The Contest Designed by Photojournalists for Photojournalists

Compete with the very best in still and television photojournalism, in picture editing, and Web editing. Now in its tenth year, the Best of Photojournalism (BOP) is the world's leading digital photojournalism contest.

BOP is a project of the National Press Photographers Association.

• Number of entries allowed
• Editing Entry Preparation
• Categories
• Submitting your Entries

Overview

The Best of Photojournalism Picture Editing competition recognizes the individuals and publications that practice and promote great photojournalism through great picture editing.

Picture editing is a complex and multifaceted process. Picture editors identify the best pictures and shepherd them to the public eye. They ensure that the text and pictures work together to tell a story. Picture editors work to facilitate page design and layout that engages and enlightens readers.

Great picture editors help teach the photographers they work with to see and communicate more clearly and deeply.

The act of editing itself may be a team effort, or it may be performed by an individual, but it is never completely in isolation.

Contest format

Entries in all Newspaper and Magazine Picture Editing categories must be submitted in PDF format, EXCEPT for the Best Use of Photography categories. The Best Use categories for print publications (EU01, EU02 and EU03) require hard-copy entries, and the Best Use of Photography by Electronic Publications category can be entered either as a packaged file (PDF, AIR, Flash, and so on), or as a set of four URLs, one for each issue submitted.

Registering Yourself for the Contest

Everyone must register to enter Best of Photojournalism 2012. Please note that:

1. you must register even if you entered in a previous year
2. you cannot simply re-use last year’s entry code

Obtaining the code is easy: simply complete the online Contest Registration Form, and you will be taken to the entry page.

Your Contest Identification Code will serve as your ‘name’ for the contest: entrants in the Best Use print categories must include this 8-digit code on the entry label for each hard-copy edition they enter. The Contest ID will automatically be included with PDF entries, but we may ask you for your ID if you have a question about an entry.

Note that if you are entering more than one division of the Best of Photojournalism competition (for example, Photo Editing and Web Sites), you can use the same Contest Identification Code for all divisions.

For entries in the Magazine and Newspaper Picture Editing categories, you can submit your PDF files using the online entry form.

Preparing your Entries

The intent of the Best of Photojournalism Picture Editing contest is to judge the best of picture editing in each of the categories published during the past year. To that end, the contest judges should see exactly what the readers saw in print. Presenting a PDF with content different from that in the final printed publication is inconsistent with the goals and ethics of the competition. Entries that have been altered or re-edited for this contest will be disqualified. (Note that compressing your PDFs for screen display is not considered to be alteration.)

Modified “Smallest File Size” PDFs will be used to judge all categories except for the Best Use of Photography categories. Those categories (EU01, EU02, EU03) require complete printed editions of each publication.

Each entry in the Photo Editing division (whether in PDF or hard copy) must be submitted using the Online Entry Form. For PDF entries, the Online Entry Form saves your file on the contest server, and generates page thumbnails for quick browsing. For the hard-copy Best Use of Photography entries, the entry form generates a printable entry label which should be attached to your entry.

Number of entries allowed

There is no limit on the number of entries allowed per editor or editing team, but we encourage entrants to exercise “good editing” in entry preparation.

PDF Format Requirements

• Only “screen resolution” or “smallest file size” PDFs should be entered. As part of the “smallest file size” compression, images with resolutions above 240 DPI should be down-sampled to 150 DPI using bicubic interpolation.

  

• Font subsets should be included.

• If possible, the color space should be set to sRGB to ensure accurate reproduction on the projector.

• No slide show or special program should be used. Simply save each entry as a PDF file, using Adobe Acrobat or your page layout program.

• Multiple-page presentations must be assembled into a single PDF. They should be in reading order (using natural spreads) and not in printing order (printer spreads). This is critical if judges are to comprehend the sequence flow of pages presented to the readers of your publication.

  The requirement that each entry be saved as a single PDF file applies to all categories, including the picture editing portfolio categories (EM08, EN11, and EN12).

Categories

Assurance: The judging body will attempt to ensure that all entries are judged in an appropriate category. In some cases, that may mean that entries will be re-categorized. Entrants will not automatically be disqualified for choosing the wrong category; however, we strongly encourage entrants to use care in selection.

Magazine Picture Editing

Newspaper Picture Editing

The term ‘single page’ is defined in the newspaper portion of contest as a lone page (tabloid or broad sheet). A double-truck or center spread will be defined as a multiple page entry.

Best Use of Photography

Note: These categories must be entered with complete editions of the publications. (Please remove any advertising inserts or stuffers.)

Submitting your Entry

• All entries must be submitted on or before the deadline of 3 PM EST on February 3rd, 2012.
• Make sure multi-page entries are stored in one multi-page PDF, rather than a folder of single-page PDF’s.
• Make sure your entries are uploaded to the Online Entry Form.

Submitting Online

To simplify entry and troubleshooting, you must submit your entries using the Online Entry Form.

Page thumbnails of your files will automatically be generated, and you can view the list of your entries online to confirm that everything is correct.

Submitting Entries by Mail

All entries in the Best Use of Photography categories for print publications (EU01, EU02, and EU03) must be shipped, as those categories require full printed issues of your publication (see the category rules for details).

Mailing Address:

Please mail hard-copy entries from the Best Use of Photography categories (with attached Entry Labels) to:

All entries which are shipped to NPPA must be sent on or before the deadline of February 3rd, 2012. The postmark or shipping label date will be used to confirm shipment times for entries received after the deadline.

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