Hey everyone,

I just wanted to make sure everyone knew how easy it is to change your avatar.

Step 1: Click on control panel at the right top of corner.
Step 2: Click on Edit Avatar located on the left side of the page.
Step 3: Click on Browse and select your picture
Step 4:  Click upload and you are Finished.

Thanks! Now I’ll just have to look for better kitty pictures to turn into avvies!

*runs off to take more cat pictures*

Where does one find a gallery avatar?  I used browse to look at my own .jpg pictures and all are way bigger than the allowable 50KB.  I’m very new to digital photography and the programs therewith associated.  Is there a way to make my photos smaller?  Most are over 500KB as is.  (I have the HP Image Zone, etc.) Thank you.

Sorry, I ‘m not familiar with Image Zone. If you have a version of Photoshop I could give you better instructions, but all photo editing software have similar ways to change the image size. Pre-Tweaking Basics: Choose a small image, or crop a small detail out of a bigger picture. Picture files sizes are not just the size of the printout (3x5, 4x6, etc) but from the amount of data/detail captured. So instead of starting from a 8x10 glossy you scanned into your computer, use a cute kitty pic you took with your camera phone, and you’ll be off to an easier start.

Ok - for this demo I’m using Microsoft Photo Editor, basic photo editing software that seems to be preinstalled on most pcs. Once you have the image you want, from your top toolbar go to Image/Resize and you should have a small popup window. Under “units” click the drop down arrow to change from inches to pixels. The avatar page says we can use an image with a max size of 100x100 pixels, so type 100 in the width column. The height column should change automatically, since they’re linked to keep the picture the same shape. Just make sure that both columns are 100 or under and click OK.

Now go to File/Save As and in that popup change the name of your picture. Pick a name that makes sense, so you can find again easily… like FelinePineAvvie1 or MrTinklesFPAvatar. Whatever will help you remember which picture it is and why this image is different from the original, especially when they look exactly the same in the thumbnails. Now click on the drop down arrow and choose your file type. This forum lets you use .jpg, .gif, and .png files. The file type will make a difference in the file size, but most people prefer to use jpegs where possible to keep the most photographic detail.

That takes care of the pixel size. Now to see if your file size is small enough, the easiest way is to peek at your thumbnails! Go to Start/My Pictures and surf out to whatever file folder you have the photos stored under. Once you’ve opened the right folder, you should see a bunch of thumbnails or mini shots of all the pictures you have in that folder. Roll over the new image you just created and a small info box will pop up with the image dimensions, file type, and file size. To use an image for your avvie in this forum, your file size needs to be 50KB or less. If you started with a small image like a phone pic to begin with, you should already be done! But if your original image size was gigantic, you’ll still have some chopping to do.

For example, the file size of the original phone pic I took of my Mooshu approprating hubby’s new shoebox is 69.6 KB - already small, but not quite small enough. So I cropped off a little excess background and changed the pixel size down to 100 pixels wide and now the avatar I have posted has a file size of 42.8 - just under the magic number! The first time I made that pic into my avvie I thought I had to loose a lot more baggage, so I changed the colour type from true colour to 256 then saved it as a Gif and that same 100 pixel image is 4.91 KB. Talk about a difference! It was a bit grainier, but still easily recognizable as my big fat scaredy-cat!

Hope that takes care of it for you! Go have some fun with your kitties and your camera phone!! Just let me know if you start getting all spun around again and you need re-pointed in the right direction!

Thank you!  My phone doesn’t take pictures; I’m using a little digital camera, so my original was huge.  But with a little tinkering, it worked.  I learned something and now have another place to show off my cats.

Hello everyone,

For a fast, easy, and FREE way to edit your photos, check out http://www.picnik.com

Holly - Over here!! *waves* Hope that helps!! : )