Emojis have become an incredibly popular way to express emotions and ideas in texts, social media, emails, and more. With hundreds of emojis available on phones and computers, you can find icons for almost anything you want to communicate visually. But sometimes an existing emoji doesn’t quite capture the right mood or meaning. If you have a great photo you want to turn into an emoji to use in your own conversations, it is actually possible to create custom emojis even if you don’t have design skills.
What are Emojis?
Before learning how to turn a picture into an emoji, it helps to understand exactly what emojis are and how they work. Emoji means “picture character” in Japanese. Emojis are small digital images or icons that represent ideas, objects, expressions, places, animals and more. When emoji first emerged in the late 1990s, they were simple characters available only on certain mobile phones in Japan. But as mobile technology became more advanced, emojis grew into a complex visual language.
Today there are over 3,000 emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium, the organization that oversees emojis. Unicode provides the standards that allow emojis to be recognized across platforms and devices. Major companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and others design their own versions of the Unicode emojis. That’s why an emoji might look slightly different on an iPhone versus a Samsung phone, for example, though the general idea is still recognizable.
People use emojis for quick visual communication to express emotions, ideas, activities and opinions. According to a study by the University of Minnesota, over 90% of online populations across the globe use emojis. Some of the most popular emojis include laughing faces, hearts, thumbs up and thumbs down, and emojis representing love, celebration, sadness, anger, and more.
Why Create a Custom Emoji?
With so many great emojis already available, you may be wondering why someone would go through the effort of creating a custom emoji. Here are some common reasons people make their own emojis:
- Represent something very specific like an inside joke
- Show a new creative character or mascot
- Celebrate a special event or moment
- Promote a brand, business, or organization
- Commemorate a pet or person
- Express a unique emotion
For personal use, a custom emoji likely aims to capture a feeling or reference that standard emojis can’t quite get right. For commercial use, a custom emoji allows brands to represent themselves visually in messaging apps and social media in an eye-catching format. The custom emoji trend has really taken off with individuals and companies alike.
How to Make an Emoji from a Photo
Wondering how to actually go about transforming an image into an emoji? The process is surprisingly straightforward even if you don’t have graphic design experience. Here are a few different methods:
Use an Emoji Converter App or Website
The easiest way to turn a photo into an emoji is to use a specialized emoji conversion app or website. These tools allow you to simply upload a photo and automatically generate a corresponding emoji graphic with a transparent background. The emoji converters automatically detect faces and shapes and pixelate the image into an emoji style.
Some popular emoji converter options include:
- Emojily
- Emoji Maker
- Bitmoji
- Memoji (for iPhone users)
With most emoji converters, you can upload a photo from your device gallery or take a new photo directly in the app. After processing the image, you can download the emoji to use as you like. Many also allow you to customize the shape, pixels, and size. The whole process takes just seconds!
Design Your Own Emoji
For complete control over the emoji design, you can create your own from scratch using a graphics editing program like Photoshop, GIMP or Illustrator. Designing your own emoji allows you to perfectly craft the right look and feel. Follow these steps:
- Open your image editing software and create a small canvas (32 x 32 pixels or larger)
- Draw or add simple shapes, lines and colors to represent your emoji
- Use the circle or rectangle shape tools to define clean edges
- Edit down to very basic elements – emojis work best with minimal details
- Fill the background with transparency rather than color
- Save the file as a PNG image to preserve the transparent background
The key is to keep the design very simple and iconic. Avoid using complex textures, gradients or details that may look cluttered or not translate well at small sizes. With some graphic design practice, you can even create elaborate custom emoji sticker packs and share them as digital downloads or printed stickers.
Convert a Photo to Vector
Another option is to convert your photo to a vector image. Vector images use geometric lines and shapes instead of pixels to define an image digitally. When scaled, vector graphics remain smooth and crisp. Converting a photo to vector format automatically traces outlines and defines the image using basic shapes.
You can use vector conversion tools like Adobe Illustrator’s Image Trace tool to automatically generate a vector version of your photo. Then simplify and refine the shapes into clean lines and filled sections. Remove details and color gradients. Export the vector as a PNG file, and you will have a smooth emoji graphic perfectly scalable to any size.
How to Use Your Custom Emoji
Once you have created your custom emoji from a photo using one of the methods above, how do you actually use it? Displaying custom emojis requires adding the image file to your device or platform’s emoji library or keyboard. Here are some ways to use custom emojis:
Mobile Keyboard App
To use your custom emoji on a mobile device, add the emoji image to your keyboard app. On iOS, options like SwiftKey Keyboard or TouchPal Keyboard allow adding custom emoji icons that will display in your keyboard. On Android, apps like Gboard, SwiftKey and TouchPal also support custom emoji.
Discord
The chat app Discord makes it very easy to upload custom emoji for use on Discord servers. As an admin, you can upload custom emoji and everyone on your server can use them in chat messages.
Slack
Slack is another chat platform that allows admins to upload custom emoji for workspace members to use. Upload your emoji and then reference it in any message.
Social Media Stickers
On certain social networks like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, you can create custom emoji stickers and use them the same way you use the default options. Add your stickers to the platform’s sticker libraries.
Text Replacement
On devices and messaging platforms that don’t support uploading custom emoji, you can still reference your custom designs with text replacement. Save your emoji image file with a shortcut name like “:cat”. Then set up a text replacement so typing “:cat” autocorrects to the emoji image file.
Tips for Great Custom Emojis
When designing your own custom emojis, keep these tips in mind:
- Use a high resolution source image for clean results
- opt for square dimensions like 32×32, 64×64, or 128×128
- Reduce colors and avoid gradients – stick with solid colors
- Remove all background and make it transparent
- Focus on simple, iconic shapes and outlines
- Avoid small details that may look muddy when compressed
- Make sure any text and shapes are large and legible
- View your emoji at multiple sizes to test clarity
- Use PNG image format to preserve transparency
Crafting the perfect custom emoji takes some trial and error. But the ability to represent a personal meaning, emotion or brand identity with a fun, shareable icon makes it well worth the effort. In no time you’ll have custom emoji stickers ready to level up all your messaging and social posts.
Frequently Asked Questions about Turning Photos into Emojis
Here are answers to some common questions about converting photos into emoji graphics:
What file size should my emoji image be?
For sharp quality at small sizes, save your emoji as a 32×32, 64×64 or 128×128 PNG image. The normal emoji resolution is 512×512, but smaller sizes like 64×64 work well for custom emoji.
What is the difference between an emoji, a sticker, and a meme?
| Format | Emoji | Sticker | Meme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Small icon, usually 32-128 pixels | Larger image, can be 100px to 500px | Typically 500×500 pixels or larger |
| Background | Transparent | Can have any background | Usually has a background image |
| Animation | Static image | Can be static or animated | Typically static image |
| Use | Inline with text as digital shorthand | Overlayed on messages and images for decoration | Shared as humorous viral images |
What file format should I use to create a custom emoji?
PNG is the best file format for custom emoji. Unlike JPG, PNG supports transparent backgrounds. PNGs also provide better image quality for the small file sizes needed for emojis.
Can I make an animated emoji?
Platforms like Slack and Discord allow animated emoji files like GIFs. However, most messaging apps only support static emoji images. For animation, create emoji sticker packs using a program like Adobe Animate.
What’s the difference between an emoji and a kaomoji?
Kaomoji are text-based emoticons made using Japanese characters and grammar structures. For example, the happy face kaomoji is (^_^). Emojis are actual small digital images and icons, not built out of letters.
Conclusion
Turning photos into emojis offers a fun way to bring visual self-expression to your conversations. With emoji converters and design apps, you can easily transform meaningful pictures into custom icons. Save your emoji creations as transparent PNG files. Then add them to messaging keyboard apps to drop into chats and social posts. With the right tools and a dash of creativity, you’ll be communicating on a whole new level with photo emojis made just for you.