Buzz
Previously, Mytour guided you through crafting 3D Logos in Adobe Illustrator. Now, Mytour will walk you through creating professional Avatars using Adobe Illustrator.
1. Preparation
To craft a professional Avatar using Adobe Illustrator, you first need to prepare:
- Install Adobe Illustrator on your computer.
If you haven't installed Adobe Illustrator yet, you can download Adobe Illustrator here.
- High-resolution images.
2. Guide to Creating Professional Avatars with Adobe Illustrator
Follow the steps below to create professional Avatars using Adobe Illustrator:
Step 1: Prepare the canvas
Open Illustrator, then go to File => New, or press Ctrl + N (on Windows) or Cmd + N (on macOS).
Name your new file whatever you like and select Profile as Web, or if you don't intend to use the avatar online, choose Profile as Print.
Set the height and width to 800 x 800 pixels. This is just the working size on the canvas, so you don't need to worry about higher resolutions because Illustrator is vector-based, allowing you to scale images without losing quality.
Simply increase the canvas size and artwork whenever you save the image in JPEG and PNG formats.
Step 2: Import your image
Navigate to File => Place and select the image you want to turn into an avatar. This image could be your profile picture, but make sure the face is clear.
Once satisfied with the image placement, embed it into the canvas. You can find the embed option in the Control panel.
After embedding the image, go to Window => Transparency and reduce the image opacity to 60%. Next, lock this layer to prevent unwanted changes.
Step 3: Identify distinctive features
Unique aspects of your appearance may include nose shape, glasses or blue eyes, hair, beard, and more.
Identify some identifying features and highlight them in your avatar.
Step 4: Begin the design process
Create a new layer by selecting the Create New Layer option at the bottom left of the Layers window. Name this new layer 'Head'. Create new layers for elements and name them descriptively to organize files.
First, sketch out the head outline. Select the Pen Tool from the Panels palette, or press key P. Trace the outline of the head as shown in the screenshot below.
The next step is to fill in color. Mytour recommends selecting a color from the original image.
Create a new layer named Hair. Trace and select hair color from the original image. Try to create as few anchor points as possible to make the design less cluttered.
You can toggle layer visibility on or off. Pay attention to the layer positions to speed up your design process. To rearrange layer positions, simply drag these layers up and down on the Layers panel.
Step 5: Add more details
Follow similar steps from step 4 to create the remaining parts of the design elements.
To address issues like paths, select the Direct Selection tool from the Tools palette or press key A and hover over anchor points. This allows you to adjust positions and curves. Additionally, you can add or remove anchor points from the path by right-clicking on the Pen tool in the Tools palette and selecting the appropriate tool.
Don't forget to zoom in and out when adding these details to the avatar. Even though they are small details, they will make a big difference to your design.
Your final design will look like the one below:
Step 6: Save the avatar
Press Ctrl + S (on Windows) or Cmd + S (on macOS) or go to File => Save to save your avatar file.
Alternatively, you can save the avatar file online by pressing Ctrl / Cmd + Alt + Shift + S or selecting File => Save for Web. This option allows you to save the avatar file in JPEG or PNG format with transparency.
The above article from Mytour just guided you on how to create a professional Avatar using Adobe Illustrator. Additionally, if you have any questions or need clarification, readers can leave their comments below the article.
Along with the avatar drawing function, coloring in Adobe Illustrator is also of interest to many, helping to create unique colors for each object. Read the article how to color in Adobe Illustrator on our website.
In addition, the cropping feature in Adobe Illustrator is also extremely important, allowing you to crop various objects in the image or to reduce image size. Check out the detailed guide on cropping in Adobe Illustrator presented on Mytour.
