Formatting Instructions

The key thing to keep in mind when formatting photos for submission is that the projector we use in the competitions has a (maximum) resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. This means that any photo that exceeds this size in either dimension, could end-up being cropped by the projector. In other words: the image Width cannot be more than 1024 pixels -and- the image Height cannot be more than 768 pixels. Down-sizing the image from the "native" resolution coming out of your camera also significantly reduces the file size. This helps when emailing the files and takes-up less space in our hard-drives.
With this in mind, here are a few simple steps to process your photos for submission:

1) Open the file in your photo editor of choice

This could be almost any basic photo editing software. Most people use Adobe Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) so the tutorial will assume you are using Photoshop. The steps are similar with most other photo editing packages.

2) Resize the image to fit a 1024 x 768 pixel "frame"

Go to File -> Automate -> Fit Image

Enter 1024 and 768 for Width and Height respectively:

Note: In case your Photoshop version does not support the "Automate -> Fit Image" feature, the old version of this tutorial is still available at this link.

3) Resize to 100 ppi

Images should be re-sized to 100 ppi. This eases integration in the Gammagram newsletter.  Go to Image -> Image Size and enter "100" under "pixels/inch":

4) Save the file

Go to file->Save As. For file format choose JPEG. The .jpg file label should be last name, first name and title of the image. For example, if your name is "Joe Johnson" and your image is titled "Bull Moose" you would name the file:

Johnson Joe Bull Moose.jpg.

Don't be afraid to use spaces in the file name.

Now, press the "Save" button. You will now see the "JPEG Options" Window. This window allows you to set the compression settings for the file. This helps keep the file size small. Choose "High Quality" in the drop-down menu (corresponds to a quality setting of 8). This compression setting reduces the file size significantly while keeping a very high image quality.

Press "OK" and you are done!

Note: Please don't worry about the dpi setting in the file. The only thing that matters here is the number of pixels (as far as the projector is concerned). The dpi setting is only relevant when you are printing an image. 

Optional step: some photos benefit from a thin frame around the image to separate them from the projector background. If you would like to add one, do the following before saving the file:

- Select the complete image (Ctrl+A in a PC, or menu Select->All)

- Go to Edit -> Stroke (outline) Selection

- Choose a color that contrast with your photo (say white for a dark photo)

- Select 1 or 2 pixels for width

- Select "inside" for "Location" and leave "Blending" at "Normal", "Opacity" at 100%

- Press OK.