AVATAR

[shakiboo]

I have been trying to get an avatar, and don't know how to go about it! Can anyone tell me how to go about it? Thanks!

[Harry]

Pam, on the beginning page of the forum, left side, you will see "Welcome, shakiboo".

When you click your name it will open up where you can change your profile. Part of that profile is the Avatar Control Panel for adding or changing your Avatar.

If you click the "Show Gallery" button you will get a screen of already prepared Avatars. There are other categories on top. Choosing and clicking one of these will automatically add it to your profile.

You can also create one yourself. There are limitations in size (no side can be greater than 90 pixels) and the maximum size in bytes is 9,000. When you create it, save it on your computer, and then use the browse feature to add it to your profile.

You can also "find" one on the web. Again the size limitations come into play.

[shakiboo]

Thanks so much Harry, I don't know how I've missed that, I've tried clicking my name once I'd gotten into a sight and it just took me to what everyone else would see. Yippee! now maybe I can get me one ! lol Thanks again!

[shakiboo]

Oh boy! Oh boy! I got my avatar!! Thanks again Harry!!

[Shelley]

I love it!

[Harry]

Very chic, Pam!

[twinsrwe]

Oh, Pam - I like it!!! Good job!

[shakiboo]

Thanks! I spent a couple of hours searching for just the right one, and the second I saw her, I thought she'd be right at home here! lol

[twinsrwe]

You're right, she is perfect. Where is in the world did you find her?

[shakiboo]

Thanks Judy, I finally found her at www.ViewMyArt.com/avatars/Avatars.htm I just went looking for her again, because I didn't think to put it in my favorites list, I was to excited! lol but that's where you'll find her and several more.

[twinsrwe]

Thanks Pam! Very cool web site; I like both of these too...

[shakiboo]

I liked the ones of the men too, they kinda reminded me of what the men would look like in Lizzies day, if ya know what I mean. Of course, the one I got was a lady from the 1800's so the men probably were too. Glad you liked it! I went through several sites before I finally found her.

[1bigsteve]

Pam, on the beginning page of the forum, left side, you will see "Welcome, shakiboo".

When you click your name it will open up where you can change your profile. Part of that profile is the Avatar Control Panel for adding or changing your Avatar.

If you click the "Show Gallery" button you will get a screen of already prepared Avatars. There are other categories on top. Choosing and clicking one of these will automatically add it to your profile.

You can also create one yourself. There are limitations in size (no side can be greater than 90 pixels) and the maximum size in bytes is 9,000. When you create it, save it on your computer, and then use the browse feature to add it to your profile.

You can also "find" one on the web. Again the size limitations come into play.

Harry, how do you "shrink" an avatar so it will be 90 X 90? I have several 100 X 100 I'm tempted to choose from and use. Do we "shrink" the avatar somehow or do we "crop" it? I wouldn't want to damage the original, probably work on a copy somehow. What program do we use to do it, "Paint?"


-1bigsteve (o:

[Shelley]

This site will do it all for you Steve. I set it for 89 in that box just to make sure it will fit. Save it to your My Docs and you are all set to upload it on your profile here.
http://www.shrinkpictures.com/create-avatar/

[1bigsteve]

Thank you Shelley. It works!

Some of the pictures I have show up as black squares when I try them on that site. Maybe they were encoded to prevent copying by the original maker? I'm going to try to shrink/crop those myself and see what happens. At least I got a few shrunk to size. Cool.

Thanks again Shelley.


-1bigsteve (o:

[shakiboo]

Like your new avatar Steve! It's gonna take some getting used to, lol I'll miss the little red guy! He's been around for quite awhile.

[1bigsteve]

Thanks Pam. I like your avatar too. It's nice to see you got one up now. I may have the little red guy up again sometime. I have others I would like to use but when I use Shelley's site to resize them they show up as blank black squares. What gets up my nose is that they are photos of a friend of mine. I got them all from one web site so I'm thinking that there's some sort of "copy block" encoded in them. I'm going to gather some small photos of her and see if I can create my own avatars, if I don't get sued. Oh well it's a project for me.


-1bigsteve (o:

[twinsrwe]

Steve, welcome back - you have been missed. I also like your new avatar, however, your little red guy will be greatly missed - he made it so easy to spot your post, especially if we were looking to quote you, the little red guy told us immediately which post was yours. I hope you will bring him back again, sometime.

[twinsrwe]

Shelley, thanks for providing us with this link. I have not tried it out yet, but it appears to be alot simpler than how I was going about it. Question for you - can you resize animated pics with this link? I really would like to find a link which resizes animated pics.

[Shelley]

No, sadly the animations will not work, I tried one and it will resize only one frame.

[Kat]

Your new Avatar is really nice, Shelley! The other was cool, but could not really see you against the black couch. You look very welcoming- which you are!

[Harry]

There is a free website that will reduce animated gif files. You don't even have to download the program. You upload the gif from your computer, select the size you want and voila, it's done. You can then save the revised size.

http://www.gifworks.com/

It works very well for reducing a gif file to any pixel size you want. Not so sure about the number of bytes however.

[twinsrwe]

No, sadly the animations will not work, I tried one and it will resize only one frame.

Darn it! Oh well, so is life, I appreciate your link anyways. Thanks Shelley.

[twinsrwe]

There is a free website that will reduce animated gif files. You don't even have to download the program. You upload the gif from your computer, select the size you want and voila, it's done. You can then save the revised size.

http://www.gifworks.com/

It works very well for reducing a gif file to any pixel size you want. Not so sure about the number of bytes however.

OMG, Harry - Bless your heart!!! THANK YOU!!! I will do some experimenting with this link tomorrow when I have a little more time and am not so tried. I came down with a head cold yesterday and am about ready to go to bed.

[1bigsteve]

There is a free website that will reduce animated gif files. You don't even have to download the program. You upload the gif from your computer, select the size you want and voila, it's done. You can then save the revised size.

http://www.gifworks.com/

It works very well for reducing a gif file to any pixel size you want. Not so sure about the number of bytes however.

Thanks Harry. I got some cool animated avatars I need to reduce.

Harry, do you have any idea why an avatar would show up as a "black square" when trying to reduce them on Shelley's avatar site? Only the avatars I got from one web site show up black, the rest of my pictures I've collected from other sites reproduce just fine. I have a feeling that their might be some sort of "copy block" encoded in the avatars to prevent me from changing them in any way. When I right click them and chose "properties" it has the same info as any other picture so I can't see anything unusual in their properties. They are all "JPEG." Size is 2.46KB.

Got any ideas? I'm pulling my hair out...

-1bigsteve (o:

[Harry]

Your welcome, Judy. Scream if I can help.

Been battling a terrific cold myself for the last week and a half. If I cough anymore my lungs are going to turn inside out.

[1bigsteve]

Steve, welcome back - you have been missed. I also like your new avatar, however, your little red guy will be greatly missed - he made it so easy to spot your post, especially if we were looking to quote you, the little red guy told us immediately which post was yours. I hope you will bring him back again, sometime.

Thanks Judy. I haven't talked with you in a while. What have you been up to? I hope you are feeling better with that head cold. Don't let it get down into your lungs.

I thought I'd give my little red friend a rest and try other avatars. At last I got a face to go along with the "big" (brown-eyed Georgia) in my name. But I don't know, she keeps staring at me and hasn't blinked all day. She's giving me the creeps. She always had cold eyes. If she wiped that smile off her face I'd turn into a block of ice. I have one of her on stage in concert I will use. I have several I'd like to play with.

-1bigsteve

[Harry]

Harry, do you have any idea why an avatar would show up as a "black square" when trying to reduce them on Shelley's avatar site? Only the avatars I got from one web site show up black, the rest of my pictures I've collected from other sites reproduce just fine. I have a feeling that their might be some sort of "copy block" encoded in the avatars to prevent me from changing them in any way. When I right click them and chose "properties" it has the same info as any other picture so I can't see anything unusual in their properties. They are all "JPEG." Size is 2.46KB.

Got any ideas? I'm pulling my hair out...

Steve, I suspect you are correct and that the images are protected. I've encountered similar problems when sometimes I try to just download an image.

[1bigsteve]

Thank you, Harry. I kind of suspected that. I just needed confirmation. I'll surf the net and see if I can find "un-protected" photos of her and make avatars from scratch. Thanks again, Harry.


-1bigsteve (o:

[shakiboo]

wow Shelley love your avatar! I'm gonna try that next time! Steve, who is that lady in your avatar, she looks so familiar!

[twinsrwe]

Harry, I really appreciate your offer of help if I need it. Thanks. It sounds as if you have one doozy of a cold, too. There are a lot of nasty colds going around right now. How did we get so lucky???

Harry & Steve: I picked my cold up from my husband whose cold did go down into his lungs - he is now on an antibiotic. I am doing everything possible to prevent mine from going into my lungs. So far, it seems I have a much milder cold than my husband. Hopefully it is, anyways - I guess time will tell. Harry, I hope your cold doesn't settle in your lungs. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[twinsrwe]

... I haven't talked with you in a while. What have you been up to?

You're right, Steve, it has been a long time since we've talked, but you were not forgotten by any means. Unfortunately, I have not been doing much of anything except fighting snow fall after snow fall here in Wisconsin. It has been a very depressing and loooong winter. Can't wait for spring to get here so that I can get out and enjoy the outdoors! Funny how I don't find shoveling snow and ice enjoyable!

... I thought I'd give my little red friend a rest and try other avatars. At last I got a face to go along with the "big" (brown-eyed Georgia) in my name. But I don't know, she keeps staring at me and hasn't blinked all day. She's giving me the creeps. She always had cold eyes. If she wiped that smile off her face I'd turn into a block of ice. I have one of her on stage in concert I will use. I have several I'd like to play with.

-1bigsteve

Steve, I love your sense of humor! I think it is a good idea to experiment with different avatars, to see what you prefer - after all, it is your avatar! Good luck in finding one or several that you really enjoy. No one said we couldn't change our avatars, as we see fit!

[1bigsteve]

wow Shelley love your avatar! I'm gonna try that next time! Steve, who is that lady in your avatar, she looks so familiar!

Pam, that lady is British singer/actress Georgia Brown. My "big" in my name is taken from her, "brown-eyed Georgia."

I was dead set against Georgia when seeing her cold face on the inside cover of her 1962 Broadway recording of "Oliver!" I had fell in love with Shani Wallis's "Nancy" in the '68 movie and when I saw Georgia's earlier record her face sent chills up my spine. I felt Georgia couldn't possibly sound as warm and wonderful as Shani Wallis. It took me years before I finally listened to Georgia and boy was I hooked! I was dead wrong about her! I tried writing to tell her how much I loved her music but she had died a couple of months earlier. I felt bad about that and learned not to judge people on the surface. She had a cold face and icy stare but a very warm heart and loved helping others. She was a sweet woman. I wish I had known her.

-1bigsteve (o:

[1bigsteve]

Your welcome, Judy. Scream if I can help.

Been battling a terrific cold myself for the last week and a half. If I cough anymore my lungs are going to turn inside out.

My dad had that cold for three weeks, Harry. My sister had it and ended up in the hospital for treatment. It's a nasty bug floating around. All of my family and friends have had it. I have escaped it so far, probably all the garlic pills I take. I hope you, and the rest of you people, get to feeling better soon.

-1bigsteve (o:

[Harry]

Thanks bigsteve, I appreciate that. It's been a LONG ordeal, very tiring.

[Shelley]

I hope you and Blackie are on the mend! The flu went through my gang last week. I hope the recent cold spell has killed all the bugs up here. Chicken soup, Harry! That's the answer!

[twinsrwe]

... Chicken soup, Harry! That's the answer!

I agree, Shelley. When I get a head cold all I want is Chicken Noodle soup, along with few crackers, and green tea!

[twinsrwe]

Harry, I hope you are feeling better soon. Have you been to see a doctor or given your doctor a phone call? Perhaps an antibiotic is in order.

[Harry]

Thanks Shelley and Judy. Slowly feeling a little better. Just very tired.

Ironically I think I caught it at the doctor's office. Was doing okay until then.

Blackie's eye is pretty much the same. Have to administer two steroid eye drops daily. When this bottle runs out I have to wait 2 weeks before bringing her back to the Vet. She is also on some food supplement. She still seems able to see out of the eye and is eating and functioning fairly normal. She sleeps a lot but then again what cat doesn't.

[twinsrwe]

I'm glad you are feeling a little better, Harry. Wouldn't you know it - the doctor's office is full of lovely thing for us to pick up, isn't it? Sleep is probably the best thing you can do to beat this thing.

My husband is going through the same thing - can't seem to get enough sleep, although he is coughing a lot less since going on the antibiotic. Luckily, I have a much milder cold than my husband does and I am feeling much better.

I hope Blackie's eye gets better soon. Nothing like both of you being sick at the same time, huh?

[twinsrwe]

There is a free website that will reduce animated gif files. You don't even have to download the program. You upload the gif from your computer, select the size you want and voila, it's done. You can then save the revised size.

http://www.gifworks.com/

It works very well for reducing a gif file to any pixel size you want. Not so sure about the number of bytes however.

Well, I did some experimenting with this link and was able to resize my animated pic to 90 x 80 pixels, but, of course, the 17.7 KB is still too big! I continued to resize it until I got it down to 57 x 51 with an 83.3 KB. Now I can't get it to upload in my profile!!!

Here is the animated Laural & Hardy gif I'd like to use as an avatar. The larger image is the size I started with, the smaller is the final resized image. (Click on the larger image to animated). Hmmm, something I notice after posting these images is that the feet of both Laural & Hardy as well as Hardy's left hand appear to be 'cropped' off rather than just a resizing of the entire image. The smaller image is also distorted.

Maybe it is a good thing I couldn't upload the smaller image in my profile!

[1bigsteve]

Can you try it at "90 X 90?" Maybe the "80" is cutting off the feet ("over-square")?

Maybe it was too much of a reduction to get any clarity. It would be cool if you could get it to stabilize, it looks like a funny routine. It reminds me of that cool dance step Shelley Long does in "Troop Beverly Hills." I love those two.

-1bigsteve (o:

[shakiboo]

oh wow that's cool Judy! I've been working on getting a picture of my grand-daughter and I posted but haven't done it yet. Between the phone ringing and company over, haven't been able to yet.

[twinsrwe]

Can you try it at "90 X 90?" Maybe the "80" is cutting off the feet ("over-square")?

The program won't let me do a 90 x 90. Once you feed in the width, the program automatically plugs in the height; if you change the height it automatically changes the width. The 90 x 80 image shows both Laurel & Hardy in full view, however, this image has a 17.7 KB. Since the upload section in our profile calls for an image no larger than 90 x 90 with a 9 KB, I had to down size it until the KB was 9 or less.

BTW: Here is what the 90 x 80 with the 17.7 KB image looks like... (Click on image to animate).

[twinsrwe]

... it looks like a funny routine. ...

Laurel & Hardy are such a hoot - ya gotta love um!!! Actually, the image above was taken off the internet. The dance is from Laurel & Hardy's Way Out West; here is one of the YouTube videos:

1:55 minutes ~ Laurel & Hardy - Way Out West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arajua9lxYA

Makes you want make some popcorn and watch more of these talented guys, doesn't it?

[twinsrwe]

oh wow that's cool Judy! I've been working on getting a picture of my grand-daughter and I posted but haven't done it yet. Between the phone ringing and company over, haven't been able to yet.

Thanks, Pam; that is one of my favorite images of Laurel & Hardy.

I hope you can upload the picture of your grand-daughter and you. That would be so cool!!!

[william]

Harry,

I hope you, and Blackie, ae recovering. My girl Blacky has had a runny eye since she was born, about ten or twelve years ago. She has annual trips to the vet, but they say the can do nothing for her. It's something that black cats are prone to, or so I'm told.

[william]

Harry,

I hope you, and Blackie, ae recovering. My girl Blacky has had a runny eye since she was born, about ten or twelve years ago. She has annual trips to the vet, but they say the can do nothing for her. It's something that black cats are prone to, or so I'm told.

[shakiboo]

Me too, Harry, hope your both doing better! You must have been feeling under the weather and still took the time to help me out with my avatar! Thanks once again, and hope your doing better!