Free Avatar Maker

Worked example

Stay on "Initials" and type Ada Lovelace in "Name". The preview shows AL on a gradient that the tool picked from the name, which for this name is the amber pair, with white letters because "Text color" is "Auto". The same name always gives the same colour. Press "Instagram 320" under "Size:" and the line "Export size: 320×320 px" appears. "Download PNG" then saves avatar-ada-lovelace-320.png, and "Copy PNG" puts the same image on the clipboard and shows "Copied to clipboard!". Pick SVG under "Format:" and press "Slack / Gmail 512": the button reads "Download SVG" and saves avatar-ada-lovelace-512.svg. Now type Dr. Jane Smith instead and the initials become DS, so use "Initials (optional)" when the automatic ones are not what you want.

Which settings to use, and the limits

• Know how the initials are chosen. Initials are the first letter of the first word and of the last word, in capitals, at most two. Ludwig van Beethoven gives LB, Mary Jane Watson gives MW, and a single word gives one letter. A name written without spaces in Chinese, Japanese or Korean, such as 山田太郎, gives its first two characters. Emoji are dropped. "Initials (optional)" replaces the automatic ones and takes up to 3 characters, typed as you write them. Three characters are drawn smaller than two, 32% of the image size instead of 42%.
• Pick the colours. "Auto from name" chooses one of ten colour pairs from the exact text of the name, so "Ada Lovelace" and "ada lovelace" can get different colours. To keep a colour, press one of the ten swatches, use the colour picker, or type a hex code such as #6366f1 (3 or 6 digits) in the box beside it. "Randomize" changes the colour, shape, font, weight and gradient together. "Gradient" fades the colour to a darker shade of itself. "Text color" is "Auto", "White", "Dark" or your own colour. Your look is remembered in this browser, but not the name.
• Match the shape to where the picture will be used. Choose "Circle", "Rounded" or "Square", and add a "Ring" if you want an outline in the text colour. "Fill the whole square" removes the transparent corners; the page notes that Discord, Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp crop the picture to a circle themselves. The platform buttons under the size box fill it with Discord 128, Instagram 320, X / LinkedIn 400, GitHub 500, Slack / Gmail 512, WhatsApp 640 and Teams 648 pixels. Check the platform's current rules, because these are shortcuts. Any size from 16 to 2048 is accepted; a number outside that range is moved to the nearest limit when you leave the box.
• Choose PNG, JPG or SVG on purpose. PNG keeps the transparent corners. JPG has no transparency, so the corners outside the shape are filled white; with "Square" or "Fill the whole square" there are no corners to fill. SVG stays sharp at any size but keeps the letters as text in the chosen font, so a device without that font substitutes another; "Sans" is the most predictable. PNG and JPG use fonts installed on your own device, and "Rounded" falls back to Trebuchet MS, Verdana or a plain sans-serif when Arial Rounded MT Bold or Hiragino Maru Gothic ProN is missing. "Photo" mode offers PNG and JPG only.
• Crop a photo in "Photo" mode. Drop a photo or click to choose one. It fills the square from the centre. Use the "Zoom" slider, from 1× to 4×, and drag the preview, or click the preview and press the arrow keys, to choose what stays in. "Draw initials over the photo" adds letters with a soft shadow, using the letters in the "Initials (optional)" box that appears, or from the name you typed in "Initials" mode. The colour and gradient controls are hidden for photos. The file is called profile-picture-256.png at the default size. "Choose another photo" starts again. The photo is read in your browser and not uploaded.
• Make a whole list in "Batch (ZIP)". Paste names, one per line, or a CSV with the name in the first column; commas, semicolons and tabs separate columns. A first line such as "name" or "full name" is skipped. Only the first 200 names are used, and the page tells you so. Each name gets its own initials, and its own colour while "Auto from name" is chosen. The shape, font, size and format you set apply to all. Files are named after the names, such as ada-lovelace.png; a repeat gets -2, -3, and a name with no letters or digits becomes avatar-3. The button reads "Download 3 avatars (ZIP)" and the file is avatars-256.zip.

Common problems and how to fix them

It says "Could not create the file. Try a smaller size."

The browser could not draw or encode the image. This can happen at the largest sizes, up to 2048 px, on a device with little memory, such as an older phone. Lower the number in "Size:" to 1024 or 512 and try again. In "Batch (ZIP)" the same message appears if any one of the images fails, so a smaller size helps there too.

It says "That file could not be read as an image. Try a JPG or PNG."

The browser could not decode the photo you added. The file may be damaged, or in a format the browser cannot open. Open it in another program and save it again as JPG or PNG, then choose it again.

It says "Copy failed — your browser may not support copying images."

"Copy PNG" needs a browser that can put an image on the clipboard, and the browser must allow it. When it does not, this message shows for a moment. Use "Download PNG" instead and open the file. "Copy PNG" is not offered for SVG or for "Batch (ZIP)", and it copies a transparent-corner image at the chosen export size.

The download button is greyed out and a note says "Type a name (or initials) to download."

Nothing can be exported until there is something to draw. In "Initials" mode you need a name or initials, in "Photo" mode a photo ("Add a photo to download."), and in "Batch (ZIP)" at least one name ("Add at least one name to download."). A name made only of emoji gives no initials, because emoji are dropped, so type letters into "Initials (optional)".

The automatic initials are wrong, for example "Dr. Jane Smith" gives DS or "Smith, John" gives SJ.

The tool takes the first letters of the first and last words and does not know titles, suffixes or a surname written first. Delete the title from the name, or type the letters you want into "Initials (optional)". In "Batch (ZIP)" the override is not used, so correct the line itself, for example Jane Smith instead of Dr. Jane Smith.

How it compares

A photo editor or a design app is the better choice for a logo, an illustration, a filter or background removal. This tool makes three kinds of picture: initials on a colour, a square or circle crop of your own photo, and a ZIP of initials avatars for a list. It saves files and does not host a link, and it does not upload to any platform for you. The largest size is 2048 px. Everything is drawn in your browser and nothing is uploaded. For a whole class or team, the batch mode saves time because it names each file after the person.