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The Online Avatar Makers I Love!

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Picture yourself online

There are so many online avatar/character creators online, it's hard to keep track of them all. Indeed, it's also hard to even find them.

As a writer, I like to picture my characters on paper, and since I can't draw for anything, I turn to these nifty tools to make my characters literally come to life.

But that's only one use. Are you part of an RPG that you need to depict yourself for? Do you have a chat program that needs an image of you, and none of your photos will do? Do you just want to go crazy making pictures of your different personalities for whatever?

Read on for what I consider to be the best online avatar makers online, and don't forget to rate this Lens!

Who are you going to be?

http://www.subetahq.com/wardrobe/

Lunaii Dollmaker

Cute - with some attitude!

Lunaii - Dollmaker

From Lunaii's Dollmaker Website:
Lunaii is a dress up games and dollmaker website, showcasing original flash games. All of the content, from the coloring pages to the dress up games, is meant to be cute and safe for children.

Quick Review
I like this one especially. There are enough options so you don't feel frustrated that you can't find your "look", but not too many options that you get overwhelmed. I spent about 10 minutes picking out a cute avatar that I like, and that's all I really want to spend on a site like this.

Price: FREE!
As always!

Overall Rating: Rock On!

PickAFace.net

Relatively accurate and attractive

PickAFace.net

From the Face Your Manga website:
Pickaface.net is a free web application to create avatars online.

Quick Review
I like this one. It was very easy to create my avatar and not feel like I had to compromise on the features I chose. I wish for more hairstyles and a way to move/resize features without having to use my keyboard, but that's about it!

Price: FREE
So free it was like STEALING! I created the avatar, it asked for my name, a nickname and an email, and sent the sucker right to me. No screen-capping, no right-click-save-as work, just simple, send it to me and let me use it bliss. BLISS!

Overall Rating: Thumbs Up!

Face Your Manga

When your head shot just isn't cutting it

Face Your Manga

From the Face Your Manga website:
Face Your Manga allows you to create an Avatar for your self or your friends in an absolutely free, easy and quick way.

You will be able to use it with the most common Instant Messaging Programmes, such as LiveMessenger®, Skype®, AIM®, Yahoo!® Messenger, ICQ®, MySpaceIM® and many more...

You can use it on mobile phone, Forum, mySpace®, Chat, Blog and wherever you want in the virtual world. With Face your Manga you can create on-line your virtual alter-ego without needing an artistic knowledge and to download any kind of software on your computer.

Quick Review
My personal experience with Face Your Manga was that it was easy to use with enough options to customize my avatar just the way I wanted to, without feeling overwhelmed.

Price: FREE
It's completely free, there's no signing up required, and they e-mail you your graphic when you're done. You don't need to know how to do anything besides click, type in your e-mail, and Save As...

The best part was that I didn't need to download a chat program, or some sort of spyware that was going to hijack my computer. I felt safe using this web-based flash program to create an avatar.

Overall Rating: LOVED IT!

Gaia Dream Avatar

I like to call it Character Creator

Gaia Dream Avatar

If you use Gaia Online, then you've probably seen this character creator before. I've personally not used it, but it seems similar to SecondLife, where "you can be who you want without reality in the way."

Quick Review
Gaia Dream Avatar creator can be overwhelming with the multitude of choices it provides. However, with the intent of creating individual characters for either Gaia online or (personally) for my novels, it's wonderful to have so many options. And there are new ones appearing all the time.

Price: FREE!
It's free, except there may be a caveat for that if you use Gaia online. Each avatar comes out with an estimated value in GaiaOnline Pricing. So if you're using your avatar simply for that, then you may find you need to "earn" GaiaOnline funds to use your avatar there.

Once again, you aren't downloading any programs to your computer, and you're merely clicking Save As to save your avatar to your computer.

Overall Rating: AWESOME!

How do you use your avatars?

My favorite way to use the avatars I've found is for my novels - I love visualizing my characters this way. What unique ways do you use your avatars? Drop a line below and let everyone vote on their favorite!

Most Unique Use of Avatars

Online or Off

Do you make paper dolls for your kids? Do you stage virtual wars with your friends? Tell us your unique way of using the online avatars you create, then scroll down for more reviews and examples!

1

Vote Up

Vote Down

Meez

Earn Coins to get clothes and items, online chat and more...2 points

2

Vote Up

Vote Down

Trendy Jewelry

Trendy Jewelry

Charming Charlie is a women's fashion more...2 points

3

pinoyAbroad

A one-of-a-kind forum created for Filipinos working more...0 points

Interact with fellow singles and read dating articles more...0 points

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Hero Machine

Because everyone needs a hero

HeroMachine

Also available:
HeroMachine Classic
HeroMachine Real Life
HeroMachine Rock Star
HeroMachine Pin-up

From the HeroMachine website:
More accessories, more character templates, more features, more fun with the new and improved HeroMachine! We've taken our HeroMachine to the next level. Bring your dream character to life now!

Quick Review
I've used HeroMachine for character creation also - although when I first used it, there weren't nearly as many options as there are available today. And there are so many different versions, you're really going to be able to be kept busy at this site!

Price: FREE!
Really, do you think I'd include any avatar creators on here that weren't free? Well, perhaps I would, but I haven't found any good ones yet. Once again, HeroMachine is free!

No downloads required to use this program. However, to save your finished Hero, you'll need to either do a screencap (push the Prnt Scrn button on your keyboard, then open your graphic editing program and paste the image in a new file), or print the Hero as a PDF (use CutePDFWriter or PDF995) and then copy the image from there into your graphic editing program (benefits: higher resolution graphic possible).

Overall Rating: FIVE THUMBS UP!

Portrait Mail

Send your picture, get back an avatar

Portrait Mail

From the Portrait Mail website:
Please fill your age in the Subject field and attatch a photo of your face to the mail.

The photo you've sent to us has been deleted automatically just as the process has been completed.

The photo is processed by the program without anybody seeing it. So you can rest assured.

Quick Review
Despite that rather clinical description, that's exactly what the website does for you. I sent my picture in, and only four minutes later it came back to me. You can see that it didn't come back exactly as I expected, however it did come back, quickly, and partially resembling me!

Price: FREE!
Yep, free again! And quick, and maybe if you didn't have a funky pose like I do, it would come out better. I'd love to see other people's results!

No downloads required, you just have to e-mail your picture in with your age in the subject line. In fact, the website only seems to have one page (aside from FAQ, TOS, and Business Applications). Quick and dirty - I like it!

Overall Rating: QUIRKY AND FUN!

“TRIVIA: The word "AVATAR" can be typed entirely with the left hand!”

OurDolls @ DollWiz.com

OMG, like, I remember these!

OurDolls @ DollWiz.com

From the DollWiz.com Website:
1. Drag items on desk
2. Move items, add text, change background and colors
3. Save your image and generate AIM and MSN avatars!

Quick Review
Yes, it really is that easy! Actually, the coolest thing about this particular avatar/doll maker is that I remember this from when I was new to the 'Net (back half of the '90's), and E/N sites were plentiful. (Am I dating myself yet?) You had to go around and save all these transparent graphics to your computer, then cr- wait...buy, you had to BUY - a version of Paint Shop Pro to piece the graphics together into this neat, Bratz-type doll.

Now you can do it all online! The Internet ROCKS!

Price: FREE!
What, you really still think I'll put something on here that costs something besides your time? Oh, yes, they do all suck your time away. Sorry for not mentioning that before. :)

Anyway, this one is cool, but I'm going to go try the next one - you go ahead with this while you wait.

Overall Rating: OLD SCHOOL ROCKS!

Disclaimer: This author does not promote using software without paying for it. This author does have a sense of humor, however, and hopes her readers do, too.

DollWiz.com

A somewhat updated version of the above

DollWiz.com

From the DollWiz.com Website:
1. Drag items on desk
2. Move items, add text, change background and colors
3. Save your image and generate AIM and MSN avatars!

Quick Review
Okay, so it works basically as the one above - click and drag your pieces around and clothe a body you pick pre-made. Honestly, my only complaint about these is that they are difficult to navigate. It's not insurmountable if this is just what you're looking for. And you can also upload your own pixel clothes and make them available to the public.

Price: FREE!
Yep. 'Nary an ad in site.

Overall Rating: Definite Potential!

Create My Picture

The first avatar head I ever loved

Create My Picture

From the Create My Picture Website:
Make your quality cartoon Avatar Look-alike here free!

Need an avatar for your Myspace, blog or forum? Or maybe you want one just for fun! Use the Flash avatar maker to produce a high quality cartoon look-alike.

Quick Review
This may not be the original site for this particular avatar maker - I've found it online twice, now, and figured this looked like the most likely candidate.

This is a basic avatar head shot, but there's tons of combinations to be made. I like it because it was my first avatar maker, and I must have created fifteen of them that first night as LiveJournal mood icons. Very fun. Perhaps not as rockin' as some of the others, but definitely worth the time.

Price: FREE!
Yes!

Overall Rating: Loved it then, still fun today!

eLouai's Maple Story Avatar Maker

Cute and tiny, but packs a punch!

eLouai's Maple Story Avatar Maker

From eLouai's Maple Story Avatar Maker Website:
Maple Story a large Massive Multiplayer 2-D fantasy based game. Launched in 2004, and has a few million users. It's completely free, and it looks like a great game.

Huh. Not much about the avatar maker, but okay!

Quick Review
It's strength is creating short, squat, cute little full-body avatars, and I had fun here. I've never heard of Maple Story, but that's never stopped me before!

There are actually tons of avatar makers on eLouai's site, so many that I don't currently have the time to list them all right now. But go on over yourself and take a look!

Price: FREE!
Awesome!

Overall Rating: CUTE!

eLouai's Candybar Doll Maker 3

My new absolute favorite doll maker!

eLouai's Candybar Doll Maker 3

From eLouai's Candybar Doll Maker 3 Website:
The third installment of our latest Candybar doll maker

Have fun with our dressup game, accessorizing your "doll" in the latest designer outfits, sending them in an email to a friend, print them, save them as a GIF, PNG or JPEG.

Quick Review
There is a plethora of options with this doll maker, but it is my new favorite! I had plenty of options, and they were easy to switch on and off.

Added bonus, someone had taken the time to not just show the item you'd be "trying on", but made it into this little fashion icon. It's hard to describe - just check out the shoes, and if you're familiar with avatar makers, you'll see what I mean!

Price: FREE!
Could it get any better than this? I don't think so!

Overall Rating: I LOVE IT!

Unique, by Rasterboy

Definitely unique!

Unique, by Rasterboy

From Rasterboy's Website:
A custom character generator that goes as far as your imagination!

Quick Review
This one is not bad. I think if I could position the mouths further up on the face and if the hair had a little more work done to it to make it look better, I would be happy with this product. As it is, I had a hard time finding features and clothing that I really liked. But there's a tool out there for everyone - this one just isn't for me! It could be your favorite - I'd love to hear if it is!

Price: FREE!
What is the opposite of "cha-ching"? Oh yes - silence!

Overall Rating: I prefer others.

Cartoonize My Pet

The Catoonizer

Cartoonize My Pet

From The CatoonizerWebsite:
Create your own cartoon cats (small dogs, larger pets, scaly friends) and place them on our full range of customizable products!

Quick Review
Well, you know I love my cats. This site is more than an avatar maker - basically, you're creating your pet to put it on products that you will then want to buy from the creator's Zazzle store, earning them profit. So it's free, but not free. But - I'm a sucker for cute animals, and I was able to use my fabulous Jing tool to crop out my cat picture for my personal use (here). There's no way to save the animals so you can use them for icons or avatars on other sites, though, and for that, I'm going to have to say BOO!

Price: FREE!
But only if you don't buy the products with the image you create.

Overall Rating: CUTE! (but Disappointing)

Other Avatar Makers

Worthy of mention

There are tons of avatar makers out there. Here are some that are worthy of a mention here. They're all free, online based programs suitable for use...well, just about everywhere!

Block Head Iconizer: Make yourself look like a plastic LEGO® figurine. Just the head, though.
Pimp My doll: If you want to make yourself look like a teenage model, this is your spot. Very small icon size is a bit of a down side.
Portrait Avatar Maker: Make a little version of yourself with odd proportions, complete with backgrounds.
Portrait Illustration Maker: Very similar to the version listed above, this is just a head and shoulders avatar. Much improved over the squat body version, in my opinion.
Otaku Avatar Maker: Same company as before, I'd bet money on it. This is a fanboy/fangirl version of yourself - very anime and cute!
Portrait Icon Maker: Again - abi-station.com comes through with another little icon maker - this time, your character is sitting down for the fun!

Show me yours!

I've shown you my icons...it's only fair!

I want to see your awesome avatars! If you have a great collection, I want to see those, too! Post your links, let me see your lenses! I'll try to visit them all!

submit

Reply

Milanho Jan 31, 2012 @ 3:43 pm | delete

Nice lens.

Reply

desa999 Jan 30, 2012 @ 12:44 am | delete

Great resource, most of which I hadn;t seen before.

Reply

Wordwinder Dec 12, 2011 @ 11:36 pm | delete

Useful content presented in an extremely pleasing manner. Great lens.

Reply

seosmm Nov 27, 2011 @ 6:35 am | delete

Cool ideas for avatars. Very nice lens!

Reply

lukism Nov 11, 2011 @ 4:29 am | delete

Check out mine! They are Tinkas - made in the most customizable avatar maker ever!=) Made on Tinkatolli's website: https://www.tinkatolli.me/tinkamaker/gallery/tinkaluke/

Reply

lextasy2 Nov 9, 2011 @ 7:56 pm | delete

One resource that I find to be really useful for 3d characters is mixamo.com. They have a free avatar creator that lets you customize avatars online and import them back into pretty much any game engine or 3D software. Its a professional quality avatar creator. They also have a huge collection of customizable 3D animations that can be applied to the characters. Ive used their characters for my latest game and its really easy to import back into the program and export to Unity. Ive saved a bunch of time on animating the characters in my mobile game.

Reply

Pukeko Oct 24, 2011 @ 6:19 am | delete

These avatar makers are really cool. Blessed :)
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by niicki

niicki

Writing is my life, but it is not enough. I also parent, read, sleep, and love. (Not necessarily in that order.) ;)

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Squidoo

The Online Avatar Makers I Love!

Picture yourself online

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Lunaii Dollmaker

Cute - with some attitude!

PickAFace.net

Relatively accurate and attractive

Face Your Manga

When your head shot just isn't cutting it

Gaia Dream Avatar

I like to call it Character Creator

How do you use your avatars?

Most Unique Use of Avatars

Online or Off

1

Meez

2

Trendy Jewelry

3

http://extendedstayhotelsinchicago.blogspot.com/

4

Evening Primrose Oil Benefits

5

Diablo III

6

http://freevideomaker.net

7

Free Itunes Gift Cards

8

Happy Nappers

9

Spine Treatment

10

Compare Hotel Prices

11

Continuing Education

12

jewelocean.com

13

Spam the crap out of people

14

single parents dating

15

http://freevideomaker.net

16

chatsingle

17

Online dating

18

Dating Service Internet

19

http://www.datingsitesfree.net/

20

online dater

21

http://www.babygames123.com

22

Good

23

http://www.seekingpersonals.net/

24

single parents dating

25

Medical Outsourcing

26

Dating Service Internet

27

Dating Service Internet

28

find a man

29

Dating Sites Free

30

relationship work

31

adult dating

32

ofw dating