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As Facebook’s ever growing war with Snapchat intensifies we are seeing new feature after new feature being implemented across its platforms. From Messengers “My day” function, the inclusion of more in-app messenger games and Facebook’s recent profile picture frames, it may seem hard to keep up. The latest weapon in this battle is the ability to create your own fully custom profile picture frame.
This new addition to Facebook will allow anyone from private/personal users to Facebook page owners to make their own fully customizable Profile Frames, using its new Camera Effects Platform. This sounds fantastic to start BUT! It isn’t as simple of a tool as many might think or like it to be. However, so long as you have a little creativity, inspiration and basic graphic design knowledge you should be able to figure it out.
A Quick Run Through of How the Process Works.
The first thing required is to design your own frame using an image editing program of your choice, Photoshop, Gimp, Paintshop Pro, etc. Remember to export your design images as .PNG files to ensure they overlay as transparent. Once you have created your design, you will then have to upload the design to Facebook, here you can preview different sizes and change a few other aspects before finally sending it off for the Facebook team to approve. Once you have sent the final design off to the Facebook team it will generally take a week to be reviewed.
Note: Frames must adhere to Facebook’s policies and terms in order to go live. Basically, no frames that are offensive or illegal will be approved, plus any that were approved in the past can be removed if at a later time they are found to be offensive etc.
As we mentioned in the Introduction Facebook camera effects and the ability to create your own Custom Profile Picture frames was only available in Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, United Kingdom and Taiwan. As of today though, (29/5/2017) you can access this feature in just about any country around the world.
How to Create a Custom Frame for your Facebook Profile Pictures.
To start the process you will need to go to the official Facebook Profile Picture Frame page at: https://www.facebook.com/fbcameraeffects/learn/
Once you are at the page, you will see plenty of information about how the feature works. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can watch Facebook's video introduction on Custom Profile Picture Frames. The original process has now changed and been simplified, the new system is much easier to use. From the top right-hand corner of the main page, click Create A Frame. You will be directed to a new page which is where you can begin creating your Custom Facebook Profile Picture Frame using your previously created PNG files. On this page, you have a few different options.
The main option is the Upload Art box, clicking this box allows you to select the parts you wish to add to your picture frame. (Make sure they are PNG files) Once you have uploaded the parts you need for a frame you can move them around on the 3 screen layouts.
You also have an option called Background which will allow you to add a color to the overlook look. Once you are happy with your frame, you can move on to the next step by clicking Next.
The next page is the Details page, here you have the ability to Name your Frame, enter your Creator Name (author), Locations the frame is available in (countries etc) set a Scheduled time for when the frame will be available and last of all some Keywords that your frame can be searched using.
When you have entered all the relevant details, you can click Next again. The final page is a review page where you can check to make sure everything is looking good before confirming your design.
Once your design has been sent off it will take about a week for you to get a response from Facebook. It will come as a notification. Just remember Frames must adhere to Facebook’s policies and terms in order to go live. We hope this article has shed some light on Custom Facebook Picture Frame Process. If you have found it helpful please share it.
