Ever signed up for some online service and it asks you to fill in not just profile text, but a picture too? If you've signed up for a lot of social networking sites, forums, etc. as I have (200+), then you can relate.

I deal with this in a couple easy ways:

  1. I automate text. For example, when I upload a video tutorial to YouTube, instead of manually writing out a common description, or even copying-and-pasting it in from a text file (which still requires too many steps), I type in a shortcut — "[desc]" — and it expands to a few lines of text, thanks to PhraseExpress. This can be used for "About", "Interests", and other fields like that. When it comes to many standard fields at once, I use Autofill Forms for Firefox, which works with a single click — and make manual corrections afterwards. This is a big timesaver if you do a lot of online shopping and have to write the save things over and over… DON'T! Do this instead.
     
  2. Watermelon Torley Logo (hi-rez PNG)I have quick access to a profile picture. I use Direct Folders, one of my fave utilities, to rapidly choose a pic I have stored on disk. Namely, it's the "Watermelon Eye" which you've already seen by virtue of visiting my site. Some sites allow uploading an image from an URL, in which case I have the corresponding Flickr page bookmarked for fast access. Flickr is great too because it automatically offers images in different sizes — many sites have restrictions like "your profile picture/image must be 80×80 pixels or smaller".

If you're not doing this yet, think about how worthwhile it could be to you, and let me know how it goes after you start!