Profile Frames: Site Feature Guide

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A NEW SITE FEATURE FOR OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY: CUSTOM PROFILE FRAMES!

Sponsors now have a new way to give their profiles a little more personality: custom profile frames.

Site sponsors can add a decorative frame around the profile picture on any of their author or character profiles. Use one of our frames, make your own, or find one somewhere else that fits your aesthetic. If you can provide a link to it, you can use it.

This is a sponsor-only feature and is available on both author and character profiles.

What Is a Profile Frame?

A profile frame is a transparent decorative image that sits over your profile picture.

Your profile picture remains the actual image underneath. The frame simply adds artwork around it, allowing you to customize the look of your profile without having to edit or replace your profile picture.

Think of it as the picture frame around the photograph, rather than part of the photograph itself.

Who Can Use Profile Frames?

Profile frames are available exclusively to site sponsors.

Sponsors can add a frame to:

• Their author profile
• Any of their character profiles
• Different frames on different profiles

You aren't limited to one frame for your account. Each profile can have its own frame.

Where Do I Get a Frame?

Anywhere you like, provided you have permission to use the image.

You can:

• Create your own
• Commission an artist
• Use artwork you've already created
• Find a frame from a resource that permits its use
• Create one with an image-generation tool
• Modify an existing frame that you have permission to modify

The frame is simply an image that you link to from your profile.

**Please respect artists' copyrights and usage terms.** Being able to link to an image doesn't automatically mean you're allowed to use it.

Adding Your Frame

Adding or changing a frame works through the same profile editing process you already use. Enter the link to your frame when editing the profile, save your changes, and the frame will appear around that profile picture. You can use any web image type that supports transparency, which includes gifs!

There is no separate frame-management system to maintain.

• Want a different frame on a character? Edit that character.
• Want to change your author frame? Edit your author profile.
• Want to remove it completely? Edit the profile and remove the frame link.

That's it.

You Can Change It Whenever You Want

Your frame isn't permanent. Sponsors can add, replace, edit, or remove a frame at any time simply by editing the profile.

You can change frames for:

• Holidays
• Seasons
• Events
• New aesthetics
• New character designs
• Special occasions
• Or simply because you found something better

You can also have completely different frames across your profiles. Your author profile might have an elegant gold frame while your characters have everything from gothic filigree to neon space nonsense.

We support the chaos.

Does this feature tempt you to sponsor the site? We'd be ever so grateful and you'd get extra neat stuff for it. You can support us here if you feel like it.

Creating Your Own Frame

You can create a frame yourself using Photoshop, GIMP, Procreate, Canva, Affinity, or pretty much any image editor that supports transparency.

The most important thing is getting the dimensions and transparent center right.

Recommended Size

Create your frame as a 200 × 200 pixel square image.

The profile picture displayed underneath it is 160 × 160 pixels on desktop, leaving approximately 20 pixels of frame artwork around the outside.

The frame should therefore use a 1:1 aspect ratio.

Recommended specifications:

| Specification | Recommendation |

| --------------------- | ----------------------------- |

| Canvas | 200 × 200 px |

| Aspect ratio | 1:1 |

| Profile picture area | 160 × 160 px |

| Inner circle diameter | 160 px |

| Inner circle radius | 80 px |

| Format | PNG |

| Center | Transparent |

| Outer artwork | Up to the edges of the canvas |

The site automatically scales the frame for smaller screens, so you don't need to create a separate mobile version. The mobile profile picture is reduced to 120 × 120 pixels and the frame scales accordingly.

The Transparent Center Is Important

Your frame must have a transparent center.

The profile picture is displayed underneath the frame, so anything opaque in the center of your frame will cover part of the profile picture.

For a standard frame, think of your image like this:

┌────────────────────┐

│ FRAME ARTWORK │

│ ╭──────────╮ │

│ │ │ │

│ │ TRANSPARENT│ │

│ │ CENTER │ │

│ │ │ │

│ ╰──────────╯ │

│ FRAME ARTWORK │

└────────────────────┘

       200 × 200

The transparent opening should be approximately 160 × 160 pixels, with an 80 pixel radius.

The artwork belongs around that opening.

Leaves, ornaments, borders, ribbons, stars, flowers, horns, ears, crowns, glowing effects, seasonal decorations, ridiculous amounts of glitter... all fair game. ✨

Just make sure the part that needs to remain visible is transparent.

PNG Is Your Friend

We recommend using a PNG with transparency.

Do not flatten your frame onto a solid background.

The Inner Circle

The profile picture itself is circular.

For the best results, design the transparent opening around a 160 pixel diameter circle.

That means:

Diameter: 160 px

Radius: 80 px

Your frame artwork can extend beyond that circle, but anything intended to sit directly around the profile picture should accommodate the circular crop.

You don't have to draw a literal circle into the frame. In fact, many frames will look better if the artwork overlaps the edges creatively. The important thing is that the central area remains transparent enough for the profile picture to show through.

A Few Design Tips

Keep the center clean

The profile picture underneath is the star of the show. Avoid putting important frame artwork across the center unless you're deliberately creating an overlapping effect.

Leave enough breathing room

A frame that is too visually dense can make the profile picture difficult to recognize at smaller sizes.

Remember the crop

Your profile picture is circular, so don't design the frame around a square photograph.

Test it

If possible, view your frame at both desktop and mobile sizes before settling on it.

A frame that looks fantastic at 200 pixels can become surprisingly busy once it's reduced.

Don't make the frame itself enormous

The recommended canvas is 200 × 200 pixels. The site handles scaling from there, so there is generally no advantage to uploading a gigantic frame.

In Short

If you're making your own frame, remember:

• 200 × 200 px
• 1:1 square aspect ratio
• PNG with transparency
• 160 px inner diameter
• 80 px inner radius
• Transparent center
• Decorative artwork around the outside

Then upload your frame somewhere accessible, copy its image link, and add that link to your profile. And if you decide three weeks later that your character desperately needs a completely different frame? Edit the profile. Replace the link. Done.

Custom profile frames are one of the perks of being a site sponsor. Thanks for helping keep Roleplay Lives running and giving us the opportunity to keep adding fun little features like this!

Does this feature tempt you to sponsor the site? We'd be ever so grateful and you'd get extra neat stuff for it. You can support us here if you feel like it.