Print Preparation Guide
Print submissions must conform to the following:
- Prints must be either surface or window mounted
- Mounts must be 500mm x 400mm (in either orientation) and no more than 4mm thick
- Labelled clearly with the orientation, name of the author, and title (if any) on the reverse
- Submitted at least one week prior to the competition, using The Society's online submission mechanism (except with the agreement of the Competition Secretary), and with the title precisely as it should appear.
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Accompanied by Projected Digital Image style copies compliant with General Competition Rules and PDI guidelines
that are as representative of the final print as possible – although finishing touches that are simply for presentation and not important to the creative effect (e.g. simple borders) can be safely left out to allow more pixels for the image itself if the author prefers.
It is requested and strongly recommended that PDI copies of prints not be prepared and submitted until after the final print has been made and mounted, so as to ensure the best possible match.
Example 1: In the following print the white margin between the image and its mount is not an essential part of the image and can be safely omitted from the PDI (or reduced in size in it) to allow a larger copy of the image to be projected.
Example 2: In the following print the ragged margin between the image and its mount is an essential part of the image and must not be omitted.
Where electronic copies are not supplied, POY prints must be made available (for photographing) at least one week before the deadline for the heat entered.
Titles submitted and on the reverse of prints must match in all cases.
Beginners must make themselves known when entering their first heat.
Colour Gamut
Prints are viewed by reflected light, rather than transmitted light, which allows for richer colours and printers typically have a larger colour gamut than projectors, even where standard, rather than Wide Gamut, inks are used.
Where a print was made from an sRGB file there should be little change in brightness, contrast, saturation, or gamut on screen but where a larger colour space, such as Adobe RGB (1998) or ProPhoto, has been used some compression of the colour space will be necessary to avoid clipping of out-of-gamut colours.
Colour Consistency
A given Monitor and Printer combination can give consistent results yet be poorly calibrated, such systems are internally consistent only and when files are transferred to other systems (for competitions or printing) colour shifts can occur.
Anyone submitting files that don't project as expected (taking into account any previous gamut reduction) should consult the projectionist who will attempt to diagnose the problem—although in most cases the solution will be to hire the Society's ColorMunki to calibrate and profile your system.
Sharpness
The perception of sharpness is the result of Circles of Confusion and is affected by both enlargement and viewing distance; while projecting reduces perceived sharpness, this is largely mitigated by the greater viewing distance.
Reducing the pixel dimensions of an image, as is necessary for PDI submissions, can affect the perception of both overall sharpness and Depth of Field
when the fine halos that increase contrast and produce the impression of sharpness become too small. The solution is either to use a Bicubic Sharper resizing algorithm or to resharpen the image for screen after resizing.
