Preparing Images for Projection

20/08/2014
Confused about image size, pixels, colour space?
PREPARING IMAGES FOR PROJECTION

Some members still seem to have difficulty in presenting their PDIs in the correct format to suit the club's projector. So here's a summary of the requirements, and details of how this is done in Photoshop Creative Cloud and Elements 10. Other versions of Photoshop and Elements are very similar. If you use other software all I can do is suggest you ask someone else who also uses it, or click on the Help button.

Images are to be JPEGs and are to be no more than 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high, and are to be in sRGB colour space. The colour space in which the images are saved is set by the camera. Less expensive cameras will probably save the images as JPEGs without any option, but higher quality cameras will give the owner the choice of shooting in RAW and choosing the colour space in which the image is saved. You do not have to change the settings on your camera just to meet the requirements of the club's projector. So if you prefer to shoot in RAW and Adobe RGB colour space and save your images as TIFs, then continue to do so. When you've edited the image to your satisfaction for a competition, and printed it if necessary, you need to prepare a file for the competition secretary. For print competitions the PDI should be the same as the print being displayed. Sounds obvious, but we sometimes see images on the screen radically different from the print being judged!

Save your images to a USB stick, CD-ROM or other readable medium and give them to the competition secretary by the closing date. Entries should be numbered 1, 2, 3 in order of your preference. This is to allow the competition secretary to remove the least preferred images if the competition is oversubscribed. The image should be saved with a file name in the style number - title - by - photographer's name, e.g. 1 Sunset at Whitstable by John Smith. The competition software in the club's computer recognises this format and will display the title of the image for a second or two when first projected, and will also sort out the scores and rank the competitors accordingly.


PHOTOSHOP CC

Setting the image size

Click Image then Image Size. Check the chain symbol is highlighted so that the proportions of the image are maintained. If the image is a landscape format set the width to 1400 pixels. The height will automatically be changed to whatever it needs to be to keep the correct proportions. Conversely, if it is in portrait (or square) format, set the height to 1050 pixels, and the width will be set automatically.
Another way is to use the crop tool. For a landscape format set 1400px in the width field and leave the height blank. For portrait format set 1050px in the height field and leave the width blank. Drag the crop handles to the edges of the image and click on the tick box.
If you're preparing images for an AV where it is important that all the images are the same size, a crop preset of 1400 x 1050 pixels is an option you can use.

Setting the colour space

Click Edit then Convert to Profile
The window that opens shows you what the Source Space is. I.e. what colour space the image is at the moment. If it's already sRGB you don't need to do anything more. If it shows anything else click on the arrow at the right hand end of the Destination Space field. A whole lot of colour spaces are offered. Choose sRGB and click OK. Adobe CC shows it as sRGB IEC61966-2.1, but that's the one you want.

Now save the image by clicking on Save As. Click on the arrow at the right hand end of the Save as type field and select JPEG. You are also offered JPEG 2000 and JPEG Stereo, but choose common or garden JPEG. Then click Save. Overwrite the previous version of the file as this is the version being edited for PDI projection.

ELEMENTS 10

Setting the image size

Choosing Image | Resize | Image Size doesn't allow you to resize the image by pixels. So open the crop tool and if it is a landscape format image set 1400px in the width field and leave the height blank. Drag the crop handles to the edges of the image and click on the tick. Conversely, if it is a portrait format (or square) set 1050px in the height field and leave the width field blank.

[i]Setting the colour space

Click Image | Convert Color Profile | Convert to sRGB Profile then click OK
If the image is already in sRGB colour space the "Convert to sRGB Profile" will be greyed out and not an option, so leave it as it is.

Click on Save As and then in the Format field choose JPEG and then click Save. You're only offered one flavour of JPEG in Elements. Overwrite the previous version of the file as this is the version being edited for PDI projection.

CONCLUSION

I hope this has been of some help. It helps the competition secretary's workload greatly if images are presented in the correct size, format and colour space. Those images that do not comply with the required criteria and cannot be automatically corrected by the competition secretary run the risk of not being entered into the competition.