How to Make Your Own Icons With Multiple Pics
Icons, or avatars, are small image files that are used in numerous venues on the Internet. Social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, as well as many message boards and blogs allow readers to upload an icon that displays next to their posts and comments. Due to the limited space for an icon, most icons consist of only one image, but it is possible to make an icon that uses multiple pictures. If you want to make custom icons with multiple pics, it can be done using either an online system or graphics software.
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Instructions
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Make Rotating Image Icons Online
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Go to a website with an icon-making system that supports multiple picture uploads. Most online icon systems support only one image file per icon. Picasion and My Theme are two sites that support multiple image uploads (see Resources).
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Add your images to the online icon-making system. Click the “Browse” button next to each image file box, find an image file on your hard drive and double-click the file name to import it into the system.
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Select an animation speed for your icon. This is the speed at which the pictures rotate.
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Click the “Create” or “Upload” button to make the icon. An icon that rotates between multiple pics is created.
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Download the icon to your computer by right-clicking on the icon image, choosing “Save As,” entering a name for the icon then clicking “Save.” The rotating icon is saved to your computer and can be uploaded into any online service that supports icons.
Make Stationary Icons in Graphics Software
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Open a graphics program on your computer. Any graphics software that can create image files can be used to create an icon.
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Create a new project in the graphics software by going to the “File” menu and choosing “New.” Enter dimensions for your icon file when prompted. Average sizes for icons on message boards and blogs range from 96-by-96 pixels to 128-by-128 pixels.
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In separate windows, open the pictures that you want to use in your icon. Use the graphics program's sizing tools and the crop tool to resize the pics so they are closer to the size of your icon space. Right-click on each pic and choose “Copy,” then right-click in the icon file and choose “Paste.”
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Arrange the pictures that you have added to the icon file by clicking on them and dragging them anywhere in the icon. Resize the pictures further if necessary by clicking on each picture and dragging the “handles” that appear around the image inward. Add effects with the effects tools available in your graphics program. The effects tools can usually be found under the “Image” or “Effects” menu.
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Go to the “File” menu then choose “Save” to save the icon. Choose an image type, such as GIF or JPEG, as the “Save as type” to save the icon as a picture file.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images
