You can split your entries any way you desire between film and digital images in any slide competition. Since the competition is a combined one you are limited to the maximum number of images for that competition, generally three.
All the rules and procedures for slide film entry in a competition will apply to the digital competition with one exception. You will not have to fill out an Entry card.
In the following procedure it is assumed that you set your software to "constrain proportions" when resizing images so that you do not change the aspect ratio of the image, height to width relationship. It is also assumed that you allow the software to resample the image (change the number of pixels).
General Rule
Each dimension of the image should be no greater than 768 pixels.
Photoshop Users
If you use PhotoShop, George Garbeck has made your life easier. He has developed an Action that will resize all images. Download the Actions using the Actions link. Save the file on your hard disk some place and then go to the Actions palette in PhotoShop and perform a Load Actions. Once the Action is installed all you have to do is perform a Play of the Action. Nothing could be easier thanks to our PhotoShop guru. For detailed downloading, installation and running instructions go to Instructions. The first two Actions in the downloaded Action folder are for preparing competition images. One Action, Digital Competition 7.0A, must be used if you have any release from 6.0 to CS or if you want to use the Unsharp Mask to sharpen in CS2. If you want to use the new Smart Sharpen in CS2 use the Digital Competition 7.0B version.
Photoshop Elements 3 Users
If you use PhotoShop Elements 3, George Garbeck has made your life easier. He has developed Actions that will resize your images. Download the Actions using the four Horizontal.atn Horizontal.psd Vertical.atn Vertical.psd links. Be sure to use the 'save' button in the download dialog box - not the 'open' button. For detailed downloading, installation and running instructions go to Instructions.
If you have made a selection and saved it in the image in Photoshop Elements you need to perform the following in order to have your image placed correctly in PowerPoint for viewing during the competition.
1) First save the image as a master copy.
2) Go into the Layers pulldown menu and select Flatten Image just in case the image has multiple layers.
3) Go into the Select pulldown menu and select Delete Selection
4) Delete ALL selections that show up in the pick list. You will have to go back to the Select pulldown menu and select a Delete Selection again if there are multiple selections in the image.
5) Then you are ready to perform the rest of your normal procedures to prepare the image for transmission to the club.
You can now name the file anything you want such as IMG_2345.jpg. For a makeup entry include the word makeup at the end of the title
The color space or profile of the image should be sRGB
Files should be in JPG format. Save the JPG including the ICC Profile and using The Highest Quality setting (the lowest compression).
All files for pictorial or assigned subject competitions must be received by the Sunday prior to the competition. All files for nature competitions must be received by the Saturday prior to the competition. Please adhere to the schedule and give yourself enough time to get your images in by the deadline. Circumstances outside of our control can cause you problems if you wait until the deadline is close.
If you are not using a color and luminance calibrated monitor to preview your image there is a possibility that the projected color and brightness of your images may not be to your expectation. (The lawyers made me write this.)
If this is your first time using the new entry service go to http://www.photocontestpro.com/Default.aspx and logon using your email address, the one you have given the RCC and shown in the Membership List on the RCC website, and organization (Ridgewood Camera Club) and click on the "Forgot your password/ Click Here" feature. You then will have to fill out a second page with your email address and Organization. If you are registered for this service you will receive your password via email in a few minutes at which time you can use the procedure below.
If you logon to the second page and get an "Unregistered Email" response please contact our Digital Competition Secretary and she will register your email address and name in the system.
After that one time registration you can use either of the following procedures:
Go to http://www.photocontestpro.com/Default.aspx Logon with your email address, the one you have given the RCC and shown in the Membership List on the RCC website, and password obtained in the One time Registration process and select Ridgewood Camera Club as the Organization.
You may change your password from the one the system assigned you at any time as soon as you login using the Set Password function. Store this password in a safe place. If you forget your password you can request the system to email it to you.
After you have logged in go to Upload Images and select the Contest you want to enter. If the Contest Dates are not listed in date order just click on the Date field and they will sort. Note that there are separate contests for Class A and B in Pictorial, and separate contests in Nature for General, Zoological, Ornithological and Botanical and a single Contest for Assigned Subjects. The date of the contest is given.
Note that your name and camera club organization has been filled in for you. Enter the Title that you want to give the image such as Sandhill Crane in Flight. For a makeup entry include the word makeup at the end of the title. Then use the Browse button to find the image file on your computer that you want to upload. You no longer have to name the image file with those arcane file names and the file name can be anything such as IMG_6785.jpg. Click the Upload button and your first file will be uploaded to the site.
Complete the last two steps for all images you want to upload and you are done!
You can Show or Delete any of the files you have uploaded. Just go to the Upload Image page and highlight the Contest you are concerned with in the Contests panel. Then in the Your Uploaded Images panel use the Delete or Show function.
A standalone program is also available for uploading your images and that can be obtained from http://www.photocontestpro.com/Default.aspx Logon to that site using the User Name and Password detailed in the One Time Registration section above. Once you are logged into the site go to the Downloads section and follow the instructions. The advantage of the Upload Program is that it will allow you to easily delete or change an image you have uploaded or change the title in case you have incorrectly named it. You can also see a full screen size preview of the image to ensure that you have uploaded the correct image.