Technical Specifications

PHOTOGRAPHY

preparing your submission:

All digital photographs must be taken in Richmond, BC and meet the following guidelines in order to be considered for the contest. Please note: Images not created in Richmond will be removed from the contest and ineligible for judging.

• Submit only portrait / vertically oriented photographs in order to retain the integrity of the original photograph. Landscape / horizontal oriented images are discouraged due to need for severe cropping to fit the banner dimensions.

• Only original, digital photographs, not previously submitted to the Richmond Street Banner Contest, will be accepted.

• We are accepting online contest entries only. To submit your banner design, click the ENTRY FORM link and complete the online entry form.

• Photographs containing people, whose identities are clearly discernible, must submit a completed waiver form with their banner contest entry. All waivers must be signed and dated by the subject(s) in the photo or their parent/guardian. Waiver forms will be subject to confirmation by City staff for authenticity.
  NOTE: Incomplete waivers will result in the automatic rejection of your submission.

  📄Downloadable photo release/waiver.

• The City of Richmond may disqualify banner submission that may, in the opinion of the City of Richmond, infringe on applicable intellectual property (copyright) laws.

• Each digital file submitted must be identified by your full name and an image number. For example: John-Doe001.jpg, John-Doe002.jpg, John-Doe003.jpg, etc…
  **Please note: DO NOT upload your files with only the image number from your computer. Due to the volume of contest submissions and the need to correctly track all entries, files not conforming to the naming procedure may be disqualified.**

technical specifications:

• Image resolution and minimum requirements: high resolution, cropped, vertical photographic image(s) measuring minimum 2400x6000 pixels @ 300dpi. Please see the supplemental pixel resolution information here for more details about sizing your images correctly.

• Submissions that do not meet the minimum image resolution stipulated above may be disqualified because they cannot be successfully enlarged to meet the City’s banner production requirements.

• Adjustments to lighting and colour enhancement are permitted; however, any photographic manipulation, adjustments and enhancements deemed excessive / artificial may be disqualified. These include excessive / unrealistic HDR treatments, oversaturated / unrealistic colour treatments, photo composites, excessive generative AI retouching, etc.

• IMPORTANT! Without limitations, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications including Adobe Generative Fill, Midjourney, Firefly, etc. to create banner contest submissions is strictly prohibited. If your entry is suspected as being created with an AI application, you must be able to provide raw digital files for verification of authenticity upon request. Failure to comply will result in contest disqualification.

Digital camera Image format:

• All submissions should be high resolution JPG only. Do not send RAW, TIFF or PSD files for the contest entry at this time.

• If possible, shoot images for your banner design in RAW image format (either CR2, NEF or RAF).

• If your photograph is selected, you will be contacted by the City for an uncompressed, high resolution TIFF or RAW image file if it is available.

Smartphone Camera Image Format:

• If entering 14MP or larger smartphone photographs, please ensure that you are downloading and submitting the highest quality image possible from your device.

• Ensure that you are capturing / creating your digital smartphone photo in vertical / portrait orientation only.

• Convert your HEIC image format to JPG and follow the file naming standard above before uploading your submission.

• For tips about setting up your smartphone and downloading your files, please visit the Smartphone FAQ.

DIGITAL ART

Preparing your submission:

All digital illustration, matte painting and collage artworks must meet the following guidelines in order to be considered for the contest. 

• ALL Digital artwork should be created at a minimum 300ppi.

• Minimum size of artwork must maintain a proportional scale of 8 x 20”. Artwork not meeting the size requirement will be subject to cropping at the graphic designer’s discretion.

• The recommended format for digital illustrations is vector- or raster-based images for digital collage and digitally painted designs.

• Words, letters and numbers may be included in the overall design if they are related to the theme of the artwork.

• We are accepting online contest entries only. To submit your banner design, click the ENTRY FORM link and complete the online entry form.

• Each digital file submitted must be identified by your full name and image number. For example:
  John-Doe001.jpg, John-Doe-003.ai, John-Doe-004.pdf, etc…
  Please note: Due to the volume of contest submissions and the need to correctly track all entries, files that do not conform to the naming procedure may be disqualified.

Technical Specifications:

• Image resolution and minimum requirements: 2400x6000 pixels @ 300dpi

• Submissions that do not meet this image resolution may be disqualified because they cannot be successfully enlarged to meet the City’s banner production requirements.

• Colour space preference is CMYK, but sRGB is acceptable. Please note: colours may shift in conversion from sRGB to CMYK - please bear that in mind when creating your digital artwork.

• Acceptable digital art formats include: Illustrator AI, EPS and PDF formats; Photoshop JPG and PSD formats.

• Please note: All non-Adobe graphic files must be converted and saved as one of the above industry standard digital formats.

• IMPORTANT UPDATE! Without limitations, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications including Adobe Generative Fill, Midjourney, Firefly, etc. to create banner contest submissions is strictly prohibited. If your entry is suspected as being created with an AI application, you must be able to provide raw digital files for verification of authenticity upon request. Failure to comply will result in contest disqualification.

ORIGINAL ART

collage, paint + print making

preparing your submission:

All collage, painted and printmaking artworks must meet the following guidelines in order to be considered for the contest. 

• All artwork must be original, handmade and created by the artist submitting the contest entry

• Absolutely no mechanical reproductions of original works are permitted.

• Absolutely no copyrighted, unaltered original images such as magazine and/or book images are permitted in the final submitted artwork. All collage works must contain only copyright free or creative commons images, and all images must be credited to the original source if not an original work from the submitting artist.

• Minimum finished artwork size must maintain a proportional scale of 8" x 20”. Artwork not meeting the size requirement will be subject to cropping at the graphic designer’s discretion.

• Words, letters and numbers may be included in the overall design if they are related to the theme of the banner artwork.

• We are accepting online entries only. To submit your original artwork banner design, please take a high resolution photo or scan of the artwork and upload your contest entry by clicking the ENTRY FORM link and complete the online entry form.

• If your design is selected as a winner, we will contact you to arrange drop-off of the original art. The artwork will be professionally scanned, at very high resolution, in order for it to be appropriately resized and made into a street banner. Original artwork will be returned to the artist after completion of the scanning process.