How to Make My Facebook Photo Look Like an Avatar
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By Melissa Worcester
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Many online communities allow users to use an avatar to accompany their user name. Facebook, however, encourages users to use their own names and pictures. While the use of your own name is actually a rule on Facebook, you can use any picture for your profile picture as long as it's not an image someone else owns the copyright to, or an image that is offensive according to Facebook's rules.
What is an Avatar?
The word "avatar" refers to the embodiment or representation of a person. Online and in the computer gaming culture, the term "avatar" has come to mean a character someone uses when they plan a role-playing game, or any illustration that represents a user in an online community. Facebook refers to user's pictures as their "profile picture" but many people use pictures that are not of themselves, and some use images that look like avatars.
How to Make an Avatar
You can make an avatar in many ways. Some people find a picture of a character they like and use that as an avatar. If you are good at drawing or have a friend who is, you can scan in a caricature-type drawing of yourself. Or you can use an online avatar-creation app, such as Face Your Manga (faceyourmanga.it), Doppel Me (doppelme.com), or Marvel's Create Your Own Superhero (marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero). Make sure the image you create fits the image requirements for Facebook, or convert it to a format that does using image editing software.
Facebook Profile Picture Requirements
File formats you can use to upload photos and images to Facebook include BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF and JPEG. The image file should be smaller than 15 Mb. A Facebook profile picture must be at least 180 pixels wide. If it is not square, make sure that the longer dimension is less than three times the shorter dimension, or Facebook won't allow you to upload it.
How to Upload Avatar
Visit your Facebook Profile page and hold your cursor over the top right corner of the profile picture. Click on the icon that looks like a pencil. Click on the Browse button and navigate to the location of the avatar file on your computer. Select the photo by clicking on it, click to put a check mark in the box that says you have the right to use the image and that it is not an image that does not pass Facebook's terms of service, and then click on "Upload Picture." It will upload and become your profile picture.
TechTerms.com: Avatar
Facebook Help Center: How do I upload a profile picture?
Face Your Manga
Doppel Me
Create Your Own Superhero (Marvel)
Melissa Worcester is a mom, freelance writer and graphic designer. She has been writing professionally for over 18 years and earning a part-time income writing for various websites since 2007. She writes about technology issues, business and marketing, home improvement, education and family topics and assists in her husband's home remodeling business. Worcester has a Bachelor of Arts in communications and psychology from Syracuse University.
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1 How to Put an Avatar in PowerPoint
2 Instructions for Changing the Avatar on Facebook
3 Why Are My High Res Photos Looking Funny on Facebook?
4 How to Make My Own Avatars for Facebook