How to begin

Click on Enter Online

If have already registered, then simply login, using the username and password you chose when you registered. If you have forgotten these, just click on either of the green buttons at the bottom of the page: - forgotten password? or re-send activation email.

If you have not yet registered then click on Register.

Fill in your details, then submit by clicking the yellow button at the bottom of the form.
You will receive notification of your registration details via email. You will then be able to enter the competition.


How to decide which photographs to enter

We recommend that you make all your decisions about which photographs to enter by reviewing your photographs in the normal way.

Come back to the competition uploading system once you are happy with the choices you have made. At the same time, we recommend that you also decide on what your title text will be, and how you are going to describe your photograph before you go into the system to upload.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE YOUR IMAGE FILES A SPECIFiC NAME OR NUMBER. OUR SYSTEM DOES ALL OF THAT FOR YOU. See 'how to upload'.

Titles and descriptions are useful additions for the judges; a poor or missing title will not disqualify an entry - but a good caption and description can help a judge to understand what the photographer is trying to achieve.

A good title is precise and to the point - short - and will add something to the photograph. You can expand on the title in the text description - but again, we recommend that this is not too long.

If you are not sure which category to enter take a look at the information we have provided on each category.

You should use these descriptions as a guide to the kinds of themes the judges will look for. You do not need to follow them to the letter - but if you decide to ignore them the judges may think your photograph does not illustrate the theme - however good the photograph is. So it's good idea to have these descriptions in the back of your mind.

You can upload up to 4 single images for £10 (€13, $20); or you can enter 6 images in a portfolio for £20 (€26, $40) Look at the Competition page on the website for more information.

Note that you do not have to enter your photographs at the same time as paying; we will have numerous discount offers running through the competition timeframe. So, for example, you could purchase entries using a discount offer - and then enter your photographs later on.


How to take your competition photographs

You do not have to own a professional camera to do well in the competition. Some 2008 winning photographs were taken on small compact cameras.

It is always best to shoot your photograph with the highest quality setting your camera will allow so that we can make good exhibition prints from the files.

if you have a Digital SLR and you are familiar with processing RAW files, it is always best to shoot in RAW mode and to process jpeg files from these for uploading.

If you are shortlisted you will be asked to supply an image file of around 1 megabyte as a minimum. More advanced users should aim to supply image files in 8bit TIFF format. with a filesize between 20-100 mb – this size would enable us to make larger prints if desired. (8 bit, Adobe RGB 1998 colour space).

If you are photographing in a public garden please remember that special permission may be needed from the garden to enter the competition- see the Rules.

Most public gardens willl be very supportive of entries; it may be more convenient for you to approach a garden in the event that your photograph is short-listed - in this case we can probably help out with any problems, especially if the garden is in the UK- but this decision is entirely up to you- it is the photographer's responsibility.


How to enter competition photographs from transparencies or traditional prints

Images scanned from transparencies or negatives are welcome. The high-resolution scan that
will be required for short-listed images should be between 20 and 50mb as an uncompressed tiff file,
although a high-quality jpeg is acceptable. (8 bit, Adobe RGB 1998 colour space).

In some circumstances we can accept prints by mail. Please contact us by letter if this is a requirement. An administrative surcharge is normally payable to cover the additional administration cost involved. We are unable to accept transparencies or images on CD ROM for this competition. If you do not have the expertise to create digital files that can be uploaded to our website, many processing labs today offer services which can help to process your negatives or transparencies to a digital form that is acceptable for the competition. If you have specific requirements, please contact us at


How to prepare your photographs for entering

When preparing your images please follow these recommendations and please bear in mind that we cannot take responsibility for the technical aspects of your entry - it is entirely the photographer's responsibility.

Once you have entered your photograph, you will have the option of changing it for a different one for up to seven days after the initial entry; you can change the caption and description text up to the close of the competition. See Reviewing your entries.

Format: Only images saved in JPEG format can be used

Size: Images should be 800 pixels along their longest side. This is a MINIMUM size. Entries less than 800 pixels along their longest side are liable to be disqualified since they may not be able to be reviewed by judges at a reasonable size.

Entries that are larger than 800 pixels along their longest side may still be entered but the system will resize them - this means that uploading the images willl take longer than normal. Your file may get corrupted.

If the files get corrupted in uploading, they may 'clog up' the system and are liable to be deleted by the system administrators. If this happens, they will have 'disappeared' from your 'My Images' page. See Reviewing your entries.

For best viewing on the site, images should be 72 dpi resolution.

A photograph that is 800 pixels along its longest side and 72 dpi will be well within the tolerance of the system.


Getting advice on preparing your photographs

Garden Photographer of the Year cannot offer advice on general computer issues or general digital photography concepts - for example, explaining 'pixels' or 'how to reduce a photograph's size.'

There is a huge amount of information on the internet on these issues, as well as books and manuals of all kinds. The 'Help' section of your imaging software would provide most answers.

It is not necessary to own Photoshop to prepare your photographs; almost any imaging software can modify a file's dpi setting and dimensions.

if selected, IGPOTY will professionally prepare your files for printing, in consultation with you.

If you have any questions about digital formats, colour spaces and so on, please visit the Garden Photographers' website, www.gpauk.org where you will find a set of general digital guidelines that you may find useful.

In exceptional circumstances we do offer help, particularly for those people unfamiliar with digital photography; please send your query to We cannot guarantee to respond to these requests, but will endeavour to do so.


Digital manipulation

Digital manipulation by software such as Photoshop is allowed. However, please be careful not to try to 'pass off' a manipulated effect as a natural phenomenon.

To take an extreme example, if you enter a photograph of an Asian butterfly in a European garden where the butterfly has been 'pasted in' to the original image, then avoid claiming in the caption or text description that this is a natural photograph. If you enter the butterfly photograph, making it clear that the image is a fantasy or artificial, then this will be judged solely on artistic merit regardless of the amount of manipulation.


How to upload your photographs

When you have prepared your photographs, you are ready to enter. There are three steps involved.

Step 1: Pay for your entries
Step 2: Upload your photographs
Step 3: Review your entries


How to Pay for your entries

You have to pay for your entries before you upload.

Login and go to your My Images page. There you will see a page with information and buttons.

Click on 'Pay to Enter'- yellow button.
You will now be given the option of choosing which category to enter. As we recommend above, it is best to have worked this out before you get to this stage.

You can also choose how many entries (sets of 4) you want.

When you have finished, click 'Add to basket'. You will get confirmation of your purchase and you will be taken to the 'My Basket' page.

If you want to change your mind, or add more categories, you can click th yellow button 'make another category selection' and you will go back one step.

Or you can remove your selection from the Basket by clicking the yellow button 'remove'.

You may have a voucher code. This is a code that may offer a discount for your purchase - look out for these in th press - espeically our media partner magazoines 'The English Garden' and 'Photography Monthly'

The discount will be shown in 'My Basket' if you have entered the code correctly.

You can choose to pay in one of three currencies - British Pounds, Euros, or US Dollars. You can choose by making a selection from the dropdown menu next to the TOTAL. Note that Euro and US Dollar totals are approximate. The exact exchange rate applied will be shown on your PayPal transaction information.

When you are ready, click the PAY NOW! button.

We use PayPal to undertake all money transactions. This means that we never see any of your card or any other details.

Our site passes you onto the PayPal site where you should follow their instructions.

You can pay with your PayPal account or with a credit card or a debit card. Remember that if you choose to pay by credit card, your receipts will carry PayPal branding, regardless of the credit card you used. Your credit card will be debited in the normal way.

Once you have completed your transaction you will be taken back to the IGPOTY (GALPA) site.

When you return, you will see on your 'My Images' page there will be 'blank spaces' you will fill up with your photographs and you will be shown how many you have available.

Note that at busy times this may take a few minutes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: According to your own financial arrangements, PayPal may carry out the transaction using a PayPal "E-Cheque."

Please check your PayPal receipt carefully. If you have made your payment with a PayPal e-cheque your entries will not appear on the site until the e-cheque has cleared. This can take several days. See PayPal website for information about e-cheques.

How to use Payment Discount Vouchers

If you have been given a payment discount voucher it will be in the form of eight characters - eg HCSI0708.

You should enter this code on the payment page where your purchases are reviewed. You must click the yellow button 'apply voucher' to see the effect of your voucher discount.

From time to time, PayPal offers discount voucher codes and you may see these on the PayPal pages where you enter your credit card or other payment details. This is not connected in any way with IGPOTY and should be ignored.,

How to Upload

Now you are ready to upload. Click the green 'upload images' button.

You will see a table appear. From here, you can select your photograph and write its caption and description

In the boxes 'Image 1, Image 2 etc', write your title and description.

Now choose your photograph from your computer by clicking 'browse' and navigate to your picture file.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE YOUR IMAGE FILES A SPECIFiC NAME OR NUMBER. OUR SYSTEM DOES ALL OF THAT FOR YOU.

When you are ready, click 'upload images' and you will see a progress bar showing the file being uploaded. For a correctly prepared file, this should not take very long.

Now you can see the file you uploaded on your My Images page.

If you can see the photograph there, then be assured that this means it is on our system and that it has been received correctly. There is no need to contact us for confirmation. The visual confoirmation is all you need.

Your picture will be 'tagged' with a number that is unique to it and to you. Now you can check that all is well with your entries.


How to review your entries

Now you can review the photographs you have entered. Run the cursor over the thumbnail to see a bigger version of your photograph. You can edit the text and even replace the photograph if you need to. Full instructions for this are given at the bottom of the 'My Images' page.

Note that deleting your photograph and replacing it with another one is available for up to seven days after the original upload ONLY.

It is always a good idea to check your 'My Images' file, particularly if you encountered any problems uploading your file. if your file was very big - and therefore slow to upload - it may be deleted by the system adminstrators. We would always try to inform you if this is but if it is near the end of the competition this might not get through to you.


Entering Young IGPOTY

The instructions for entering Young International Garden Photographer of the Year are the same as above - but it is free entry for one photograph in each category - seven in all. Thereafter the fee is £5 per category for a set of 4 images.