I asked the same questions about avatars a few days ago!! I was offered by a few members to do mine and was very thankful for it. But of course, me being anal retentive, I had to learn to do it myself. LOL There is an EASY program called JASC Animation Shop. If you have Paint Shop, I think it's included. I tried to use Photoshop and ImageReady, and I couldn't figure it out.
Here is a link to where Val does it!
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...121#post356121