To add to this for beginners ..there's a program called ULEAD Gif Animator - it has a free download trial - and in using that - you can get basics to learn how to animate - that's how I learned -
then I moved to Photoshop Elements 2 - and next...I'm going to tackle Photoshop 6 which HAS Image Ready that Val talked about.
you DO have to know how to crop and edit pictures before you even start with the avatars ...because you want as much detail to show in the 75 pixel width of the picture (about 1") |