make your own buddy icons

Begin with an image that has a suffix "gif" or "jpg" or "bmp." You can find thousands of images to choose from on the internet or use one or several Nick Jr. Buddy Icons. (Be sure not to use an image or logo that is legally protected by a copyright or other terms-of-use restrictions.) Place or save the image on your desktop.

Chances are your computer already has some design software installed that will allow you to open the image, edit it, and resize it. Microsoft Paint is a common one, but there are others, like Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe® Illustrator®.

To find Microsoft Paint on your PC, click on the "Start" menu, click on "All Programs" and then click on "Accessories." Open Microsoft Paint (or other design program) and drag the image you want to use into the open design window. Or right click on the image and open it in another design program.

Now that the image is open in the design program, you will have to crop and resize the picture. The image will need to be no larger than 48 by 48 pixels, and it will work best if you start with an image that is already a square.

If you want to crop the image to show just a small detail, do this before resizing the image. Use the cropping tool in the tools palette, which is either to the left or beneath the image, depending on the program you are using.

To resize the image in Microsoft Paint, click "Image" in the top menu and click on "Attributes." Write down the width and height of your image (in pixels) and close the attributes box. (You won't be changing anything in the attributes box.) In order to shrink the image and still keep the proportions of the height and width correct, you'll need to do a little math. Divide 4,800 by the larger of the two numbers you wrote down. Take this number and round it down.

Click "Image" in the top menu again, and then select "Stretch/Skew." Note: Don't select "Attributes." Put the number you just calculated in the fields for the horizontal and vertical stretch values. Note: Ignore the "Skew" fields. When you click "OK" the image will be resized small enough to use as your buddy icon. Save it to your desktop.

If you are working in Photoshop, click on "Image" in the toolbar and select "Image Size." Change the height and width to 48. You'll need to uncheck the box marked "Constrain Proportions." Save this image to your desktop.

AIM
To upload your new image into your Instant Messenger program, first log on. If you are using AIM, click on "Edit" and "Settings." Select the "Expressions" tab and click on "Browse." Use the browsing window to find the image on your desktop and click "OK." Then click on "Save." You may need to click on your name to see your buddy icon.

Windows Instant Messenger
For Windows Instant Messenger, click on the small caret next to your name, scroll down and choose "Change Display Picture." Click on "Browse" and find your image. Click on your image and click "Open." Click "OK." Your new icon should appear.