If you're used to entering digital images in photo competitions, you probably don't need this section, however if you haven't entered digital images in a competition or are simply new to the craft, these instructions should help.

To begin with, don't be afraid to enter competitions; they're good fun and a great way to learn more about photography.

The following are a few suggestions on capturing, manipulating and preparing your pictures for digital competitions where the images will be displayed online (i.e. via a computer monitor) or with a data projector.

These instructions assume you have Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or a similar image editing program.

MOST digital cameras save your pictures in either JPG and/or TIF format; some give you an option, some don't.

JPG is a "lossy" format, i.e. whenever you manipulate the photo (change brightness etc.) the image loses some data, and therefore loses some quality.

TIF is a "lossless" format, i.e. you can manipulate the photo without loss of data/quality.

Obviously it's better to perform all image changes in TIF format, so the first thing we'll do is make sure it's in TIF.

Paradoxically, TIF format is useless for display via a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) which require the JPG format, so we'll show you how to change the TIF image to JPG.

Lastly, the image from your camera is probably a much bigger file than it needs to be for display on a monitor or data projector, so we'll show you how to make the image the right size.

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