PHOTO REQUIREMENTS AND IMAGE EDITING TIPS
Gather ye Starlets photos while ye may...
PHOTO REQUIREMENTS
- You must provide three photos to be entered into the contest.
- The photos must have been taken within the past six months.
- Images must be submitted in JPEG format, approximately 800 x 600 pixels and 250 KB file size.
- Hold on to the prints or high-resolution versions of your photos and keep them handy, because we'll require them if you're chosen as one of the semifinalists.
- To increase your chances of success, mix up your photos with two body shots and one head shot. And by body shots, we don't mean the kind administered at your local watering hole.
- Any images that include nudity will go straight to our intern's sweaty little paws, but not in the contest. So don't send photos with any of your tasty bits hanging out. We can't and we won't use them on the site.
- Photos must not be retouched or contain text or any special effects. Don't mess with your natural loveliness in the photos. Also, copyright notices will make us very sad (please see next bullet point).
- The entrant must own the copyright to the photos or the entrant will be required to have the copyright owner (that is, if your photos were taken by a professional photographer, for example) complete a copyright release. We will tell you how to get a copyright release if and when you’re contacted for the contest. Also, the copyright owner will not receive payment from Stuff, which brings us to our last point: We will not provide any sort of byline or photographer recognition.
IMAGE EDITING TIPS
Don't skip over these expert tips on scanning and sizing your photos.
SCANNING
If you have prints of your photos you would like to scan, there are a few things you should know:
It makes life easier if you begin with a large image and keep that version on hand for later, because you'll need a higher-resolution image (larger file size) of the same pictures that you use for the contest if you are selected as one of the semifinalists. We recommend that you scan your photos at 300 dpi (dots per inch) or higher, which is considered print-quality. When you have finished scanning the image at this size, save the file with a name such as "starlet_highres.jpg."
RESIZING
- Most people find resizing their photos to be the biggest problem they encounter, so here's a general way of resizing your photos:
- Open your photo in your favorite image-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (click here for a free trial version of Paint Shop Pro).
- Using the "image sizing" feature or the "cropping" tool, resize the photo down to our recommended size of about 800 x 600 (horizontal) or 600 x 800 (vertical) pixels and change the dpi to between 72 and 150 dpi. (More on resizing photos here).
SAVING YOUR PHOTOS TO YOUR COMPUTER
Once you've sized the image to approximately 800 x 600 (horizontal) or 600 x 800 (vertical) pixels, you will have to save your photo in the JPEG (.jpg) format. Choose "Save As" in your image-editing program, and select "JPEG" from the dropdown menu.
At this point, the software may ask you if you would like to compress your image. For example, Photoshop uses a sliding scale for compression, with 12 being the highest quality and 1 being the lowest quality. We recommend you save at the highest quality possible to start. Since you are using the "Save As" feature, you want to rename the image so that you don't erase your high-resolution version. We suggest something like "starlet_lowres.jpg"
Once you've saved your photos, you will want to double-check that they are within the file size limits. You can do this by right-clicking the image in the saved location and choosing "Properties" from the menu to get the file size.
If the file size of your image is over 250 kilobytes (250 KB), you will want to open the low-res image again in the image-editing software and compress the image a bit by moving the quality scale down slightly (you can find this compression tool under "Image Size" in Photoshop, for instance), and resave. Then check the file size by looking at the newly saved image's "Properties" as described above.
Saving your photos within the 250 KB limit will allow you to upload them faster, and it will allow us to download and view your images faster, without sacrificing quality and viewing size.
THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO TO YOUR PHOTOS
Never try to enlarge a photo once it has already been resized or if it is originally smaller than our target size; this will result in distortion and blurring of the image. You will achieve the best results by starting with a larger image and making it smaller.
Don't overcompress your photos; if you're using Photoshop, for instance, don't choose anything below 7 on the compression scale to make your image smaller. Overcompressed JPEGs tend to become blurry and unrecognizable. If you start with a resized image of 800 x 600 (horizontal) or 600 x 800 (vertical) pixels and 72 to 150 dpi, you should be able to reach that 250 KB file size without sacrificing quality.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
Try visiting a FedEx Kinko’s or another local establishment with digital scanning services. If you’re truly Starlets material, we’re sure you’ll have no problem getting the photocopy jockey behind the counter to help you.
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