The prestigious photo competition answers the question “What is a photo?”

All photos entered into the competition must be taken on camera. No artificial or artificially generated images are allowed, nor is the use of artificially generated fills permitted in post-production. Any use of these tools will automatically disqualify participation in the competition.

Taking photos with smartphones is only permitted when taken in standard shooting mode; Submissions created using HDR, Portrait Mode, Creative Lighting Effects, or Panoramic Mode are not eligible.

It is possible to use smart tools, or AI-powered enhancement tools within the contest rules, as long as these tools do not significantly change the image as a whole, introduce new information to the image, or remove information from the image captured by the camera.

The tools that immediately violate the contest rules and are not allowed are all AI-powered zoom tools like Adobe Supersolution and Topaz Photo AI. These tools rely on generative AI models that provide new information to enlarge and sharpen images.