It’s aspirational.
Just curious – why did you have to scan a blank sheet of paper? You couldn’t just go into Paint and cut out square for yourself? Did you really need to go to all that trouble?
Because I know HOW to scan a blank sheet of paper.
Um…okay. 
Those who don’t scan don’t have a plan.
If you needed two blank sheets of paper, would you make a copy of one of them?
Probably keeps the digital image. Then whenever he wants blank paper he can reprint it. Free paper!
A fellow techno-peasant! We should form a support group to shelter us from the mockery of the techno-informed on the SDMB!
Why? It uses less paper to just print over the previous image.
Well, I assume he doodles on them or something after he prints them up.
He could use invisible ink.
Could you explain how to do this in enough detail for people who are unfamiliar with Paint can do this for themselves? I saw the blank avatar upthread and copied it, but I’d like to be able to re-create it for myself in case I lose it.
- Open paint
- Save image
Fin.
I have enough difficulty figuring out how to adapt to new tech - such as the new forum, that I pretty much figure out the absolute minimum I need to do to be able to participate.
I also have had repeated experiences where I TRIED to do some customization - in word processing, social media, phones - only to have my efforts undone with some “update/improvement”.
I receive no joy or satisfaction from messing around with tech, trying to figure out bells and whistles.
Sorry, but I never even really look at anyone’s avatars. For the most part, they are little blobs of color (on my full-sized computer screen). I deal far better with words. (And it really never crossed my mind that anyone would really care whether I had posted in a thread.)
A green square w/ a D suits me just fine. Thanks for asking.
(And yes, I realize I likely coulda made me an avatar in less time than it took to read this thread and write this reply. Reading and writing I can do and enjoy. Clicking around trying to figure out tech, not.
The test question is: “Did we need them before they were invented, and would we lose something if they were gone?” The answer is, “No”, so even though I have an avatar, I have to agree with those who eschew them.
Going through this thread, I realized how much I really do not even look at avatars. If my life depended on it, I wonder if I could remember as many as 5 avatars.
Anything more complicated than needscoffee’s or Nothern Piper’s are essentially just little blobs of colors. And nearly all of the faces are just that - anonymous faces. When I see one - like eyebrows’ or czarcasm’s, I’ll recognize the little face as their avatar, but I never really make any effort to pay attention to the details.
Maybe we could turn this around. For those of you with avatars, what do you think they add? Because I form my opinions of you based on what you post. If I like/dislike your posts, I can’t imagine that being changed by your avatar (or lack thereof.)
It’s been said many times already; for many of us the only thing that avatars “add” is a degree of recognizability. It makes exchanges slightly easier to follow.
I wouldn’t care if you couldn’t customize avatars, just pick one from a set, it would be functionally the same for me.
What is Paint, please?
I find the avatars help reinforce my memories of the user. Northern Piper’s enigmatic Pipes are a great example. I barely remembered who they were until I realized that was a set of pipes and not a weird hummingbird.
A few probably do make me feel better about the poster with little else to go on. Calvin & Hobbes is my famous comic of all time. So Thudlow_Boink and others using C&H avatars predispositions me into a pleasant mood at least when I see them.
I know a lot of the avatars for quicker recognition that just the name. I don’t think I knew who Senegoid was until they got their avatar. I recognized the name but no real association of anything with the name.
I hope mine stands out a little. especially to those familiar with New Jersey roads.
Then why are you complaining about them so much?
Why don’t you want people who like avatars to have them?