Make Your Own Avatar in Paint Shop Pro 9 or X

Avatars are becoming an essential tool on so many websites, even here on Associated Content. You want one that reflects your unique style and personality. Rather than spending time looking through pages and pages of pre-made avatars, why not make your own? It can be easy using Paint Shop Pro 9 or X.

Open Paint Shop Pro, and then open any image (that you own, have permission to use, or is in the public domain) that you would like to turn into an avatar.

Since avatars are fairly small, you don't want something too busy. Decide on a focal point in the image and then remove unnecessary parts by either selecting and deleting them or softening them. Since the most common shape is square, you may want to crop your image to that shape.

Once you are satisfied with the appearance, you need to resize the image. If you go to Image and click on Resize, then change the width and height to a typical avatar size such as 100 x 100 pixels, you will notice a loss of image quality. An alternative way to resize without losing as much quality is to use the zoom tool in the Overview palette. You can check what percentage the zoom should be by going to Image, clicking on Resize, and then taking note of what the percentages are beside Pixel Dimensions when you change the Width and Height to icon size. Click Cancel on the Resize menu, then go to the Overview palette and change the percentage of the zoom to the number you noted in the Resize menu.

With your image resized, click on the Print Screen key on your keyboard. Next, go to Edit and scroll down to Paste, then click on Paste As New Image. The screenshot you just took will appear. Click on the Crop Tool and set the Width and Height to 100 (or whatever size you chose for your avatar) with the Units as Pixels. Move the box into place over your image and double click. Your image is now icon sized without too much loss in quality.

Add some text and your avatar is finished. You can use these basic steps to make a different one for each site that allows avatars. These instructions are usable in both Paint Shop Pro 9, and X, although in some cases the interface may be different. Create an avatar that really shows who you are!