Entry Instructions

Please pay close attention to these instructions and the competition rules.

Image Captions and Information

Captions can be critical during judging — write and enter your image captions carefully.

IPTC data may be embedded into images using Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, Aperture Lightroom and other image editing solutions. You must include the correct capture date and location information. Once you have uploaded your files, any prexisting IPTC data will be automatically extracted and displayed for review and modification.

The following IPTC fields are required:

Document Title is the image title
Author is the photographer's name
Description is the caption
Capture Date verify that this field is correct
Location information including location (if applicable), city (or nearest city), state/province, country and three character ISO country code
Copyright name of publication or copyright holder (if applicable)

Image File Specifications

Images may only be submitted as JPEG formatted files
Recommended JPEG compression setting is between 10-11 and no less than 9
The minimum accepted image size is 2500px on the longest side
Images should be no longer than 14 inches at 300 DPI on the longest side (4200px), do not upsize or interpolate your submissions
All images must be submitted in 8Bit AdobeRGB colorspace

Multimedia Submission Preparation

You may upload the following file formats: .mov, .m4v, .avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, .flv, .swf and .zip. The preferred format for video entries is x264 encoded .mov files. Entries that can only be viewed online may be submitted by using the 'Add URL' button in the multimedia category sections of the entry appliation. Double check the URL that you provide. If your site is down we cannot judge your entry. Do not submit links to videos on hosted services such as YouTube or Vimeo, instead upload the original file.

A general guideline is that if a project displays properly from your computer before you uploaded it to your website, it must be submitted as a file instead of a URL.

If a URL submission is modified after the entry period closes on September 28, 2011 it will be disqualified.

Only single files may be uploaded for multimedia entries. If you are submitting an entry comprised of multiple files (for example a SoundSlides presentation), please compress all the files together into a single "zip" file.

Creating a ZIP File

Put the contents of the multimedia entry into one single folder
Title this folder with the title of the multimedia project
Compress the folder into a .zip file
- Windows users: right-click on the folder icon, select "Send To..." and then "Compressed (zipped) Folder"
- Mac OS X users: control-click the folder icon, and select "Create Archive of folder name".
You will also be required to upload a preview image that with be associated with this entry

Advisor Verification

After the September 28th deadline, CPOY will confirm your eligibility with the advisor or instructor you listed on your registration form. You will then receive a second email on or before October 19th letting you know that your entry is complete. See the Eligibility Verification section of the rules page for an explanation of this process.