There are a variety of free graphics programs that will help you make your own avatar (that small, square image used on social media sites, blog comments and “gravatars” or universal avatars). Fortunately, you don’t even have to be hugely graphics-savvy to use them.

BeFunky is a great free graphics tool that allows you to modify photos and turn them into a variety of illustration styles. These can range from funky (as in their name) to quite classy, so you have a lot of options. ImageChef
also has a lot of graphics that can be used for avatars. You can choose from their wide variety of standard photos that can be customized with text. This often creates some humorous
results.

Picnik is also a great option. Even their free version gives you a
number of graphics options you can use with photos or with a blank jpg file on which you can paste any one of their illustrations. There are black and white and color illustrations for every holiday and subject, so you’re bound to find something that would look good on your avatar.

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