Digital Entry Specifications r08-2023

The requirements for submitting images for digital projection are:

  • Submission Deadline Midnight 1-week before competition (usually SSCC’s Speaker meeting night)
  • Send submissions to competition@ssccphotography.org
  • Number of Images (per member per competition):  maximum of 2 Files
  • Format:  JPEG
  • File Size: 1000 KB (max).
  • Recommended approximate dimensions of 1920 x 1440 pixels, reflecting the resolution of our projector.
  • File Name: Class~Maker’s Name~Image Title.jpg Example:  Advanced~Tom Jones~Washington Landscape.jpg The tilde “~” character separates the 3 subfields of the file name
  • Class: Beginner, Novice, or Advanced; capitalization not required.
  • Maker’s Name: spaces allowed. Please use the same name throughout the year to aid record keeping.
  • Image Title: spaces allowed
  • DO NOT embed commas (,) or tilde (~) in any of the File Name subfields.

The File Name requirements are very important for running the competition.  Please be careful when entering this information.  Nonconforming filenames make it very difficult to track your entry.  Use a tilde (~), NOT a dash (-) to separate the subfields (Class~Maker’s Name~Image Title) of the filename.

The Competition Chair will not make changes to the filenames after submission, so please check them carefully before submitting.

The computer and software will automatically re-scale your image for projection, but if you want to exert full control over how the image is displayed, you should consider resizing and sharpening the image yourself so that the short edge is approximately 1440 pixels or the long edge is approximately 1920 pixels.  Please see the Member Handbook for tutorials on how to resize images in Lightroom or Photoshop.

The maximum file size of 1000KB is to limit the demands on computer memory and speed the presentation.

The computer we use for competition night will automatically add black bars at the side of the photo based on the photo’s aspect ratio.  If for artistic reasons you wish your image to be presented at a size smaller than full screen, then you must size you image and position it within a 1920 pixels wide x 1440 pixels high black background image (canvas size in Photoshop).

Postscript:

The following articles will help you with the nuts and bolts of sizing your images in Lightroom, Photoshop, and without Adobe software:

USING LIGHTROOM TO EXPORT IMAGES FOR DIGITAL COMPETITION in the current SSCC Handbook.

SIZING IMAGES FOR DIGITAL COMPETITION IN PHOTOSHOP in the current SSCC Handbook.

Changing the File Size and File Name for SSCC Competitions – PC Version http://www.ssccphotography.org/changing-the-file-size-and-file-name-for-sscc-competitions-by-david-terao/

Changing the File Size and File Name for SSCC Competitions – Mac Version http://www.ssccphotography.org/resizing-and-renaming-projected-images-for-competitions-using-a- mac-by-david-terao/