General

A Guide on Making an Acceptable Basilmarket Avatar

[ UPDATE EDIT 3 ] Rankings are finally back! You can still use this guide if you wish to make a custom avatar. Also there is this new thing you can try on top of all the other simulators that's left. https://maplestory.design/

[ UPDATE EDIT 2 ] BannedStory is now GONE, please look at the second question in FAQ for alternatives.

[ UPDATE EDIT ] it seems submitting an avatar only asks for a GIF again, instead of GIF or PNG. Therefore, I can only conclude that basilmarket now accepts only GIF files. You may create as .PNG (actually recommend it because I'm unsure if .GIF would save the transparent background), just make sure you save and submit as .GIF

Rankings are down? Got an item that doesn't exist in Bannedstory? Trouble getting your avatar accepted?
Then read on! I will teach you one tedious method that will still take less time than finding a newly updated Maple Character custom program, or waiting on Nexon to update their rankings. Additionally show you some common mistakes on why BasilMarket didn't accept your legit avatar and yet accepted @deeemon and his dood penguin.

Getting Your Character

First you must get your character, I suggest recreating it on bannedstory or another program if you can save it as a TRANSPARENT .png image. (You can count on .png to save a transparent background, gif may or may not do so.) The last option would be to simplily take a screenshot of your character, make sure MapleStory is on windows mode as it won't affect the resolution of your character.

Achieving The Right Background

Some people get their avatars rejected because they saved their avatar file with a WHITE or BLACK background instead of a TRANSPARENT one. Make sure you save as transparent or simply erase the solid background. I highly suggest to use Gimp, or Photoshop, or any other editing program that can use layers and save transparent files. For those of you who took a screenshot, get something to eat while you carefully erase the pixels of the in-game background. If your character has equipped any translucent/glowing items then don't even bother.

Here is the GIMP download link, it's free: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/

Size The Image and Grab a Base

Some people forget to save it as a 96x96 pixel image, make sure to do so. Most people forget to correctly place their character in the correct position of the image. You cannot just slap a character and save, you must put them in the EXACT same spot as any other accepted BasilMarket avatar. You need a base, to place your avatar on top of to overlap it in a new layer. Save any accepted BasilMarket avatar to serve as a base as nearly all are positioned correctly in a 96x96 pixel transparent image (not 96 inches, nor centimeters). Naked characters or characters that have something in common with your new avatar is recommended to serve as this base.

Positioning Your Avatar

Now that you saved your base, open it in the editing program that can deal with layers and transparency. It should open as the 96x96 canvas with the character correctly positioned. Open the file of the desired character in the same program in a different canvas. Cut or Copy your new avatar from its canvas and Paste it into the canvas of the base character in a new layer on top of it. Align the new avatar at the same position as the base avatar, same pixels on top of same pixels (e.g. completely overlapping your character's hair on the base who has the same hair). Once you have successfully aligned your character on top of the base, delete the base avatar and MAKE SURE the background is TRANSPARENT, as some programs throw in a white background at the bottom layer. Save as .gif and boom, you have an avatar that has a good chance on getting accepted.

Customization

With custom avatars back, you are able to customize your character with items that they don't actually have or even items that don't exist! However, I treat this as luck, as in if you over-customize your character you are pushing your luck and the chances of it getting accepted will likely decrease. You can change the hue of existing items by a small amount, or make minor edits on some equipment (major edits will likely get rejected). Adding items that are not obtainable in GMS/EMS is a push, I personally have not tried that, but I assume most items are fine. Adding items that do not even exist in any MapleStory version is the maximum push I can think of, if you are choosing to add a Pokemon as your avatar, expect it to get rejected (but you'll try anyway in an attempt to gather attention). Don't go overboard, try to make your avatar appear legit and believable.

TL;DR: Then stay as a grey blob/outdated avatar.

FAQ (Updated)
Q: Why did you make this?
A: I have no life. Also tired of seeing blobs.

Q: My character got rejected and I think it's because I changed the hue of its hair.
A: I have never tried this, but maybe you can PM mrb with a screenshot of your character. I don't think he's aware mixed dye is a thing.

Q: You said I can send it as .PNG but it got rejected!
A: Yes I did, that is changed. BasilMarket only accepts .GIF, this guide is updated accordingly too. I believe .PNG was an issue due to semi-transparent items such as glowing effects.

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