PFLI CLUB DIGITAL COMPETITION PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS ************************************************** THE Club Digital Competition System consists of the following files. PFLICLUBCOMPVxx.EXE (the main executable file where xx is the current version number) CLUBSETUP.TXT (A data text file containing the members names, group and code name) VB40032.DLL THE IMAGE FILES The EXE and TXT file along with the image files must all reside in the same folder. The VB40032.DLL file must reside in your C:\windows\system32 folder. Some versions of Windows may require you to right click the EXE file and “Run as Administrator” the first time. If you are using a MAC you must have the conversion program. We suggest you keep a separate folder for each month for archival and End of Year competition purposes. When all of the image files for the month are collected the program is ready for a test run. During this process a number of temporary files will be created. They will all begin with a ~ and may be safely deleted after the competition is completed but they are tiny files and will not impact your hard drive’s storage capacity. The first step is to click CREATE THE DATA FILES. This routine verifies that the image file names are in the EXACT format specified and that the makers code and group in the image name is the same as in the CLUBSETUP.TXT file. If there are no errors a green list appears. If a red list appears there are errors that must be corrected. We have tried to trap all the errors and provide you with a message as to what the error actually is but you would be amazed as to how clever people are in making up errors. The most common error will be an image from a new maker which is not in the CLUBSETUP.TXT file. The next most common error will be a wrong code designation. Unwanted spaces in anything but the image title are also a common problem. Once you have a green list you should RUN THRU USING THE F AND B KEYS. This is to check that the images load correctly and that they are sized correctly. An image with a non-JPG extension is simply ignored and thus will not generate an error message so you should make sure the image formats are correct when they are first downloaded. Once the run thru is completed you should PRINT THE SCORE SHEETS, return to the MAIN MENU and SELECT A SCORING METHOD. The choices for scoring method are single digits 5 to 9, fractions from 5 to 9 (example 8.3) and 15 to 27 . This completes the test run. EXIT the program. At the competition from the MAIN MENU you may click on PROJECTOR TEST. This option projects a contrast step wedge, a perfect circle to verify aspect ratio, a sharpness test and a color checker in to assist in setting up your digital projector.If you did not previously set up a SCORING METHOD you may do so now. Select BEGIN THE COMPETITION, and BEGIN either the "B", "A" or Salon ("AA") group. Enter the judges score and use the > key to move forward. If you enter a wrong score merely retype it. If you wish to go back use the < key. At the end of a competition a list of scores is provided along with a dummy code for the maker. Images with the same code are by the same maker. To break ties you may click on the list to review the images again and enter a tie break score if you wish. You may also drop images by the same maker if you do not allow multiple awards. Once any ties are broken you have a choice as to how many images you wish to review and how you wish to review them...either by advancing them manually using the > and < keys or via an automated slide show. This completes the competition. Normally the score sheets are filled in during the competition. If they are accidentally lost the scores may be retrieved using the PRINT THE FINAL SCORE SHEET command from the main menu once you have access to a printer at home. Note – The image files are randomly sorted when the data files are created. The score sheets are printed from these files. If you click on Create the Data Files again after you printed out the score sheets the image files will be randomly sorted again and they will not be in sequence with the previously printed score sheets. The score sheets are still usable but you will be slowed down a bit. A warning message is posted so you can avoid this. A sample image file name is as follows: *************************************** C27-dickh-B1-flower #1.jpg where; c27 represents the club number. Dickh is a code name for the maker. It can be anything up to 9 characters but some resemblance to the actual person's name will help. The B represents the makers classification, in this case a BEGINNER. An A would indicate an ADVANCED maker, an S a SALON (or AA) worker. The 1 has no meaning at the club level other than being a place marker. When the image is sent to the PFLI competition it must be replaced with an A thru E to indicate that the image belongs in the first slate, a F thru J if it is in the second slate and a K thru O for a third slate. Flower #1 represents the title. It can be anything up to 36 characters and is the only place where spaces are allowed. A sample CLUBSETUP.TXT file is as follows: ***************************************** XYZ CAMERA CLUB c27,dick,hunt,dickh,b c27,adolfo,briceno,abriceno,s c27,John,DiNicola,johndini,s 999 Where; The first line is the club name followed by a separate line for each maker. Each maker line contains the club number, first name, last name, code name and classification. The 999 just lets the computer know the end of the list has been reached. No spaces are allowed except in the first line. Image Sizing ************ The images should be sized at 750 pixels in the longest dimension at 72 PPI in SRGB color space.