Guide to Making Avatars with Adobe Illustrator

[Peregrine]

RawBear's got it right -- I ran into the same problem. That's why it's step 8 of Getting Sodipodi in my guide. ;)

[RoosterEgg]

Man, I wish I'd found this thread before I went and spent an eternity tinkering with Illustrator... I finally got it on my own though. =^__^= I just wanted to say, if you don't have photoshop, you can make lines around the border of your picture, then use the arrow to go back and make them all white. This way, the entire thing get's saved because the program recognizes that there are pieces around the actual picture. Then, just go to file,export, and save it as a jpg. Don't forget to set the color model to RBG on the mini-screen that pops up after you click save. It might leave the background white, but it keeps your picture the right size. Oh, and my avatar just looks oddly small because... well, let's say I made a boo-boo. :P

(I did have photoshop, but a friend borrowed it, never returned it, moved, and then it stoped working when I made a new user on my comp. and deleted the old one; with no disk to reinstall it, I was... well... >.< )

[Sneak]

Actually, Zhymerra, when you click Save for Web, click the Image Size tab, then there should be something that says Clip to Artboard with a box next to it. Check the box, and your avatar will automatically have a transparent background, and be 117 by 117.

[Estrogen]

You could also always just go onto Shareaza or DC++ and look for something along the lines of... oh....

"adobe illustrator CS full version + keygen"

replace "illustrator" with "photoshop" for desired effect.

Obviously, this is illegal in most countries, so, you know... don't tell 'em I told ya :-X

[RawBearNYC]

You could also always just go onto Shareaza or DC++ and look for something along the lines of... oh....

"adobe illustrator CS full version + keygen"

replace "illustrator" with "photoshop" for desired effect.

Obviously, this is illegal in most countries, so, you know... don't tell 'em I told ya :-X

Be careful of downloading keygen programs to unlock expensive commercial software from file sharing networks. Frequently, they will contain trojan horse programs designed to compromize your system. I strongly reccomend that if you're not diligent in keeping your virus software up to date, you avoid this practice.

[Estrogen]

EDIT: I made a topic about this in Friendly Banter :)

I just made my new avatar ;D I like it a lot



Which one should I use? I like the background, but it makes it a little difficult to see the character. What do you think?


EDIT: Also, RawBear is right. When downloading anything, there is always a risk of virus infection. If you're going to download programs, make sure you do a throughou virus scan before unzipping or installing it.

[Adghar]

I can't believe I have a better answer to something than Gorby, however old his answer was, but to Gnasher, instead of using multiple line tools, select the Pen and then place anchor points. Illustrator connects each point you place with a straight line, then you can hover the mouse over your starting anchor point to connect it and make a full shape which you can even fill with color easily.

[The_King_of_Durf]

I don't think Gnasher's even here anymore...
Oh, by the way, Sneak or Peregrine or one of the other animators, perhaps you could post a guide on how to use that program (GIMP, I think) here. It might come in handy.

[Adghar]

Well maybe other people could use the advice on how to draw wierd polygons.

And I think they already said something on how to make each layer a frame and do random stuff with the frame names then save.

[Sneak]

I don't use Gimp. I use some free mac program I just found on the web while I was searching for a gif maker, and it always comes it with a colored background. So Peregrine's a lot better at that than me. Plus, the program I use is basically self explanatory.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

I actually discovered a better way to do it than my original answer or Adghar's suggestion of the pencil tool, in fact.

Draw the general shape with the pencil, then select the object and go to the "Object" menu, go down to path, then select "Simplify." For straight-line polygons, simply select that toggle (Straight Lines). I suggest clicking Preview as well and playing with the Angle Threshold. You can adjust the shape later using the anchor point select tool (the white pointer). You can also adjust curves by leaving the "Straight Lines" toggle unchecked and playing with Curve Precision as well.

Additionally, its best not to try and make a closed polygon right from the start. Leave one side open and use the Join option under Object -> Path to close it later.

As an example on how to make a sword...

Step 1: Select the Pencil tool, and set the outline color to black and two pixels, and choose a gray for the fill. Now, draw a rough sword-blade shape with the pencil.

Step 2: Select the sword, then select Object->Path->Simplify. Toggle Straight Lines and Preview boxes, and adjust the Angle Threshhold until you have five anchor points (this lets you have the long portions and the point of the blade).

Step 3: Select the object with the white pointer (anchor point tool). Move the points until you have the blade shaped how you like.

Step 4: Draw in a guard (straight line, or perhaps a curve), and a hilt - make sure to choose a different fill color for the hilt, and to have no fill for simple guards (some guards will have fills).

Step 5: Make sure the guard is above the blade and hilt on the layers. Simplfy the paths of both the guard and hilt to taste.

Step 6: Select all three objects and Group them (Object->Group) or Right Click it and select Group. Now you can treat the sword as a single object.

With these steps and some practice, you can make a lot of different swords:


And all kinds of other weapons:

[erisian]

Really cool, Gorbash! Thanks for posting that and I applaud your clear insturctions.

[Sneak]

Thanks, Gorbash! I didn't know about that, I'll keep it in mind. And yes, your armory looks awesome!

[Pop Goes the Weasel]

I'm getting the trial version of Illustrator, and I may buy it (only 50 bucks, I thought it'd be like 300!). But for now, I'm stuck with Sodipodi, th on program that finds it funny if I try to make anything much more complex than a circle or rectangle. In the mean time, could someone give me an SVG file of a female torso?

[Adghar]

If anyone ever wants to do a fancomic, I have advice for making text bubbles: First, type out the text. There is no telling how much space you need until you type it out. To make the text, you'll probably want to use Comic Sans MS in size 10 or so font (to do this, hold CTRL and press T, though it may be different for mac users). Then, draw a circle around the text. Unless you've selected no fill, the circle will cover the text. No problem. Just hold CTRL and Shift at the same time, then press the left bracket key ("["). Now the circle will be behind the text. Make sure the circle has a white fill. Now, you can adjust circle and text to your needs. To indicate who is speaking, the process is simple. You'll need 3 anchor points (the little dots connecting paths, click Direct Select and click on the circle to see them) so we'll be using the Add Anchor Point tool which is a sub-command of the Pen (Hold down the pen tool to see the sub-commands, then move your mouse over the pen with a plus sign over it and release the mouse button). Once you have that equipped, make sure you can see the paths of the circle. Then, click on 3 places in the path. The first and last new anchor points should be sized apart the amount you want the width of the indication stretch to be and be put on a place on the circle's path near the character you are indicating, like so (the image is a bit large so you can skip if you know what I mean): here
So anyways, the middle anchor point should be between the first and last ones. Now, click the Direct Selection tool (top of your tray full of tools that should be on the left, looks like a mouse pointer with white fill) and drag the middle anchor point out towards the character that is speaking. Now you have a fully working text bubble! Hooray!

Note: For titles you probably want to use the default font, Myriad.

[Sneak]

I'm getting the trial version of Illustrator, and I may buy it (only 50 bucks, I thought it'd be like 300!). But for now, I'm stuck with Sodipodi, th on program that finds it funny if I try to make anything much more complex than a circle or rectangle. In the mean time, could someone give me an SVG file of a female torso?

Sorry, I would if I could, but I don't know how to make an SVG file. And also, Illustrator doesn't cost 50 bucks! Does it!?

[Pop Goes the Weasel]

I decided not to get it, but yes, it's 50 on amazon!

[Adghar]

Save as... "SVG" (below the naming thing)

Banjhulu, if you could PM me your e-mail, I could give you a nice SVG of a female avatar though the body is a bit small.

[Ego Slayer]

"The shape tools are also good for making perfect shapes, if you want to make a head for your avatar, when you select the circle tool you can set the size of the circle you want. 44 by 44 pixels is a good size for the head."--

Where exactly am I to find this tool? I've been playing with AI lately but still can't find it. ???

[RawBearNYC]

I was playing with Sodipodi and Inkscape a bit lately. I think I like Inkscape more than Sodipodi, but I discovered something in Sodipodi that people might find interesting:

You can set the "Page" to 117 x 117 pixels. It's a bit hidden tho.

In the upper left hand corner of the Sodipodi document window (where you draw your picture) there's a little triangle pointing to the right. Left click it and a menu will come up. Select "Dialogs" from that menu and you'll see "Document".



When the Document dialog box opens, you can set the size of your document. Make sure the top Paper-size says "Custom" and Units says "Points". Then type 117 into both Width and Height.



Then you shouldn't have trouble making an avatar that looks right on the site!

[Sneak]

"The shape tools are also good for making perfect shapes, if you want to make a head for your avatar, when you select the circle tool you can set the size of the circle you want. 44 by 44 pixels is a good size for the head."--

Where exactly am I to find this tool? I've been playing with AI lately but still can't find it. ???

You know the square tool? There should be a little arrow in the corner of the box that has the square tool. Drag and hold that, and you can then change the tool to make different shapes: star, circle, etc.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

You know the square tool? There should be a little arrow in the corner of the box that has the square tool. Drag and hold that, and you can then change the tool to make different shapes: star, circle, etc.

You have to select it and then mess with it using options under the "Effects" menu to get the other shapes, btw.

[Peregrine]

I was playing with Sodipodi and Inkscape a bit lately. I think I like Inkscape more than Sodipodi, but I discovered something in Sodipodi that people might find interesting:

:o

RawBear, I could kiss you (...if I, err, weren't allergic to uncooked ursines). It even has a manual XML editor! :D

[RawBearNYC]

:o

RawBear, I could kiss you (...if I, err, weren't allergic to uncooked ursines). It even has a manual XML editor! :D

*Plants a big kiss right on Peregrine's forehead then gives him a shot from an epipen*

[Searian_Taladon]

If you are really masochistic (like me) you can make an avatar using Microsoft Visio and then resize and convert it to gif in Photoshop. One bored afternoon at work resulted in my avatar, which I made after I found out Rich didn't want his art used in avatars elsewhere.

[Elethiomel]

I just wanted to give a big thanks to you guide-writers, and to Searian Taladon who pointed me to this thread.

<-- Shiny!

[Nihility]

HUZZAH! After many a hour of trial and error, I have finally finished my new avatar using Inkscape (which was sort of annoying as it has no paintbrush tool). I use linux so no adobe.. that and I didn't want to buy it anyway. Lemme know what you think.
Hmm.. seems I need to fix it so it doesn't have the white background..

Edit: I've converted the image to a .gif but it still has the white BG.. arg.. i guess i'll read through the rest of the pages to see if anyone already answered this, but if you're feeling nice, please let me know. thanks.

I'm using The Gimp, not Photoshop btw.

[Flak_Razorwill]

I'm using sodipodi, and converting the files to .gif via photoshop 7.0

Whenever I finish the conversion, the pics always end up all pixelly. How do I solve this?

EDIT: Also in irfanview, too. I try to keep the pixel resolution as high as possible, but no dice.

[Ikkitosen]

Okay, so not strictly an avatar question, but an Adobe Illustrator question:

I'm trying to draw a line that gradually expands as it moves away from its origin, like a slightly diverging beam of light. I could do this by drawing a really thin triangle, but I was wondering if there was an effect I could add to the line tool line that would accomplish this, maybe by defining the angle of divergence and the the line and fill colours as usual. Anyone know if this is possible? It'd be a big help.

Cheers in advance,

Ikki.

[Kylenpc]

Where do you get adobe illistrater.