How to create and add a banner to your profile page

***** HOW TO CREATE A BANNER AND ADD IT TO YOUR PROFILE PAGE(BASIC) *****

Note: This is NOT an official Eons document!
Original Document Posted 7-10-07 by BluesPlayer in the HTML Workshop Group
Updated and revised 4-21-08 by rich64nv in the Banner Central Station Group
Updated by rich64nv 10-29-08

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INTRODUCTION

Your banner is the space right above your name and picture and it goes all the way across the
page. The banner itself is a placeholder for any image that is 974 pixels wide and 100 pixels
high(610x100 for group banners). Anything bigger gets chopped off; anything smaller gets repeated. Eons does this automatically.

The first step in creating a banner is deciding what you want. You can have a repeating
pattern across the space or one solid block made up of one or more images. So once you have decided, you have to create or modify the image you want to use.

PS: In this document, "image", "picture" and "graphic" are used interchangeably.

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CREATING YOUR BANNER: REPEATING IMAGE

The easiest way to create your banner is to pick a small graphic or image that you like and
wish to have repeated across the banner space. Find the picture/image/graphic and OPEN IT
using any photo editor program. MS Windows "Paint", Adobe Photoshop, MS Office Picture Manager, Photobucket, or the software that came with your digital camera are just some options.

Once you have the picture in the editor, RESIZE it so that it is 100 PIXELS HIGH. Make sure
that you keep the same ASPECT RATIO so that the width of the picture changes in proportion to the height. You don't want a distorted image. I can't give you specific "click by click"
instructions because there are sooooo many editing programs out there. Take some time and make it work. SAVE the modified image as a JPG file under a different name!!!

Things that work great for repeating images are flowers, clouds, water, etc...anything that seamlessly repeats itself.

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CREATING YOUR BANNER: SINGLE IMAGE

This where you can get very fancy and creative. You will need a photo editor
program that lets you create images from scratch.

1. Open the program

2. Create a NEW blank image 974 pixels wide by 100 pixels high(610x100 for group banners)

3. Save the blank image; that's your template that you can use over and over again

4. Load it up...that is, add whatever you want to the blank image: color, pictures, text,
transparencies, overlays, glitter, it doesn't matter. Be as simple or as wild as you want to
be.

5. Save the image as a JPG file under a new name.

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ADDING YOUR BANNER TO YOUR PROFILE SKIN::

Click on the "Change My Skin" link on your profile page then "Edit my current skin". When the new window opens, click on the "Banner" tab. Under "Banner Image" you will see a blank box that says "Choose a photo you've uploaded to Eons or paste the location (URL) of an image" Select a photo that you have uploaded to Eons or copy and paste the URL of an image that has been stored on another web site such as Flickr or Photobucket. Image URLs start with http:// and end with either .jpg, .jpeg, .gif or .png. For best results, resize and/or crop your image BEFORE uploading it. If the banner doesn't show up, you've entered in the wrong URL or left off part of it such as the "http://". After you enter the URL click the "preview" box to view your new banner. If you are satisfied with it, click the "save changes" box and you are done. Hint: if you are using a single image try the no-repeat and center-center options first. If you are using a repeating image select the repeat option instead of the no-repeat option.. If your banner doesnt fit correctly change the Repeat and Position settings until you get it looking the way you want. ALWAYS preview everything before you save!!!
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CONCLUSION

So it's pretty simple to put a neat banner on your profile. For people unfamiliar with graphic
and photo editors, DON'T BE AFRAID!!! Jump in, get creative! You'll be suprised what you will be doing in a short amount of time. After all...we all started somewhere...