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This
article was prepared by David Hampson with additional information
from Philippa Davies and Mike Hoad. |
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The
Club's projector displays images at 1024 x 768 pixels and is
profiled to run in sRGB. The software we are using for digital
competitions will only accept images of this size. Therefore
all images must be sent as 1024 x 768 pixels in size and saved
in JPEG format. They must be named with the following convention
for the competition software to recognise the title. |
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Title
must be in capital letters, followed by a space then the word
'by' in lower case followed by another space then the photographer's
first name and surname with the first letter in each word in
capitals. The file will end in .jpg eg IMAGE TITLE by Another
Member.jpg |
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Another
example of the correct naming convention: BURANO CANAL by David Hampson.jpg |
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Using Photoshop
(for
Elements, see later below) |
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There
are many methods for preparing an image for competition depending
on what software you use on your computer. Personally I use Photoshop
and I will describe below how I prepare an image for the digital
competitions. |
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I
open the image and make any adjustments using levels, curves,
hue/saturation etc. If I have used layers I would flatten the
image so that I have just a background layer. |
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I
then sharpen the image using Len Deeley's method I make a copy
of the background layer and use unsharp mask on the copy. I change
change the blending mode in the layers palette from Normal to
Darken. This can help overcome the 'halo' effect sometimes caused
by sharpening. I then flatten the image. |
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I
resize the image. If it is in landscape I use the crop tool.
I have made a preset of 10.667 inches by 8 inches at 96 pixels/inch
which gives me a 1024 by 768 pixel image. |
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If
it is in portrait I resize the image using image > resize
making the height 8 inches at 96 pixels/inch. The width will
be less than 1024 pixels. I then adjust the canvas size width
to 10.667 inches ensuring that the extension canvas colour is
set to black. (You can use any colour you like but I prefer black).
You can also do a landscape letterbox using the same technique
but adjusting the image width to 10.667 inches and 1024 pixels
and then adjusting the canvas size. |
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My
digital camera, slide digitizer and Photoshop are all set for
Adobe RGB. I therefore have to convert my image to sRGB using
edit > convert to profile. I also run on 16 bit colour and
I have to change the image back to 8 bit colour to save the image. |
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I
then save the image using File>Save as and choosing JPEG as
my file type. I can name the file as per above and I set the
quality at maximum. You can use File>Save for Web which makes
the final slightly smaller. |
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Using Photoshop
Elements |
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Mike
Hoad writes: If like me you have Elements Version 3 you need
to do the following to achieve sRGB. In Editor: Edit, colour
settings, select Apply sRGB. Click OK. Alternatively when you
gone through the File>Save for Web procedure and saved - when
you open the file it will ask you which profile to apply. At
that stage you can select sRGB and save file again with this
profile. |
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Philippa
Davies has devised a method for Photoshop Elements and here it
is: |
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In
Editor, open image and make any required changes - but do not
sharpen at this stage. |
Resize
image for projection - the maximum size is 1024 x 768 pixels.
Go to Image>Resize>Image Size and type 1024 in the
width box. If this results in the height being greater than 768
then change height to 768, which will reduce the width. Click
OK. This creates a resized image; Close original without saving.
Sharpen the resized image as necessary. |
If
the image size is not 1024 x 768 (eg 1024 x 683) go to Image>Resize>Canvas Size.
Change the New Size option to pixels using the drop down arrow
and type in 1024 x 768 pixels. Change the Canvas Extension Colour
to black (or other colour desired). Click OK.
Now go to Image>Convert Color Profile. Choose Apply
sRGB profile to ensure image will project correctly |
To
save the image for the competition, go to File>Save for web.
Ensure quality is set to 100%. Click OK and save image to appropriate
file on your computer. The title needs to be in a precise format
for the competition software ie POPPY FIELD by Philippa Davies.jpg
(title in capitals, a space, the word 'by' and the photographer's
name with capital letters .jpg)
Press CTRL+O to open images and find the image you have just
saved. Check that the title is in the format shown above. If
Elements has inserted dashes, RIGHT CLICK on image thumbnail
and select rename. Retype the title exactly as shown above in
the grey box below thumbnail. Press ENTER to save changes. |
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