One of the requirements when entering physical prints into image competition is an approved print case. If you ship your competition prints anywhere in a cardboard box or other unapproved case, your prints will more than likely not be returned to you.
If we prance on over to the PPA website, we can see the PPA Approved Print Cases section. If you’re still confused, or need more specific information – read on…
If you just want someone to point you in the right direction and tell you something to buy that will work – I can do that. There are a variety of print cases out there – so a search at any of the supplier links on the PPA Print Case page will yield something useful. Keep that link handy – and bear in mind that if will be difficult to procure a print case at the last minute and you may have to check around. The case I’m about to recommend is on a 2-4 week back order at B&H, but is in stock at the recommended vendor.
The most common type of print case that I see is made by the Fiberbilt company. I got my first print case (I currently have two) at Adorama.com and I purchased the 16×20 1″ thick case. HERE is the link the the exact case I got.
I used this case for 4 years of competition with no issue. I stayed with images that were 16×20 and smaller. I never entered albums, so the case only needed to hold 4 prints. For some competitions, it needed to hold 6 prints, which was a little bit of a squeeze, but the case has some room for growth, so it all worked out. The real problems came when I started entering images that were more than 20″ on the long side. The maximum square inches allowed for competition prints is 480 square inches, so this case is not large enough to hold prints at the upper end of the scale. I eventually bought a larger case because I started making larger competition prints. You should decide in advance if you think you might want to eventually enter larger images and just buy that size now. The least costly of these cases tops $130, so it’s a bit of an investment.
The next case I got was a Fiberbilt 20x24x4. It is entirely too large for my purposes (too deep), but I got it for a good price from another competitor who used it to enter physical albums, so that’s why it’s a 4″ case. I have to add more filler foam to the case to take up room, but that’s about the only downside so far. I’ve only been using it for a year or so and it’s currently with my IUSA2015 prints. It will hold the largest size I’d probably ever make for competition, so I don’t see needing to upgrade again any time soon.
There is a difference in the price to ship. The thicker & larger one is just going to cost more. Also, I have way more luck going to my main UPS office to ship the case instead of using a UPS store or service elsewhere. Almost everyone wants to charge me extra to put the case in a box. Except for the main UPS office. I have no clue what the issue is and it could be just the places in my area, who knows?
Pay extra to put a box in a box, give me a break…