Hot, Sexy Avatars!!!!!!

Now that I have your attention, it has come to mine that it would be helpful to have a basic avatar crafting thread available, so here it is.

For this tutorial, we are going to be using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It's free, available for all major OS's and for the purposes of making avatars, it's just as good as Photoshop.

Download the version of GIMP for the OS you are using and install it.

The first thing you need to do is pick a pic. If you don't have one already, Google Images has pretty much any kind of picture you could want. Advanced editing techniques is beyond the scope of this tutorial, so I suggest picking one that "looks like" it will fit in an avatar-sized space after cropping and resizing.

For this project, I've chosen a picture of The Punisher because he's just plain awesome:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5fe49a9b2223.jpg[/atsimg]

Start GIMP and load the image you've chosen. (Go to "File" then "Open" and locate the pic on your hardrive).

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/143435637efd.jpg[/atsimg]

This image is obviously too wide, but fortunately the part we want to use is in one convenient avatar-shaped space on the pic, so we can just do a little cropping and later on, some scaling.

Select the crop tool in Gimp (it's the one that looks like an exacto knife):

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c3ce9600f232.jpg[/atsimg]


The perfect avatar size is 160 pixels wide, by 320 pixels tall, so we're going to use 160:320 as a fixed ratio for cropping.

After selecting the crop tool a series of options will appear below the toolbox. Check the box marked "fixed" and select "aspect ratio" from the drop-down box beside that. Then in the box with the numbers directly below that put 160:320.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b2b3d6e02393.jpg[/atsimg]

Continued on next post...

Now to crop. This may take a little effort to get your image in the center, but practice makes perfect:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c41afc408a1a.jpg[/atsimg]

Just click and drag with the cropping tool until what you want in your avatar is highlighted. It will snap to the correct avatar size automatically thanks to the previous steps.

Once you have that squared away, click somewhere on what you've highlighted to crop the sides away:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/706de58b1925.jpg[/atsimg]

Okay, now it's the right size ratio, but not the exact pixel size it needs to be. The next step is to scale the image. Select "Image" from the menu and then click "Scale Image":

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/635aa86d3938.jpg[/atsimg]

This brings up another dialogue box that will allow you to resize the image:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/465b9b91901f.jpg[/atsimg]

Simply put 160 in the top box and the bottom box will automatically adjust. If you followed the previous steps correctly it will snap to 320 or 321. Click the "Scale" button to resize.

After that, you're done. Go to "File" then "Save As" and save it somewhere on your hard drive. Upload it to your media place and you're ready to go.

Here's the finished product:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/54bf4979f376.jpg[/atsimg]

If anyone wants it, they can have it. First come first serve.

And now, as promised, HOT, SEXY AVATARS!!!!!!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7a4c32cc3180.jpg[/atsimg]

Get her while she's hot!


TheAssoc.

I should add that the above method should work the same in whatever image editing software you choose, not just GIMP. As long as you set it to crop at a fixed ratio of 1:2 (160:320) it should come out the same. And be sure to check the post-cropping size of the image to see if it needs to be scaled.

Also, scaling the image too much in either direction can cause pixelation, so try to pic an image that's "about right" in size.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them and I'll try to come up with an answer.


TheAssoc.

[edit on 28-5-2010 by TheAssociate]

Every time i try to do a decent avatar something goes tits-up and i end up getting frustrated. It literally took me hours to cobble together my little effort!

Thanks for the info, i think i'll give it a try when im feeling determined enough!

reply to post by Silver Star


Here are a couple of sites that have quite a good variety of effects that you can use when making an avatar. Especially text, and since it is all online, you can quickly change fonts to see what they look like.

My favorite "quicky" site is FotoFlexer and another one that has around a hundred fonts as well as some animation is OnlineImageEditor.

Note that these are very simple to use but can produce some amazing effects. If you become addicted like I did, then you can move on to Gimp or Photoshop but they do have a steep learning curve in the beginning.

There are many on this site however that are expert in the use of these and are more than willing to help out, just like the OP stated.

Just be forewarned that if you get "the bug", that your life will change and you will always be looking for that perfect picture for your avatar..

Originally posted by tribewilder
If you become addicted like I did, then you can move on to Gimp or Photoshop but they do have a steep learning curve in the beginning.

I have an addictive personality and i would fear for my brain if i developed a new addiction!

Ive grown fond of my avatar but i cant make anything more of it. The source material was crap (where i ripped it off from)....
www.youtube.com...

... and i cant find any higher resolution pictures of it.

I suppose im stuck!

reply to post by Silver Star


Well you can put in any background that you like. The problem is....I don't know what the hell that thing is so I don't know what should be in the background...LOL

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c68ddeb4a34a.png[/atsimg]

A Thousand thanks!

I'll try to work out how to credit you in my signature.

F****ing good stuff!

reply to post by Silver Star


That was just one to show what could be done. Here's another...both were done on the sites I listed..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/73c6f1ba7f4f.gif[/atsimg]

Oh, and to get back on the topic, here's a hot and sexy avatar..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6dff250aa661.jpg[/atsimg]

Another good source for stock photos is stock.xchng. Its a good source for practicing with your photomanipulation software. Also if you are using gimp, just google gimp tutorial and you will get tons of ideas. Happy manipulating!

Originally posted by Silver Star
I'll try to work out how to credit you in my signature.

Ive tried but it looks foolish!

Once again, thanks!!

Originally posted by darkelf
Another good source for stock photos is stock.xchng.

Well I hope your happy with yourself. Now I am probably going to have to buy another freakin hard drive just for that site!!!!!

I wasn't aware of that site and it also looks to have a ton of tutorials so I am not only going to be out money for the drive, but will be spending countless more hours searching for images....

But really, thanks...no really...:bnghd:

reply to post by tribewilder


I paid about $80 US for an 80 gig external hard drive at Wal-Mart. It hooks up with a USB cable. Ya I have the addiction too! :bnghd:

reply to post by darkelf

Well, with the goldmine of information on this thread im off to have a go at doing my own hot, sexy avatar!

Ive been trying to recolour the sky in the background of this avatar to create a more monochrome effect. I have been trying for ages on FotoFlexer but the best i could come with was a 'greying out' effect which looked pretty poor!

Is there a simple way of doing it?

reply to post by Silver Star

Originally posted by Silver Star
Ive been trying to recolour the sky in the background of this avatar to create a more monochrome effect.

I'm not sure what you are asking as your background is already monochromatic. Could you explain in a little more deatil?

reply to post by darkelf

Sorry, i meant black and white.

I managed to make another avatar on fotoflexer, it took me two hours and looked about half as good as the one tribewilder knocked up in five minutes!

I put it up briefly, but i had to take it down again through shame.

Im thinking of starting from scratch with a new set of images - i have been searching the internet for suitable pictures.

Honestly, ive been on this all day! Its starting to suck me in.

I have spent weeks working on some of my art. It can be very adicting.

I'm not sure of the software you are using, but can you make the picture black & white (greyscale) and then adjust the light/dark and contrast?

reply to post by darkelf

When i applied greyscale the whole image just looked washed out. There is a little bit of colour in the foreground image and i wanted to keep that so i separated foreground and background and just greyscaled the background.

I then joined the images back up but it looked awful, even i was laughing at it!

So then i tried a different background to the clouds one (a blue sky and sun) but the foreground image stood out like a sore thumb and looked obviously pasted on. I tried to fix it but my attempts looked amateurish, to say the least.

BUT! I have learnt lots and lots today!