This section is intended to give an insight to our policies and guidelines. If you don't see the information you're looking for, contact us here and we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

General Site Questions

How do I join Digital Image Cafe?

It's easy to join and only takes a few minutes to register. You may click here to register. Our membership fees are $29.00 (USD) per year, and all paid members have full access to the site.

What form of payment is accepted for membership?

We accept Visa/MasterCard credit card payments via PayPal. If you would rather not pay online, we have created a PDF document for you to download and submit payment with.

I would like to get my own web site. Do you provide this service?

Yes we do! We offer a very easy and inexpensive "template" option for our members. No HTML is needed, and we handle everything from the domain name registration (www.yoursite.com), hosting, and maintenance. If you're interested in getting your own web site, click here for more information.

What is Digital Image Cafe's Upload Policy?

Please see Upload Policy page.

Why do I resize my photos?

Digital Image Cafe does not resize any photos which you upload. No, our system is not just being lazy. We have looked into many resizing engines and have found that the results are not consistent enough to meet the high standards of Digital Image Cafe and our membership. When you upload a photo to Digital Image Cafe, that is the photo which will be seen on the site, your photo, the way you like it. It will not be processed and replaced with any other version. This way your entry will not lose any of the quality and sharpness that you have worked so hard to achieve. Furthermore, smaller images on our site are not print quality and are much less likely to be illegally downloaded and used for commercial gain (bad people are less likely to steal your photo and make money with it).

How do I have to resize my photos?

We have composed instructions for several of the popular Imaging programs here.

May I link to your site from mine?

As long as your web site is considered to be family friendly, we definitely invite you to link to Digital Image Cafe! For consideration of a link back to your web site, please contact us here.

I know a sponsor that would like to advertise or provide prizes. Who should they contact?

We are always looking for sponsors and advertisers to help make our prizes and our member's experience even better! Please have them contact our marketing department via email at admin@digitalimagecafe.com.

Contest Information

Who can enter the contests?

All full members may enter our contests.

Where can I see the entries to the contests?

Digital Image Cafe does not publicly display the entries to the contests. The Judges and Administrators are the only ones that can view any of the entries to the contests.

How are the contests judged? Who selects the winners?

Photo of the Day images are selected by a panel of Digital Image Cafe judges.

Our Photo of the Month selections consist of that month's pool of Photo of the Day "Today's Specials" (POTD) images for each category.

Our Photo of the Quarter images are selected from the previous Photo of the Month selections.

How do I get selected for your Photo of the Month Contest?

All Photo of the Month selections are from that month's Photos of the Day (POTD) "Today's Specials". Membership must be active/current in order to win a POTM (Photo of the Month) prize.

What size images, both in physical size (height x width) and file size (kb's) are accepted?

Please size your images no larger than 800 or shorter than 640 pixels on the long side and no smaller than 480 on the short side. Panos should be no greater than 3200 pixels long and no less than 480 pixels on the short side. Panos should have no less than a 2x1 ratio. Images outside this range will not be considered for the contest. File size must not exceed 300kb (In PhotoShop, using the "Save for Web" feature with maximum setting at 292kb).

Into which category should I enter my image?

Please see the Contest Guidelines.

How often may I enter the contests?

You may enter our Photo of the Day contest every day. One image per day may be submitted for each of the eight categories. Our upload page is very helpful in showing all of your previous entries, as well as your previous wins. Submitted images appear before the judges for 7 days. Guidelines are that once an image has won any category, it must not be entered into our contests again. All winning POTD images remain in our archives.

I won a prize in a contest, however I have not received it yet. Who can I contact?

Most prizes are shipped directly from our sponsors. They have been very prompt with shipping, however if you haven't received notification from them within 4-6 weeks of having your prize announced, please contact us, and we will contact the sponsor for you to get the status. NOTE: The delivery of prizes is the responsibility of the sponsor and not the Cafe.

What prizes does Digital Image Cafe award?

Click the following link for a list of current Prizes.

What is a Thumb's Up?  

Judges can now provide feedback on images. The thumbs will display on the user's upload page, letting them know that a judge liked the image even if it wasn't selected as POTD. This thumb is not viewable by any other judges and your entry is still eligible to win a POTD during it's active period.

What is the Wrong Category icon??  

When this icon appears in your Contest entry Queue, it means that a judges feels that your entry MAY be better suited for another category. This is the opinion of a judge. It does not mean that they are right or wrong, just something for you to consider. It does not mean that it CAN NOT win in that category, just that you may want to try it in another category later as well. You can always take it to the Critique Corner and ask the members in which category they feel it would be best suited.

Critique Corner

What is the POTW (Picture of the Week)?

Photo of the Week winners will be selected by the previous POTW winner.

In the event that the previous winner is not available to make the selection, it will be made by Digital Image Cafe judges.

Galleries

If I upload to my gallery or the critique gallery, will my image automatically be entered in a contest?

No, your contest images are separate from your gallery or critiqued image uploads.

How many images may I upload to my personal gallery?

Members may upload a total of 100 images to their personal gallery. Web site owners may upload 300 images. You may use your member gallery management page to change your images whenever you'd like.

What are the guidelines for submitting to the Critique Gallery?

We ask that you not upload more than three images to the Critique Gallery per day. Since this section is a learning section, we also ask that you critique/comment on at least two images for every image you submit.

I would like to comment on other member's photos, but I'm not sure what etiquette is acceptable.

Our critique section is for learning and sharing information. Critiques/comments should be kept constructive. Members that upload to this gallery must also understand that its purpose is to receive feedback from others. If you don't feel comfortable getting comments from others, please don't upload here.

Forums

Can I place links within my Forum posts?

Yes, you may find the forum posting format for URL linking here.