1. The PDI competition is open to all present and past attendees of the RPS Digital Imaging Group Thames Valley.
2.  Entrants may submit up to three images, which will be displayed as a single class in random order.
3. All images should be no more than 1024 pixels wide and no more than 768 pixels high.
4.  The competition will be judged either by a by an external judge or by a secret ballot among those present, to be decided and announced by the Chairman.
5.  If judged by an external judge, he or she may choose whether or not to have image titles read out.
6. If judged by an external judge, he or she will determine a winner, a second place, a third place, and, at his or her discretion, a small number of Highly Commended and Commended entries.
7. If judged by secret ballot among those present, the winner and placings will be determined from accumulated scores.
8. Certificates will be awarded to the highest-scoring image and for those coming second and third.
9. Small prizes for first, second and third may additionally be awarded.
10. All entries must be submitted by email to the . Entries must be received before 6pm on the Friday before the competition.

Copyright and Confidentiality

All images must be the sole copyright of the entrant. We would like to display the winning images at a low resolution on the Group’s web site gallery . We will do our best to protect the image from unauthorised copying but if you do not want your image to be displayed please say so when entering.
The image title and the identity of the photographer will be compiled on computer as necessary for the judging of this competition only. The information will not be passed on to any third party whatsoever and will be deleted after the event.

Useful Background Information

Digital projectors are still developing and are not yet optimised for photographic quality projection. They do not have as great a tonal or contrast range as film and are usually best at showing mid-range tones as highlights tend to burn out and shadows block up easily. Images with large areas of a gentle tonal range, particularly light colours, may not display to best advantage. The projector operates in landscape format only, i.e. 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high. Images in portrait format can be shown but will cover less of the screen so will be smaller. Note that images will be displayed in the sRGB colour space at a depth of 8-bits per channel.

Image Preparation

1. Take/scan your basic picture at high resolution.
2. Manipulate the image as desired
3. Save it as you normally would so that you have a high resolution copy.
4. If you have used layers you will now need to flatten the image down to a single layer, and, if 16 bits/channel, convert to 8 bits/channel.
5. You now have a file that is in the correct format but is probably still too large for the competition so the next task is to reduce the resolution of the data in your new file to match the resolution of the final projected image. Change the image size in your image editing program, e.g. in Photoshop you would go to Image > Image Size. Make sure the 'Constrain Proportions' and 'Resample Image' boxes are ticked then change either the width or the height in the pixel dimensions boxes at the top as appropriate so that neither figure exceeds the limits of 1024 pixels wide nor 768 pixels high.
6. You should now use your favourite method of sharpening on the reduced size image – if sharpening the image, it is important that it is done after it has been resized. Don't over-sharpen - perhaps around 50% at a radius of 0.8 of a pixel is a maximum, though this may depend on the image.
7. If your image is less than 1024x768 the projection program will automatically centre it and put it on a black background, however if you want a different background colour, select the background colour you want, (in Photoshop) go to Image > Adjust > Canvas Size. Select the dimensions in pixels from the drop down menus on the side of the dimension, change your canvas size to 1024x768 pixels, and choose your canvas colour. Photoshop automatically surrounds your image with your chosen background colour.
8. Ensure that your image is in sRGB colour space: Edit > Convert to Profile > choose sRGB (may have some other characters after sRGB).
9. Save this new image using 'Save As' or 'Save for Web and Devices', selecting the file type as JPEG. Save the JPEG at maximum quality (10 or greater), using the following filename format: yourname_title.jpg and exit your imaging application. Example: joebloggs_beachscene.jpg.
10. If entering by disk please copy the final image(s) to a PC format disk, and 'finalise' the disk so that it can be read on any computer.