GIFWorks Lets You Create Fun and Easy Avatars
We’ve already discussed the importance of having a compelling avatar for your blog. Even if you agree it’s a good idea to have an image that represents the true you; it’s easy to put off creating one. You might even be stuck in the mud because you can’t think of an image that would suit you.
Well, this might give you some incentive to move that project to the front burner: There’s a great online application called GIFWorks that allows you to create free images you can use as avatars and have a blast while you do it.
GIFWorks is easy to use, even if you have no graphics experience. The only requirement is that you modify a .gif file. (You probably already guessed that from the site name.) It also goes without saying that you have to have permission to use the photo. You can use one of your own, or you can choose one from Stock.Xchng, which offers quality photos for no charge.
There are are a variety of looks that can be obtained through the GIFWorks application. To show you its capabilities, I’ve taken a photo of my nephew and turned it into the following five distinct icons. The GIFWorks features used to create them appear next to each avatar. There are different versions of GIFWorks for Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE), so I’ve included the features paths for each. Click on any of the icons to see the full-size image.
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IE: Effects menu /Artist Medium / Cartoon Strip
Firefox: Effects menu / Cartoon Strip_
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______
__________
IE: Effects menu /Artist Medium / Raster
Firefox: Effects menu / Raster
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__________________
________________
IE: Effects menu /Color / Colorshift
Firefox: Effects menu / Colorshift
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__________________
IE: Effects menu /Sharpness / Sharpen/Unsharpen, then Effects menu / Offset / Shadow, then Warp / Sphere
Firefox: All on Effects menu: Sharp/Unsharp, then Shadow, then Sphere_______
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________________________
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IE: E: Effects menu / Offset / 3D Glasses
Firefox: Effects menu / 3D Glasses___________
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These examples (plus many more that didn’t make the final cut) took under an hour — and I had a great time playing while I made them. I hope these inspire you to experiment with GIFWorks and create a little fun of your own!
You might also be interested in these other resources on WordPlay:
- Free clip art
- Free photos
- Free cartoons
- Avatar Central, your home for free images, image software and information about avatars
Copyright 2007 WordPlayBlog.com
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December 27th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Free Online App Creates Fun and Easy Avatars
If you’ve been putting off creating a distinctive avatar for your blog, wait no more. This free online application will let you create one in a snap.
This is a great tool if you don’t have a lot of graphics skills — or even if you do. It’s fun to…
December 27th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
[...] bookmarks tagged fun Online App Lets You Create a Fun, Fast and Easy Av… saved by 2 others gremlinhellfire bookmarked on 12/27/07 | [...]
January 12th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
[...] if you want to modify images or create avatars with them, see our posts about the free BeFunky and GIFWorks online [...]
January 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
[...] our GIFWorks review or go to GIFWorks [...]
March 4th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
[...] Online App Lets You Create a Fun, Fast and Easy Avatar ___________ We’ve moved! You can now find this page at http://wordplayblog.com/online-app-lets-you-create-a-fun-fast-and-easy-avatar/ [...]