Get Into Photoshop Contests

Photoshopping is a process of manipulation of digital photographs. It has become more popular after a fall in price of digital imaging software and hardware. Photoshopping is now a widely popular pastime on the internet. Many of the editors considers this image fakery to be a form of new creative art, when photoshopping is applied as a means of funny spoof. It is although a good pastime of part-time pixel pushers; even working persons are getting involved into this act to shape up their talent and to take a break from the seriousness as well as from the monotony of the scheduled work.


Photoshop contests, or commonly called as Photochop contests, is a game played online, in which the person using an internet forum or website sends an initial image generally a photograph and then asks other candidates to manipulate the images. Such editing of images can be done by using some commonly used image editing software, like Corel Photopaint, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, The GIMP etc. The players of such online Photoshop contests find it very interesting not only as their favorite pastime but also as a means of earning quick money.

In such Photoshop Contests, the users are generally asked to edit the image in a funny way, or if specifically mentioned then according to the given theme. Then, the users move away and manipulate the image as asked and send the resulting image back to the website. When versions of the image are submitted by all users at the website, they have to vote for the best image. The candidate whose resulting image gets the maximum number of votes wins that Photoshop contest.

In many such Photoshop contests, a major element of the humour involves the practice of cliches. Such incredible repetition of a joke from an image often results in the replacement of the initial joke by the cliches itself. Such pictures can also sometimes become major internet phenomena. Most commonly used cliches are as follows:

• Domo-kun

• A foreign tourist on the WTC with an airplane about to hit the building.

• Admiral Ackbar and his phrase “It’s a trap”.

• A picture of untidy James Brown.

• “All your base are belong to us”.

• An (often obscure) reference to goatse.cx.

• The famous O rly owl.

• A picture with the captions ‘X is watching you poop.”

• The usage of a photo which looks like a lolcat.

• The famous Preved Bear- from the customized John Lurie’s work of art, Bear Surprise, is to be found in videos, photographs and pictures

Nowadays, such Photoshop contests are able to find increasing candidates in a large no. of blogs. The Photoshop contests are gaining immense popularity, mainly due to the underlying humor or taunts which are generally associated with the edited images. They act as a stress buster for many and a source of income for some.