You Want a Custom Buddy Icon?

Hi, folks. Have you wondered how you can make your own Buddy Icons? Look no further, I'll share an easy way to create your own expression on your Instant Messages.

I'd like to explain the difference between Buddy Icons and AIM Expressions. A Buddy Icon is a picture that is displayed in your IM window. However, AIM Expressions are usually an entire theme which includes Buddy Icons, wallpaper, colored emoticons and more. It takes a while for us to develop a handful of Expressions, but you can always share your suggestions for new Expressions in the AIM Buddy Blog.

That said, making your own Buddy icon is fun and easy and only takes a few moments.

The ingredients needed to build a Buddy icon:
· A cool picture that you want to use.
· AIM 6.1
· AIM Buddy Icon Maker Plugin

How to Make Your Own Buddy Icon

Make sure you've got AIM 6.1, if not, you can download it here.
Download the AIM Buddy Icon Maker Plugin from here.
Launch AIM 6.1 from the little orange icon.
Sign in with your AOL or AIM screen name as you normally world.
Click the Actions button in the lower right corner.
Click Set Buddy Icon.
Click Browse to find the picture on your computer, double-click the picture to load it.
Use the slider bar at the bottom to crop the image so it fits in the square.
When finished, click OK to set your Buddy Icon.

Points to keep in mind about custom Buddy Icons:

Most images will work, but you are limited to 48 x 48 pixels, so it may be difficult to get a photo to display clearly.

This AIM Buddy Icon will not be visible in the AOL client or the AOL Buddy List, but ...

Your Buddy Icon will be visible on most AIM clients, including iChat for Mac users.

AIM Buddy Icons are interchangeable with AIM Expressions, but are not permanently saved for later retrieval. So if you change yours, you'd need to create it again if you'd like to use it again.

It may take a few moments for your Buddy Icon to propagate throughout all the various community products that use your Buddy Icon.

Did you like this tutorial? Want to know more? Want to learn how to do something online? Share your feedback in the comments!

Tags: AIM, Buddy Icons, Expressions, Custom, Tutorial, Tips

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