Digital Tips

Preparing Images for Digital Competition (Photoshop)

These instructions will work with Photoshop 6, 7, CS and CS2.

You can download the Fuji Calibration Images from http://www.photoguild.ns.ca/events/calibration.html and use them to check your monitor calibration. Adobe Gamma can be used to calibrate your monitor. PC users can find Adobe Gamma in their Control Panel under the Start menu.

These instructions are suitable for projectors that support up to 1024 x 768 pixels. MVCC is restricting images to a maximum size of 1024 pixels horizontally and 768 pixels vertically. A portrait image and a landscape image will not necessarily have the same impact when displayed on the screen unless an overall restriction is set to say 768 width or height. The disadvantage of this restriction is that the full screen will seldom be used.

  1. Make a copy of your image and work only on that copy. The following operations will modify the image and may reduce the quality for subsequent use.

  2. Configure Color Settings for Digital Submission:

    Photoshop CS and earlier - Go to the Image menu and select Mode then choose: Convert to Profile. If the Source Space is not sRGB, then select sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for the Destination Space Profile.
    Photoshop CS2 - Go to the Edit menu and select Convert to Profile. If the Source Space is not sRGB, then select sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for the Destination Space Profile.



  3. Go to the Image menu and select Mode. Make sure 8 bits/Channel is selected.

  4. Go to the File menu and select Save for Web. Make sure JPEG is selected and the quality set at Maximum. Check the ICC Profile checkbox to embed the sRGB profile into the JPEG file.



  5. Click on the Image Size tab (right side, middle). Be sure that the Constrain Proportions checkbox is checked. The maximum dimensions are 1024 x 768 pixels for competition images. If your composition is a landscape orientation you should set the Width to a maximum of 1024 pixels. If your composition is a portrait orientation you should set the Height to a maximum of 768 pixels. Select Bicubic Sharper from the Quality drop down box. Click Apply. The image may change size on the screen.

    When you enter the longer dimension the other dimension will be automatically calculated. Be sure to review this - if the height is calculated to be greater than 768 then change the height to 768 and let the horizonal adjust automatically. In any event try not to have images that are wider then 1024 or taller than 768 pixels.

    To reiterate the maximum horizontal size is 1024 and the maximum vertical size is 768.

    Note: Photoshop versions prior to CS do not have Bicubic Sharper as a Quality option. If you are using an earlier version you should use the Unsharp Mask filter.

  6. Click the Save button. A file dialog box will appear to save a new file.
    Be sure you use the following file naming convention.

    1. The file name should be as follows ,<Date>-<CategoryCode>-ImageTitle-<Name>.jpg.
    2. The Date should be in the format of YYYYMMDD, where YYYY is the year, for example, 2005, the MM is the two-digit month, for example, 04 for April, and the two-digit day, for example 03 for the third of the month.
    3. Each field should be seperated by a dash (aka hyphen) and underscores should only be used to indicate spaces in names or titles.
    4. Please do not use ANY punctuation!
    5. If the maker's system limits the size of file names, the maker's initials may be used in place of the maker's name.
    6. Be sure to include the jpeg extension (.jpg) in the file name. Macintosh users must manually add the .jpg extension to the filename.
    7. Be sure to include each of the following six pieces of information:

      7. Field

      Format

      Example

      1. Date of competition

      YYYYMMDD

      20051109

      2. CategoryCode

      One Letter Code, see list below

      N

      3. ImageTitle

      Use Underscores for Spaces

      Foggy_Sunrise

      4. Maker's Competition Number

      Use only your 3 digit competition number

      123

      5. File Extension

      Always use .JPG

      .JPG
      Example: 20051109-N-Foggy_Sunrise-124.jpg


  7. Click on Save. This makes a copy of the file in JPEG format. It does not overwrite the original file.

  8. You can now e-mail the file to dmvcc@paulparisi.com or burn the file to a CD for submission.

 

Visit the Frequently Asked Questions on the Tips page.



 

  
 

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