Prints for Competitions
Every print must be mounted on card. The back of the mount must be marked with the name of the member and the title of the picture.
The maximum overall size for prints including its mount is 50.8 cm x 40.6 cm (20 inches x 16 inches).
Some members buy ready cut apertured mounts while others cut their own or alternatively simply stick the print onto an appropriately sized mount board. If you would like to know more about mounting prints, please ask Andy Heads.
Projected Digital Images (PDIs)
Please don’t hesitate to email Andy Heads if you need any help with the following – if in doubt please ask…
These rules align with our competition software for internal competitions. For other events, the file naming may need to vary but if you stick to the guidelines below, we will do any necessary changes. (For inter-club competitions hosted by Shaftesbury Camera Club, please see the separate post).
Our key PDI parameters are:
A) JPG SIZE
Photographic image sizes are measured in pixels, i.e. number of dots that make up the width and the height. The vertical number of pixels is roughly similar to the number of lines on a television, so 1050 pixels is nearly the same as full high definition TV. If you multiply the maximum numbers of vertical and horizontal pixels together, you get 1.47 million pixels which is a lot less than any of today’s digital cameras, so you will need to resize your images.
Because you are reducing the number of pixels, you may like to do a little sharpening, but that’s another subject!
The MAXIMUM size is as follows:
| MAXIMUM WIDTH is 1600 pixels (px) MAXIMUM HEIGHT is 1200 pixels |
i.e. you cannot make the height 1600 px for portrait orientation.
When resizing, please ensure you never overwrite your original jpg file – always work from a copy!
Your image can be smaller than these limits, so your image can be any shape e.g. square (1200px x 1200px) or letterbox (1600px wide by less than 1200px high).
If you need help with submitting your PDI’s, please don’t leave it until the competition submission deadline! Uploading is straightforward and we are always happy to help new members as well as those who have forgotten how to!
Normally the image will be shown on a black background. It is good practice to include a key line/stroke around your image, especially on images where the background is dark. If you include a white or coloured key line you, your finished image including your key line CANNOT EXCEED 1600px wide and 1200px high.
When saving your resized images, choose a high jpg quality setting: you may have to use less than 100% if your file size would then exceed 2Mb, which is the upload limit.
B) FILE NAME
| 01_Dorset in Winter_Your Name.jpg 02_Goldhill in Snow_Your Name.jpg 03_Stourhead_Your Name.jpg |
Just add a two digit sequence number, a single underscore then title, another underscore and finally Your Name. Your first file must start with 01, the next with 02, then 03 etc. (& use zero, not letter O!!!)
- Do not enclose the title with quote marks e.g. ‘Title’ or “Title”
- Some clubs use the abbreviation DPI for digital projected images – it means the same as PDI!
C) UPLOAD
Follow the rules for each competition to upload.
It is important that PDIs are correctly sized and named otherwise the competition software will reject your entry. If you do not submit images with the correct size format and file naming, we will attempt to do it for you to club standards but this depends on whoever is compiling the competition and whether they have time available.
- Note 1 We do not worry about what resolution (pixels per inch) you use. We only care about the number of pixels. Some clubs insist on 72ppi and our usual setting is 96ppi but it really doesn’t make any difference. If we ever need to change for an external competition, we will do it for you! If you do change the ppi, ensure you do not resample!
- Note 2 Whenever an image has been resized or resampled, you may find a small amount of sharpening using Unsharp Mask (USM) makes a subtle but worthwhile improvement which is why it is always best for you to resize your own images.