avatars of about 70 by 70 pixels. You can always reduce your avatar, and you can use the same avatar on more than one site, as long as you start with a small, square image.

4. Click “File” and select “Save As” from the context menu. Save the image as either a GIF or JPG file. If you'd like to make your avatar a bit cooler, go on to the next step.

5. Click “Effects” on the top toolbar. Click “3-D Effects” and select “Inner Bevel.” Experiment with the settings until you get a look you like, then apply it. Save your avatar and enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with other effects and settings to get interesting and unique results.

References

• Pixel2Life Studios: PaintShop Pro Tutorials
• MichellesPaintShop.com: The PaintShop Pro Avatar Tutorial

Resources

• Corel: PaintShop Pro Tutorials