ComicBookMovie 101: Creating Avatars
Do you struggle finding the right size for your avatar? Do you desperately wish to know how to use a .gif as your avatar? Or do you wish to create your own custom .gif to use as your avatar? Well look no further, for all your avatar questions will be resolved! With my simple editorial you'll learn how to "dress" for success the MrBlackjack way.
If you would like create an avatar using a regular image there are a plethora of ways you can accomplish this. You can simply resize a picture in programs such as Microsoft Paint, Photoshop, or GIMP, but it is also possible to resize images quickly and easily by visiting sites like LunaPic.com or picresize.com. But regardless of what method you chose, the ideal ComicBookMovie.com avatar size is 70 pixels by 70 pixels. Not only is this the most preferred size, but it gives you the best presented image when it is viewed in the comments section. If one was to go to a site such as picresize, they would simply need to select an image you would like to use, crop the image if needed, resize the image to a custom size of 70 pixels by 70 pixels, save the image as a JPG or PNG and voila! Your soon to be avatar is completed.
Example
Original Image
Finished Avatar
Resizing (or rather creating) a .gif avatar is almost as simple as creating an avatar using JPEG/PNG. I personally use and recommend a site like toolson.net, but there are other sites like ezgif.com (another one of my personal favorites) and LunaPic.com. From past experience, I've found using site toolson.net tends to be the easier route to use. While using toolson.net, you simply upload the .gif you would like to use, crop the .gif (if needed), and re-size it to 70x70 pixels. With JPEGs and PNGs 70x70 pixels is the preferred size, but with .gifs it is the only acceptable size. You may be able to get a .gif of a smaller size to work, but most users prefer their avatars as large as possible. Any .gif above the size of 70x70 pixels will not work, it is very important to remember this for future reference. You once you resize the .gif you are done and are ready to upload your new avatar!
Example
Original Image
Finished Avatar
The third option for creating an avatar is mixing and matching .gifs to create a .gif compilation based avatar. Unfortunately, this process is much longer and tiring than resizing a picture or re-sizing a .gif. The first thing you need to do is make sure you have all the .gifs you wish to combine at the size of 70x70 pixels (as per usual). Once you have that completed, visit ezgif.com and select "GIF Splitter". There, take each .gif and split them by simply hitting the split button. Once a .gif has been split, select "Download frames as ZIP". Once they've been downloaded open the compressed zip folder in which the files have been downloaded and select "Extract Frames". Select whatever location you wish to place them in, just remember where the location you have chosen. Personally, I always have a folder dedicated to each .gif that has been split, that way there's no confusion as to where the files are located and what they are. Repeat this process with the rest of the .gifs and then head to toolson.net once again. There you simply uploaded the extracted .gif files in the order in which you would like them to appear in your final product. The final product has a limit of 15 MB, so there's plenty of space for files to use. Once all the files are uploaded, you must select the frame interval. I've found a frame interval rate of anywhere between 70 and 80 ms is usually the right pace, but it all depends on how many .gifs you are using and many frames each .gif was. If you chose a handful of short .gifs, then you may want to use a higher ms. If you have chosen .gifs that are made up of many files, then you may be best off using a smaller frame interval. After a frame interval is decided on make sure the animation is cycled and the height is 70x70 pixels and then you're done! You're now ready to use your newly created .gif as your avatar.
Example
Original Images
Finished Avatar