[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Stone Mill:
Questions:

1. Do you start with a canned set of tasks / filters when creating avatars, that you use in order; (i.e., blur, resize, sharpen)... are there effects that you use most often?

2. I see you often use .gifs; I was taught that .jpgs were better for photo/picture art. What is your opinion on these graphics formats?

A1: This pic will tell you exactly how I make my avatars from images I find on the net,.. (using my favorite art program, ArtGem)



A2: When dealing with avatars here at the intel forums I'm limited to .gif and .jpg as the accepted file formats. jpeg's are a 'loss compression' format, and although in many cases very good with 'pictures' it tends to fuzz out compared to the original .bmp format that I usually work with. It has been my experience that a gif with an 'optimized' palette is much better for the small pic size of the avatars. (48x48) the avatars are able to retain most if not all of their 'sharpness' when saved.

I hope this answeres your questions to your satisfaction.

Cheers!