Avatars

Difficulty: Requirements: MS Paint Writer: Kathrin Importance: Quite, if you want to make Paint Icons Special Notes: Combines different effects etc. for paint

This tutorial will show you how to make this Avatar in less than 20 minutes using nothing other than paint. Should you encounter any problems, please report them to me either on the comments bar or by sending me an email under Kathrin433@yahoo.com. Other than that, the tutorial is relatively simple and the only requirements are that you have paint, can read :P, and have really basic knowledge of Paint (things like now what the paint bucket tool is :D). Its advisable that you have read my Downloading Fonts tutorial and have downloaded an outline font such as Cheri Liney or Aka Dylan Open. This is advisable, but not an requirement.

Starting Up
To begin, open up MS Paint and press Ctrl-E (or go to Image >> Attributes). Select Colors, Pixels, and make the width and height whatever you want your avatar to be. I am going to use 100 by 100. Select OK.
Now, select the Text Tool. Make the text boxes about a third the size of your avatar, starting at the top (though about 3 pixels from each border). The top third (up to a half)of your avatar should be in the text area box. Use any color. I am going to use black. We will change the color later anyways. Use a plain font at a very small size (I am going to use Comic Sans MS size 7). Write the same text 3 times under itself. It should be exactly 1 line long. Mine is 'yummy... very tasty'. To change the text and font, right click on the text-area and select Text Toolbar. I suggest a very small easy to read font like Ariel or Comic Sans MS. It should look like the screen-shot to the upper right.

Fading Text
Now its time to decide which picture you wish to use in your avatar. I decided upon a very cute pile of peas :P. It is preferable to use a picture with a white background and go to Image and then uncheck 'draw Opaque'. Copy and paste your image into the avatar. Chances are the entire avatar will re-size. That's okay :). What we are going to do is simple. Select the eyedropper and press on one of the main colors in your picture. In my case, that would be green.

Its best to choose an image with only a few different colors. Once you have selected your main color, press 'ctrl' and 'Z' together twice (or double click on Edit >> Undo). Now your image should be returned to the way it was before you copied the picture into it and the picture will be gone. However, you WILL have the color you selected on. Now press the zoom in button. Select the paint bucket and start making the top row of text that color. If you want to zoom more, go to View >> Zoom >> Custom and select the zoom that you'd like. Look at the screenshot below :). If you make a mistake, just press undo. This step may seem like it takes forever, but in truth it only toke me 5 minutes total.

For the next line of text, go to Colors >> Edit Colors >> Define custom colors. The last color you used should be selected.As you can see in the screenshot, the original color is circled in red. By moving the black arrow up a few shades (compare the color circled in red to the one circled in yellow) a lighter shade is selected. This shade has been circled in yellow. Once you are done, simply press OK. Now, use the paint bucket to make the second line of text this shade. Repeat this step (go to edit colors again and make a few shades lighter then use paint bucket) on the final line of text. Obviously, you could have done this by making the text these colors in the first place. However, it is very difficult to get the lines the same distance below each other and to make them start at exactly the same place. To put it frankly, I have found this method to be faster.

Background & Border
Now comes the time for the background and the border. This part is really easy. Simply go to Colors >> Edit Colors >> Define custom colors. This time select the Lightest shade. This is the second one from the top or the one right before white. Once you have selected it, press OK and use the paintbucket to fill your image with it. Make sure to use the paintbucket inside the letters. For example, in the white space in the middle of your 'o's and 'a's. This is important to escape the painty look.

To make your border, first press on the line tool and make sure you have your thinnest line selected. Then make the border using the Rectangle Outline tool. After these steps your image will look like the one to the upper left.

Finishing up
Now, press Image and select rotate by 270กใ. Make sue you have draw Opaque unchecked (its under image), and then copy the picture that you want onto your avatar (the one you got the colors from) into your image. Use the selection tool to re-size the image. It actually looks quite 'cool' if you make the picture go a little bit over the border (look at the screenshot below).

There are advantages both to version one and to version 2. Version 1 generally just looks 'cooler' and is a little bit more of an eye catcher. The dis- advantages are that the size of the avatar is no longer 100 by 100 (Or whatever you started out with). Personally, it doesn't make the slightest difference to me, but to some it could. It can, of course, be re-sized back to 100 by 100 but that often leaves the image looking messy. Its also a little bit harder to work with if you wish to add a shadow etc. In basis, Version 1 looks better (in my opinion) but needs about 4 minutes more time, while Version 2 doesn't take as long to make and is easier to edit -- but a bit more boring. Choose whichever you like and move on. I am using Version 1.
Select a color in the image that is as dark as the darkest color in your text or even a few shades darker. The choice is yours. I am going to use the same color that I used for the darkest row of text. Use this to make a different line of text, preferably in a font size close to 12. My text will say 'Peas!' This step can be skipped (and should be skipped if you do not have enough room). The best font to use is one like Cheri Liney or Aka Dylan Open because they use outlines. This makes them perfect! They do not color the insides of the letters, but have only the outlines of the letters. Here is a sample of what my pic looks like now:

Now all you need to do is select a lighter shade and press the fill paint bucket inside the letters.. This is a LOT easier than using a none outline font and outlining it by-hand. It saves you about 10 minutes of work using an outline font. To download Cheri Liney or other fonts like it visit my Font tutorial and some of the font sites named on there. Now you have completed a very cool looking avatar! Congrats!

~Kathrin