Hello there! In this guide I'll be covering how you can create your own avatar through the use of image manipulation in an easy step-by-step guide. In this guide we'll be using the GIMP because it is free to download, and relatively easy to use. But before we begin, you'll first need to download GIMP here.[www.gimp.org] Run the exe and let it install all the required files.

Done? Good! Grab a grilled cheese sandwich to reward yourself and lets move on to the next section.

Okay! So now that you've downloaded and installed GIMP, launch it for the first time. It should look something like this:
This is what it should look like when launched. If you're missing any of the windows go to the central window and click windows>recently closed docks. If it says empty everything is great, if not, click whatever pops up and it'll restore the window. (note that whenever you exit out of the toolbox or Undo - Layers - Brushes windows you'll have to do this to restore them).

Now that everything is in order, we can start on our first avatar.

Alright, now we're going to start working on our first avatar. Let's start by creating a canvas. Go to file>new> and set the width and height to 184x184 like so:
(The default image size on Steam for both avatars and groups is 184x184, keep that in mind when creating one in the future)

Done? Okay, now comes the fun part. Search for an image, anything you like, Naruto, dragons etc. But add "render" after it. Like Naruto render. I'll be using "Spaceman Render" as my search term for this guide. Now, click on an image you like, does it have a checkered background like this?

If so, congratulations! You've found a render. (Note: Google Chrome may not have the stripes on the checkered background, though in Firefox that's exactly what a transparent image looks like)

Now we're going to save the image and open it in GIMP, once saved there are two ways of opening the image in GIMP either go into your libraries and right click the image>Edit with GIMP or, in GIMP, go to file>open and select the image where you saved it.

Once the image is open, go into the toolbox and choose rectangle select. Then left click and drag your cursor until the entire image is covered in a box, like so:

Now go to edit>Copy. After that, click on your 184x184 image and click edit>paste. Now you probably have a giant version of your image in that cramped little box. The first step is to put it in a new layer. Right click the "floating selection" in the layers box, and select "to new layer"


Now that our image is in a new layer we'll need to scale it down a little. Once again, the toolbox is our friend. Click the scale tool, and then click the image. You'll see a big grid pop-up, along with a "scale" menu, drag the image around to make it bigger or smaller, and use the circle to move the image. Make sure the chain icon is unbroken, the width and height are automatically adjusted to hold their ratio constant if it is unbroken, meaning your image won't look horribly deformed when scaling. Once done, click the "scale" option in the scale menu. Oh, and if you want to move your image after scaling use the "move tool" located on the bar above the scale tool.

Okay, we're done! Next up is adding a background.

This is the last and (probably easiest) part. Adding a background. You can either save an image and edit>copy edit>paste it, or use the paint brush. In my image I used a space background I had. Also make sure the image is located UNDER your pasted layer, like this:

You can do this by dragging the layer under the pasted layer.

Since your image has been scaled down, you'll probably notice it doesn't look quite as good as it did when it was at its original resolution. Fortunately for us, there are plenty of ways to make your image look almost as good as it did at its full resolution. And even change how it looks entirely. I'll be covering the most common methods you can use to enhance your image here.

Sharpening.
The most basic of basic ways to improve your image is by sharpening it. Sharpening is less powerful than the unsharp mask, so use this if you don't want your image looking too sharp. You can use the sharpening tool from filter>enhance>sharpen.

Unsharp Mask
Essentially the same as sharpening, but stronger. It can be found in filter>enhance>unsharp mask.

Color Enhance.
This one is a personal favorite of mine, it can make some images look great, others not so much. It stretches the color saturation to the maximum range. It can be found in colors>auto>color enhance.

You may also want to add some text to your image, this is as simple as clicking the "Text Tool" and then clicking an area where you want to type something. Drag the box that shows up (similar to rectangle select) to increase the area where the text can go before it gets cropped off. You can also edit the size, color and font from the toolbar to the bottom left, or the little pop-up box that appears above the place you're typing.

That's it, you'e done! Now with your finished image go to file>export as. Name your file, choose an image format (I recommend PNG) and where to save it. If you want to make changes to it later go to file>save as. Then you can open it up in GIMP later and continue editing it.

Here's what my avatar looked like when I was finished:

Here are some resources to help you out:

Some really great anime renders can be found at Baka Renders[bakarenders.com]

One of my favorite brush sets, the Rising Sun Brushes[javierzhx.deviantart.com] (more great brushes can be found at DeviantART.)
To use brushes just extract the brush file into GIMP's brush folder.

Learn how to make renders of your own here.[www.gimptalk.com]

You can download some pretty sweet fonts from Dafont[www.dafont.com]

This guide just scratches the surface of what you can do in GIMP. Hopefully it helped out at least somewhat, as this is my first guide. Though the best guide is to try and experiment with different things, you might be surprised at the result!