The main window of the C9 International Avatar Creator consists of two main parts: the avatar information on the left, and the templates on the right.
Use the templates on the right to select what template to use for your avatar. To select a template, simply click on the image for that template in the list. After you have selected a template, you will see your avatar in place of the base template image.
On the left side of the window you can enter information needed to complete your avatar. First is the avatar image; this is your custom image. It can be any image you like. You can type a url to an image in the text box, or you can use the browse button to the right to select an image on your computer.
The avatar image will be placed in the template in the region that the template has reserved for that image. Your image will always be centered, but if it is larger than the region, you can specify how it will be scaled. Automatic means that the image will be scaled so that it fits into the region in its entirety. Scale to width means that the width of the image is reduced so that it fits in the region; if the height of the scaled image is taller than the region, it will be clipped. Scale to height means that the image will be scaled to the height of the region, and that the width will be clipped if needed. Stretch will stretch your image so that it fits exactly in the region; this may distort your image however. And lastly, actual size will not scale the image, but place it centered in the region at its actual size. If the image is larger than the region, it will be clipped.
You can specify a padding around your avatar image. If you do this, your image will be scaled to fit into the region using the specified padding.
Any areas of your avatar that are not covered by the template image, your avatar image, the flag image or the location text will be the background color which you can also choose yourself. In order to see the background color, the template must use transparent areas; if the template doesn't have any transparent parts, the background color will never be visible.
Next up are a flag and location text. In version 2.1, not all templates need to use a flag or location text. In that case the controls that relate to those parts that aren't used will be greyed out.
You can select a flag for the country where you live from the list of included flags, or if you'd rather use a different flag you can select "Custom" at the top of the list, and use the text field to specify a url to an image or the browse button next to it to select one on your computer. The scaling options for the flag image are the same as those for the avatar image.
The location text can be the name of the country you live in, or you could use the city, or any other text you like. You can customize the font, color, and alignment of the location text. If you select a font that is too big, your text will automatically be scaled so that it fits. Please make sure that the text is readable before uploading your avatar to Channel9.
Once you have completed your avatar (an avatar is complete when it has a custom avatar image, a flag image and location text) the "Save" and "Upload" buttons become available. Use the "Save" button to save the avatar to your computer, or the "Upload" button to upload your avatar directly to your Channel9 account.
If you choose to upload your avatar, you must provide your login credentials for your Channel9 account. This information will not be stored on your computer or sent anywhere except to Channel9, so this is completely safe. Before your avatar is uploaded you are asked to verify your current profile settings. Please make sure the settings correspond to the settings you've made; if they do not and you continue the upload, your profile may become corrupt. If you prefer to upload the avatar yourself, you can simply save it to your computer and then upload it from the Settings page on your Channel9 profile.
The C9 International Avatar Creator comes with a few templates. You can use the "Templates" button on top of the templates list in the main window to open the templates dialog. Here you can rename and delete the existing templates. You can also load new templates, either from a file or from this website.
Although the template library on the site is no longer available and you cannot upload new templates, the existing templates can still be downloaded in the avatar creator using the "Load from web" option. If you select this option, a dialog will be displayed that shows all the templates available that are compatible with your version of the avatar creator. You can click the templates to see their template image or a preview of what an avatar from that template might look like. Check those templates that you wish to download, and then click the "Download selected" button. Once the templates are downloaded they will be ready for use.
You can create your own templates by using the Template Editor. For more information on how to use the Template Editor, see the Template Editor help.