Random Contest confusion

[tinyplasticdinos]

I did search the boards for various keywords on my issue, but nothing that came up answered my question.

 

I would love to enter the contest this week but I am majorly confused by the submission rules

 

on the topic of image dimensions and file size the art contest rules say, "The image file size should be no more than 80K. Try to avoid doing tiny little pictures as often they don't reflect the time and effort you have put into them. The ideal size is somewhere between 300 and 500 pixels (4 and 7 inches) in height and width. It doesn't have to be square and you don't need to provide us with the small thumbnail image either."

 

on the same topic the general contest rules say, "The image file size should be no more than 50K. Try to avoid doing tiny little pictures as often they don't reflect the time and effort you have put into them. The ideal size is somewhere between 300 and 300 pixels (4 and 4 inches) in height and width. It doesn't have to be square."

 

And then when you look at the last few Random Contest winners, it's very clear that few, if any, of them fit these specifications. They are all massive in dimension and file size, unbelievably so.

 

My finished product is roughly 280k and 400x600. Much smaller in file size and dimension that a majority of the entries to the most recent random contest. I would like to find out how I am able to submit an entry I am proud of without possibly falling victim to arbitrary entry rules?

 

So, if anyone out there could clarify this for me I would be grateful. You can only submit once and I don't want to ruin my chances :/

[Emily]

They say "ideal" size, but it's ok if, pixel-wise, it's a little larger. The file size is fairly easy to condense. Just make sure you're saving the image in an efficient format. If your file is a BMP file, for example, it's going to be multiple times larger than the exact same thing saved as a JPG file. Also, if whatever image program you're using lets you select the quality of the image when you save it, setting it as low as opposed to high can reduce the file size drastically and it doesn't compromise the quality of the image horrifically.

 

When I won the runner up in the RC, I think my image was 400x500 and I saved it from Photoshop with a quality of 2.

[tinyplasticdinos]

I understand about file compression and the way to achieve that, that is not my question.

 

What I am concerned about is the lack of clarity in the rules I am meant to follow. We're meant to follow both sets of rules but they have conflicting information. So, I am confused as to what perimeters I should be abiding by, and if other contestants will be doing the same. The first winner of the most recent contest has an entry that is 800 x 604 and 158K. I would not be pleased if I shaved the quality of my entry to squeak by what seem to be outdated rules, only to find I could have submitted it in it's original high-def format.

[Xepha]

I have an easy answer for you.

Do your best to make your image as small as you can but without losing too much detail or quality.

Try to send it.

 

If it goes through, you are good.

If it doesn't then you need to make it smaller in k.

[tinyplasticdinos]

It went through as I had it, I'm just concerned I'll be disqualified if they decided to be image size sticklers :/

 

Thank you guys for your help :) My fingers are crossed! (waiting is the worst part)

[carlyle]

I really don't think that they are sticklers at all. If you read their rules for the poem contest, you will find that they base their guidelines very reasonably. I am sure that this understanding will carry over to the random contest. Good luck! And tell us what prizes you get!

[karmacow]

The image that I won with (silver) was 147kb, so I think they're pretty lenient with image sizes. I'm guessing that if you manage to submit the file successfully, it's not too big.

EDIT: And the dimensions were 569x666 - definitely bigger than what it says on the page, but I knew I had seen loads of entries with bigger pictures than that, so I decided to submit mine anyway, just to see if I could, because 500 pixels is tiny, if you want to include more than just a picture of what you've made.