Competition Rules
Photo by Peter Harrison
What Is A Panorama?
The accepted definition of a panorama is a minimum 2:1 aspect ratio (long side : short side). Click here for more information.
This definition includes all historical and modern methods in panoramic photography. Those who have started their photographic journey in the digital age sometimes relate panoramic photography only to wide angle digital image stitching – however, digital stitching is a relatively recent development in the history of panoramic photography. Therefore, entries in this competition may be stitched and/or cropped from multiple or single captures, and at any focal length – in keeping with the true definition of a panorama.
Image Preparation
Your entry files (Open and Amateur competitions) should be 3000 pixels on the long side, and NOT GREATER THAN 1500 pixels on the short side. Images not complying with the minimum ratio rule will be given the lowest average score.
Please do not watermark your images.
Image Size Guide
Open & Amateur Entries
Long Side: 3000 pixels exactly
Short Side: 1500 pixels or less
VR/360 Entries
Long Side: 6144 pixels exactly
Short Side: 3072 pixels exactly
HOW TO PREPARE IMAGES
You Retain Copyright
The Epson International Pano Awards is open to all photographers.
You retain copyright in each entry.
Our sponsors, including Epson do NOT assume rights of use for commercial purposes. Images are used for display of winning and highest scoring images in relation to the competition only.
Judging will take place in August, with results scheduled for announcement in September/October 2025.
Entry Fees
Entry fees are in USD and are payable by credit card (via secure Stripe Payment Gateway) or Paypal. Please follow the prompts when finalising your entry.
The ‘early-bird’ entry period closes on Monday June 30th at Midnight (UTC-11), 2025. The final entry period closes Monday July 21st at Midnight (UTC-11), 2025.
Judging will take place in August-September, with results expected in October, 2025.
We specifically reserve the right to extend the entry period if the competition is undersubscribed and costs have not been met.
You can add entries at any time until the competition closes. If you wish to change any confirmed entries prior to the final deadline, please contact us.
Multiple entry discounts will be unavailable during the final entry period.
Scoring
Photographer of the Year
To be awarded Open or Amateur Photographer of the Year you are required to:
- be a finalist (top 10)
- AND have at least two other images place within the top 50 of a category in the same competition
Therefore, you must enter at least 3 images in Open or Amateur to be eligible for Photographer of the Year.
This rule does not apply to any other place-getters or special awards.
This is to ensure the coveted titles are awarded not only to a single high score, but a solid performance with a portfolio of images.
In addition to the awarding of cash and the prize pool to the top places in each competition, scores will be scaled following final judging to award the following ratios of overall entries;
Gold awards; top 2%, score 86 and above
Silver awards; next 10%, score 80-85
Bronze awards; next 33%, score 70-79
Awards certificates will be made available to recipients online as PDF files. Take care when entering your name in the entry process as this will be used directly for any certificate you receive.
NOTE: Gold, Silver and Bronze awards do NOT denote a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. The top 100 placings in each category will also be acknowledged online by way of the Top 100 galleries in the Open and Amateur competitions.
Major Special Awards
The Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year
The Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year will be decided by the executive team at Epson Southeast Asia from the top 10 entries from entrants in Southeast Asia in the Open competition. This award is additional to the overall Open photographer of the year, and celebrates the inclusion of Epson Southeast Asia as major sponsor of The Pano Awards, as well as acknowledging the growing number of entrants from this region. Southeast Asia is defined as entrants who are citizens of and currently living in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.
The RAW Planet Award
This Award is for the highest scoring stitched image in the Open competition. To be eligible for this award, you also need to employ limited software processing to your image except stitching – the award is for the best ‘in-camera’ AND stitched panorama (2 or more frames). RAW files will be requested from finalists for review. Basic RAW adjustments are allowed.
The Epson Digital Art Prize
The Epson Digital Art Prize will be decided by the executive team at Epson Australia from the top 50 entries in the Open competition. To be considered for this award, your entry must show excellence in digital post-processing as well as having exceptional photographic technique.
Curator’s Award
The Curator’s Award will be awarded by curator David Evans to his overall favourite image in the competition. To be eligible for this award, you need to enter in the early-bird entry period, and score within the top 50 in any category of Open or Amateur, or top 20 in VR/360.
Entries will be automatically considered for these Major Special Awards, with the exception of the RAW Planet award (please indicate your intention to be considered for the RAW Planet Award via the checkbox during the entry process)
Definitions & Other Notable Rules
Images may be from single capture or stitching software, film or digital capture, including drones, but must be 100% photographic in origin and be the sole work of the entrant. Manipulation is allowed but excessive manipulation may be scored down by the judges if not well executed.
Computer generated images and elements are not permitted, including generative and instructional AI content of any kind. Judges will be instructed to be vigilant in this area, and RAW files may be requested for suspect entries. Note that entrants face a possible ban (including future competitions) if generative AI use is suspected and/or entries are not the sole work of the entrant and cannot be verified with RAW files. Note: tools within photo editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom, such as content-aware fill applied to small areas of the image, are permitted.
Open and VR/360 competitions = All photographers eligible (including non-professionals)
Amateur competition = Non-professional photographers only
The Open and Amateur competitions each have subcategories of Nature/Landscape and Built Environment
- An Amateur is defined for this competition as someone who earns less than USD$20,000 per year from photography as an occupation. Amateurs may enter the Open, Amateur or VR competitions.
- All photographers earning more than US$20,000 per year from photography may ONLY enter the Open or VR/360 competitions. Winners in the Amateur competition will be thoroughly checked for Amateur status.
- Amateurs and non-professionals may enter an identical image into the Amateur and Open competitions if they wish, as they are judged as separate competitions with different judging panels.
- Entries in the Nature categories should be predominantly of natural subjects, although some man made objects within image are accepted. An example of this would be a jetty or a building within a landscape. This can be subjective and leeway will be applied. We reserve the right to reassign categories for any entry.
- Entries in the Built Environment categories should be predominantly of man-made subjects, although some natural subjects within the image are accepted. An example of this would be a park within a city environment. This can be subjective and leeway will be applied. We reserve the right to reassign categories for any entry.
- An image may not be entered in both Nature and Built Environment categories in the same competition (Amateur or Open).
- People, animals, abstract/creative, B&W and vertical panoramic images can be entered in any category, with the exception of the VR/360 competition where vertical images are not accepted.
- Aerial images captured using drones are permitted.
- A Gigapixel image is defined as more than one billion pixels. Gigapixel images are exempt from the minimum 2:1 ratio rule. Highest scoring gigapixel entrants will be required to supply original gigapixel files for verification.
- 360 degree spherical images (also known as ‘little planets’) are also permitted in the Open or Amateur competitions, and are exempt from the minimum 2:1 ratio rule. Please select ‘Gigapixel’ in the entry process in order for the entry system to accept them.
- Entering multiple substantially similar entries in the same category may be marked down by the judges.
- There is no age restriction for entrants.
- There is no restriction on the date of origin of entries, or on the number of entries per entrant, however images shortlisted in previous Epson International Pano Awards competitions (top 50 in any category up to 2022, and top 100 in any category from 2023 onwards) are not permitted.
Other Special Awards
During the entry process you will be prompted to indicate your eligibility to be considered for the various other special awards, which are additional to the main judging/prize pools. Please tick all that apply to your entry.
Additional prizes will also be awarded in the Open competition for;
- Highest Scoring IAPP member (International Association of Panoramic Photographers)
- Highest Scoring Gigapixel Image
- Highest Scoring Image from Analogue Film Capture
- Highest Scoring Smartphone Image
- Highest Scoring Vertical Image
- Highest Scoring Aerial Image
Winners will be asked to provide proof in each case.
The Highest scoring IVRPA (International Virtual Reality Professionals Association) full member across Open, Amateur and VR competitions will also be awarded.
Note: you are NOT required to be a member of the IAPP or IVRPA to enter the competition in general.
The Rest Of The Rules In Full
- By entering the Competition You hereby accept these Competition Rules, Terms and Conditions, including the rules summary above
- Closing Date: Entries and the Entry Fees in the ‘early-bird’ period must be submitted by midnight (UTC -11) Monday 30th June, 2025. Final entries will be accepted until Monday 21st July, 2025. Multiple entry discounts will not be available during the final entry period. All entry fees include GST for Australian entrants. We specifically reserve the right to extend the entry period if the competition is undersubscribed and costs have not been met.
- The entry fee for the Open competition is US$18 per image. There is no restriction on the number of entries per entrant
- The entry fee for the Amateur competition is US$18 per image. There is no restriction on the number of entries per entrant
- The entry fee for the VR/360 competition is US$18 per image. There is no restriction on the number of entries per entrant
- All entrants understand that any image submitted to the competition and subsequently shortlisted or awarded may be used by The Epson International Pano Awards, and its Event Partners, for marketing and promotional purposes of the event only. You hereby grant The Epson International Pano Awards a non-exclusive, irrevocable license in each Entry throughout the world in all media for any use in connection with the Competition, including, but not limited to:
- judging the Competition during the year of entry
- displaying at public exhibitions and trade shows showing The Epson International Pano Awards and organized by The Epson International Pano Awards and Event Partners in perpetuity
- inclusion within the Website and/or an Awards catalogue in perpetuity
- inclusion within any materials promoting of the Competition and / or any exhibition organized by The Epson International Pano Awards or its Event Partners, in the promotion of The Epson International Pano Awards in perpetuity
- sub-licensing the Entries to the press for reproduction in connection with the Competition and any exhibition for a period of 5 years
- allowing viewers of the Website to view images on a computer screen, PDA or mobile telephone, in perpetuity
- Judging will be ‘blind’. Individual scores from judges on each panel will be averaged to produce a single score for each entry. The top 10 finalists in each category will then be re-scored to produce the final category results (except VR/360 which will be finalized from the first judging round). The overall winner in each competition will be decided from the category winners. The highest scoring entrants in Open and Amateur are also required to have two other entries within the top 50 places in either category of the same competition to be awarded Photographer of the Year. In the case of this requirement not being fulfilled, the next eligible entrant will be considered. In the case of no entrant having three entries within the top 50 placings, entrants with two entries in the top 50 placings will be considered. No names or other indicators will be shown in judging to lead to the entrant and no names or other indicators are allowed on the Entry that could indicate who is the author of the Entry. Entries will be assigned a random catalogue number for judging
- By entering the Competition, You agree and acknowledge that The Epson International Pano Awards is permitted to receive Your registration data. All personal information will be used by The Epson International Pano Awards in accordance with its Privacy Policy
- To enter, you must upload your image via the following website: www.thepanoawards.com (the “Website”), following the on-screen instructions carefully
- The Epson International Pano Awards reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any entry that does not comply with the following requirements;
- You are the sole owner and author of each Entry
- The image presented for judging must be 100% photographic in origin, generally this means using a camera or similar device – computer generated content including AI is prohibited
- You confirm that each person depicted in the Entry has granted permission to be portrayed as shown, unless copyright laws in your jurisdiction allow for the photographing of persons in a public place without consent
- Each Entry does not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content
- Each entry does not contain any material that could constitute or encourage conduct which would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law
- Each entry does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity, or violate any person’s rights of privacy or publicity
- You agree to fully indemnify The Epson International Pano Awards in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of Your breaching any of the foregoing
- Your Entry does not include elements which You have purchased or secured the rights to use stock images, or procured from the public domain
- You will accept the decision of the judges, and agree not to contact any judge directly in relation to your entry/entries, or engage in attacks on the judges or judging process in any media including social media
- Any photograph used by The Epson International Pano Awards shall carry a credit line. Any failure to provide such credit line shall not be deemed to be a breach, as long as The Epson International Pano Awards uses its reasonable endeavors to rectify such failure within a reasonable period from the date of notice of such failure
- The Epson International Pano Awards and its Event Partners assume no responsibility and are not liable for any image misuse by external third parties
- The Epson International Pano Awards assumes no responsibility for any incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information, whether caused by website users or by human error or any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition, and The Epson International Pano Awards assumes no responsibility for technical, hardware or software failure of any kind, for lost network connections, garbled computer transmissions, other problems or technical malfunctions with regard to the Competition. The Epson International Pano Awards assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, corruption, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alteration of Entries. The Epson International Pano Awards is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail addressed to The Epson International Pano Awards on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Your or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the Competition. If for any reason a contestant’s entry cannot be viewed or is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer viruses, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud or technical failures, The International Pano Awards assumes no responsibility.
- In no event will The Epson International Pano Awards, its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and related companies, Event Partners, its advertising or promotion agencies, or its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives or agents be responsible or liable for any damages or losses of any kind, including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages arising out of any contestant’s access to and use of the Website. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, everything on the Website is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for purpose or use or non-infringement.
- You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity in connection with the competition without additional compensation
- All entrants must be ready to supply high resolution images suitable for printing in any display or exhibition, if asked. All exhibition prints will be destroyed after display
- There are no alternatives available for prize winners. Prize recipients are responsible for any import taxes or levies payable on receipt of prizes in your own country. All prizes issued as vouchers do not include shipping
- Winners will be published online on www.thepanoawards.com
- No late entries accepted after the pre-advertised final entry period
- Entry fees and prizes are quoted in USD. The Epson International Pano Awards does not account or have any liability for any participants’ bank fees and charges that may be levied in currency conversion and currency transaction by the participating bank or institution. Prizes are paid in USD via Paypal, and any currency conversions to local currency and Paypal fees are at the winner’s expense at the time of conversion
- The Epson International Pano Awards decisions are final. Judges accept no liability for consequences arising from awarded scores and may revise, re-issue or revoke scores for any reason. The right to re-score, re-announce and the right of rejection and or right of refusal are at the discretion of the event organizers and can happen at any time
- Judges, sponsors, entry fees and prizes may be changed without notice up to the closing date of the competition. The International Pano Awards accepts no responsibility for non-delivery of prizes from sponsors for reasons such as insolvency
- All entries are subject to the laws of Australia and the state of South Australia
- All terms and conditions subject to change without notice with the exception of copyright clause 6