There are multiple ways you can contact the host of an opportunity directly.

These will all open an email directly addressed to the organisation hosting the opportunity you are interested in.

On the opportunity page

1. Go to the page of the opportunity (includes /opportunity/ in it’s URL)
2. On the right hand side, click on the envelope icon (this element snap to the top of your screen as you scroll).
3. You can also use the ‘Contact’ button at the bottom of the opportunity page
4. This opens an email addressed to the organisation running the call

On the my submissions page

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submission page
3. Find the submission for the opportunity you want to contact and press the cog icon at the top right corner
4. Press ‘Contact Organiser’ and an email addressed to the organisation will open.

Respond directly to an automated email

1. Check your email for any emails sent to you by the organisation.
2. This will automatically open an email addressed to the host of this opportunity

We often get questions about different key words we use on the site, so we have put together a list of some of them.

• Opportunity – An opportunity is what an organization sets up for creatives to apply for. This could include an open call, a residency, or an award.
• Submission – What is used to apply to for an opportunity. It also applies to the step when you upload the main items for the judges to see.
• Item – What is uploaded or added to a submission. This could be a file, embedded video link, or a piece of text.
• Round – Rounds are used to split up judging. For example, it could be used to have a longlist, a shortlist, and finalists.
• Anonymous Judging – When judging, the judges will not be able to see the information of the applicants. Hence, they will be anonymous.

Zealous was built to simplify the process of managing submissions for candidates, judges and the organisations hosting the opportunity. 

Each opportunity listed on our site is customised by it’s host. The questions you are asked, how and when you receive your results and what you need to submit will vary from opportunity to opportunity. 

Some opportunities may need you to upload a specific work, others may ask for a project proposal. 

When submitting you will be taken through a series of steps. Your work will be saved after each step, allowing you to come back to it and complete it later. 

You need to complete the following step for your submission to be made successfully

1. Review the guidelines
2. Add the work you are submitting
3. Fill out the application form
4. Make the payment (optional)
5. Confirmation

Your submission won’t be made until all the steps above have been completed. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as your application has been made.

A portfolio is a collection of your work which is used to demonstrate both your best pieces and your style. 

Zealous allows you to create an online portfolio which can be used for you to share and to save time when submitting. 

To start creating your portfolio, you can either add your work from existing submissions or add works in manually.

Creating a portfolio on Zealous is really simple.

1. Once logged in to your account, head to the portfolio tab on your profile.

2. Click the ‘add project’ button.

   

3. Add your artwork and fill in the details

   

The details you can add includes:

• The project title

• A short description

• Details of the individual images (such as the name, dimensions, and the price)

• The field the work is in

• Your role in the work

• Tags

You can also add a cover image to your portfolio entry. If you do not add one, then the first image uploaded will be used.

Once you are done you can preview your portfolio entry and save it.

Sometimes when you are adding your work from your portfolio to a  submission, you may not be able to move to the next step. This will be because you are either missing some details, such as the price of your work, or you are adding files which are not being accepted by the organisation. Alternatively, there may be too many works being added. It is best to look at the guidelines carefully to check that you are adding the correct files. You may need to make some changes or remove some files to continue.

Submitting to any opportunity will require you to read and accept the guidelines 

The first step of you submitting will:

• Let you know what the organisation expects of your submission
• Highlight additional steps in their process
• Break down what files and types they wish you to upload
• Explain in more detail the specifications of the work they will display
• Where they will display it, and the timelines for delivery
• Terms and conditions for submitting

Before Zealous allows you to submit you will be prompted to accept the guidelines.

1. Start your submission
2. Read the guidelines
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page
4. Click on the checkbox which reads ‘I have read the guidelines for this opportunity’

Can’t go to the next step?

Make sure to tick the checkbox at the bottom of the page. This will allow you to proceed to the next step.

Next Step: Submission 🞂

This is usually because you did not fill in at least one of the required fields or because work has not been uploaded. If an element has an orange hue, then it needs to be completed. Below are some examples:

• Checkboxes

• Required Fields

• Missing Files

Please be sure to fill all required fields in before clicking next or submit.

The submission step is where you will add the works which form the base of your application. These could include one or many items made up of

• Uploaded files (e.g. images, films, documents…)
• Embedded content (e.g. Vimeo, Soundcloud, SketchFab…)
• Rich text

Don’t include personal information in the submission!

The host of the opportunity can publish submissions to have a public vote or celebrate the winners. Make sure sensitive information such as your phone number, address are not included here!

If you are unsure on what to upload

Read through the guidelines to see what the host is looking for. 

You will first start by adding your submission title and choosing a category if the the organisation has asked for one.

Check the top of the page to know exactly what to include.

Once you’ve added an item you will be able to edit its details (such as dimensions, price…).

If you ONLY upload a PDF in the Submissions Process a preview image will NOT show up in the Preview/Entries overview page. If you upload a JPEG and PDF, the platform will pick up the first applicable file type and bring that to the Entries overview/Preview page.

Save time

If you have submitted a project before, or have projects on your portfolio already, you can load existing projects into the submission directly. You’ll be able to edit them based on each submission you make without impacting the original work.

🞀 Previous Step: Guidelines

Next Step: Form 🞂

The max upload size is currently set at 4Gb

But we would highly recommend you to keep your files small so judges don’t need to wait for your work to load up.

Compress PDFs

Zealous cannot compress PDFs for you. Please compress them with free services such as CompressPDF. A PDF should never be bigger than 15Mb.

Files, such as images of work and proposals, can be uploaded to your submission.

What can be uploaded to any given submission is set by the host of the opportunity.

It is best to refer to the guidelines to see what they want you to submit. When you upload these files, you will also be able to add physical attributes, such as dimensions, and prices.

To upload files, you can click ‘upload files’, or drag files directly onto the box.

Multiple files can be uploaded at one time.

If you ONLY upload a PDF in the Submissions Process a preview image will NOT show up in the Preview/Entries overview page. If you upload a JPEG and PDF, the platform will pick up the first applicable file type and bring that to the Entries overview/Preview page.

The following file types are accepted:

Just like uploading files to your submission, you can also embed media.

To do this, simply click ’embed media’ and provide the URL of the content you want to embed. 

Click on this button to embed media

The following links will be recognised by Zealous:

Text can be added to any of the text segment boxes. You can copy and paste text in to these boxes.

Some of the formatting may be stripped out, however most of the format should be correct. You may need to correct some of the spacing.

Alternatively, you may be able to upload a PDF to the file upload section.

Sometimes, text might be asked for as part of a submission, such as a proposal, but this can be turned on and off by the opportunity host. To add the text:

1. Click the ‘Add Text’ button
2. Input your text, including a title and description of the item
3. Click done

There could be a few reasons why your files are not uploading:

• You have reached the maximum amount of submissions – some hosts set an amount of files they want uploaded and after the limit is reached, no more can be added
• The file is too large – although you can upload up to 4Gb, there may be issues if you try to upload a really large file (you can go here to find file size recommendations)
• The file title is too complex – if you include special characters, the system may struggle to upload the file
• The file type is not accepted – opportunity hosts may choose which file types they want to accept, so it is best to check the guidelines
• Your connection may be unstable – you can check it here

If you continue to have issues, please reach out to us via live chat or email us on [email protected]

If you want to delete a file from your submission:

1. Log in to your account
2. Find the submission you want to edit
3. In the submission, find the file you want to delete and click the cog icon at the top right corner
4. Select ‘Delete’

Once you have added an item to your submission you’ll be able to edit various details of your pieces of work. This includes:

• Title
• Description
• Price
• Dimensions
• Weight

Some of these may not be available to you if the host has chosen to hide them. Others, such as the price, may be optional unless the host requires it.

To edit fields belonging to an item:

1. Upload your work
2. Click on the title below the image
3. Make any edits which are necessary
4. Save your changes

Organisations hosting an opportunity can choose to add categories. These reflect their needs and could be based on artform, mediums, themes, sizes, or who is submitting. These may sometimes have different judges associated to them.

Best choose what you feel describes you and your work. Should you have any questions, please take it with the organisation directly.

Refer to the guidelines and submission requirements of the opportunity to know what is expected of you here.

That’s quite a complex question. The hosts of opportunities on Zealous choose what you should be submitting. since this could be anything, there is no exact rule. But based on our experience this could be any of the following:

• An individual work – the name of the piece being submitted
• A body of work – what the pieces of work are called collectively
• A proposal – the name of the project, or it could be your name / name of the collective undertaking the work
• A pitch – the name of the project, or business

If you are unsure, it is best to check with the host of the opportunity.

The form step of the submission will be made up of a set of questions which the host has set to support your application. As well as contact details, you may be asked for things such as a personal statement or a brief biography. 

This step is customised by the host and so this step will look different depending on the opportunity you are applying for. A red asterisk means that the section is required to be filled out.

Each text field may have grey text underneath it. This is often a maximum word count, or a specific file type which is required.

If you are unsure on what is needed in the application form, read through the guidelines to see what the host is looking for. 

🞀 Previous Step: Submission

Next Step: Payment (optional) 🞂
Confirmation (if no payment) 🞂

Zealous provides organisations the basics fields to take submissions.

Sometimes, an organisation may choose to put the same question twice, or may be unaware that the question is included as a default, such as asking for contact details. However, it is best to copy-paste the information in both places, just in case.

Sometimes your town or city may not appear when you will need to add it as a new location. To do this, start typing in your location and select ‘Create Location’ at the bottom.

Then create your location. This will be set as your default address going forward.

You contact details are only ever shared with:

• The organisations you submit to
• Us, for the purpose of communicating with you about your submission

We also provide recommendations for opportunities that might fit your skillset, and a newsletter. However, this is something you opt-in to. 

Optional

This step will only be included if the host chooses to charge a fee.

When applying for an opportunity, some hosts might charge a fee. This can be seen on the overview page for the opportunity.

This step is customised by each opportunity host, so it will differ between each call. Some hosts may decide to create different packages, which you will be able to choose from at this step.

If a host is not charging a fee, then this step will not be included. 

🞀 Previous Step: Application Form                                                                                                             Next Step: Confirmation 🞂

As well as paying by card, you can also pay by:

• ACH Direct Debit
• SEPA Direct Debit
• Bacs Direct Debit
• Australia BECS Direct Debit
• New Zealand BECS Direct Debit
• iDEAL
• Bancontact
• Klarna (buy now, pay later)
• Cash App Pay
• Revolut Pay

These will depend on your region and the currency used.

Your payment details are very secure.

Zealous doesn’t hold any of your payment information. All your payment details are handled by Stripe. If you’re interested in the detail you can read up more about security at Stripe here.

Whether you pay to submit or not is up to the individual organisation. All fees will be made as transparent as possible before you apply. On the opportunity page, the fees will be listed.

You will be able to view all fees before applying by opening the side menu on the right hand side of the opportunity homepage.

Some organisations may choose to offer multiple packages, such as multiple submissions for one price or a discounted fee for students. You will pick which package you want on the payment section of the submission.

Each call will have its own refund policy, so you will need to contact the host of the opportunity. 

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submissions page
3. Find the opportunity you want the refund for and click the cog icon in the top right corner

   

4. Select the ‘Contact Organiser’ option
5. This is open an email addressed to the organisation running the call

If you’ve overpaid due to a mistake of ours, we will of course be happy to investigate and issue you a refund. You can email us at info@zealous.co

If you feel the opportunity you have submitted to is fraudulent please email [email protected] and we’ll be sure to investigate further.

Every opportunity is different. The organisers can create any number of combinations of fee structures.

Ultimately it will depend on how many submissions you wish to make. Check to see if some packages offer you a discount on making multiple submissions.

Organisations might also have created other packages, such as reductions if you are a student.

If you have any questions about which package to pick. Please ask the host of the opportunity directly.

The organisation running the opportunity you have applied for may have given you a discount code. This will allow you to get money off of your submission fee. To use this:

1. Complete your submission to get to the payment step
2. Select which package you want and click the review order button
3. Here you will be given a place to write your promo code
4. If your code is wrong it will look like this
5. If you put in the correct code you will be shown your new price
6. Click the pay and submit button

When you are paying for a submission, you will most likely be asked to authorise the payment in your banking app. It’s possible you’re seeing an authorisation screen for £0, but the payment still goes through.

Stripe often separates the authorisation (holding funds) from the capture (actually transferring the funds). The £0 authorisation might be the initial hold, and the actual charge will come later when Stripe captures the funds.

If you see a £0 authorisation, we recommend that you please accept it to allow for the payment to go through. If for any reason the payment does not go through, please reach out to us via Intercom or emailing us at [email protected] .

The final stage of the submission process is where you will submit your application. 

As you come to the end of the payment step (if there is no payment needed, this will happen on the application form step), you will be prompted to either ‘Save As Draft’ or ‘Submit’. Submitting the application makes you eligible for the opportunity, but you are still able to edit after the application has been submitted. 

Once you have submitted, a pop up box will confirm this for you. You will be given the option to ‘Submit Again’, or you can click ‘Done’ to return to your dashboard. You will also be able to sign up for recommended opportunities every two weeks, and features, insights and news every month. You can also check later on if you have submitted successfully.

Congratulations! You have now submitted for an opportunity.

🞀 Previous Step: Payment (Optional)

When a submission is successful, two things will happen:

• You will receive an email confirmation stating that your submission has been successful
• Your application shown on your submissions page will read ‘Submitted’

If you want to check if your submissions has been successful, you can do so on your submissions page:

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submissions page
3. Find the submission you want to check
4. Under the title of the opportunity, it should read ‘Submitted’

Some opportunities allow you to apply multiple times.

If you finish your first submission and decide you want to start your next one straight away, you can do so by clicking the ‘make a new entry’ button before confirming you submission.

When you start your second submission, you will find that your application form will be filled. This is because we use autofill, which can be really useful for questions such as artist biography. 

If you delete or edit any answers, this will not impact your original submission. 

Choosing an existing project creates a duplicate version

This means you can edit it without impacting your portfolio or previous submissions.

Please note

Editing a project you submitted from your portfolio WILL NOT edit the project in your submission.

You can reuse projects from previous submissions, which will help you to save time when submitting.

1. Start your submission
2. When you get to the submission step of your application, look for ‘Load Existing Project’ 

   

3. Click on it for a list of all projects you have submitted using Zealous. Please be sure to edit it to be in line with the call you are submitting to

You’ve submitted multiple works in one submission, but the organisation hosting the call would like them separated? Follow these steps to do so:

1. Log in to your account
2. Find the opportunity you submitted to and start a new submission
3. When you get to the submission step, press ‘Load Existing Project’ and pick the project you made previously
4. Keep one image in the project (the one for this submission), delete all the others
5. Complete the submission (the application form is automatically loaded for you, but make sure no questions need to be updated for this specific)
6. Do this for each individual artwork, and make sure the update the original submission

   

To vote for a submission, you will need to go to the opportunity and click the purple vote button.

Once you have found your entry, use the thumb up icon to vote for it.

If you are logged in, your vote has been cast. If not, you will be asked to verify your vote.

To view all of the submissions you have made: 

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submissions, which will be at the top of the screen
3. All the submissions you have made on Zealous will appear

   

Submissions can only be completed if the call is still open

 If the opportunity is closed, then the submission can no longer be completed. 

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submissions page
3. Find the submission you want to complete
4. Hover over it and click the purple button which reads ‘Complete Submission’
5. Finish all the required steps for the opportunity

   

How you delete a submission depends on whether your submission is completed or in draft.

If your submission is completed, you can delete your submission at any time by following the steps below:

1. Log in to your account
2. Visit your submissions page
3. Find the submission you want to delete and press the cog icon in the top right corner
4. Choose the option which reads ‘Delete’
5. You will be asked if you are sure that you want to delete your submission – select yes

If your submission is in draft, you would do the same but select ‘Remove Draft’

If you have any issues with removing your submission, you can reach us on Live Chat or email us at info@zealous.co

You are only able to edit submissions if the opportunity is still open or if the organiser unlocks it.

If the opportunity has already closed, then you will be unable to edit the submission.

1. Log in to your account
2. Visit your submissions page
3. Hover over the submission you want to edit and click the purple button which reads ‘Edit Submission’
4. Make the necessary changes and save. You are able to edit your submission including text, image and the subcategory. However, if your submission has already been scored, you will not be able to change the subcategory.

   

To view a completed submission:

1. Log in to your account
2. Go to your submissions page
3. Find the submission you want to view and click the cog icon at the top right
4. Go to ‘View Submission’

   

If you have paid for a submission, you will be able to retrieve the invoice for it.

1. Log in to your account
2. Click the cog icon at the top right corner and go to ‘Payments and Invoices’
3. The invoices for all of the payments you have made will be on the screen
4. Hover over the payment you want the invoice for
5. Click on the invoice icon which will appear on the right hand side of the listing to download it

   

When a decision is made about your submission, one of two things could happen.

Usually, you will get an email from Zealous on whether you have been successful, as well as it being available to see on your application. 

However, the host may turn off making the results public. This means that they will contact you directly if you have been successful. 

If you are unsure, contact the host or speak to us on live chat.

Zealous saves your submission from the moment you accept the Guidelines for an opportunity. These will show up as drafts on your submissions page until you complete them.

By clicking on the cog at the top right of your submission you can:

• Complete your submission
• Remove the draft
• Contact the organisation hosting the call on Zealous
• Show the submitted project on your portfolio

Adding to your portfolio creates a copy.

Changes made to your project in your portfolio will not be reflected in your submission.

When you submit a project on Zealous, we allow you to add this project on your public portfolio. This allows you to save time in updating a public facing portfolio, and allows you to reuse this project on other submissions.

You can remove the project from your portfolio at any time by deleting it.

Files in your submission can be rearranged, so you can choose what order they are seen by the organisation and judges.

To do this:

1. Find your file that you want to move.
2. Click the cog icon at the top right corner.
3. Use the move arrows to rearrange your files and save.

Unfortunately we are unable to submit for you as legally we cannot accept the terms of an opportunity on your behalf. 

However, these help files are here to cover any questions, and you can also access the live chat function or email [email protected] if your issue is not answered.

Right now the sky is the limit (well 4Gb to be exact). But large files take time to load, and if those selecting candidates are not patient enough, they may skip your submission. We try and compress where we can, but this could lead to quality loss, so best submit what you feel reflects your work best in the smallest possible format.

Our guidelines would be that: 

Images – No larger than 5mb

PDFs – No bigger than 20mb – you can compress them here

Videos and Music – Embedding links, such as YouTube and Vimeo, will save time

Documents – Keep below 20mb

When naming your file, it is important to keep it simple. If you are unsure what to call it, you can name it after what the piece is called. It is a good ideas to not include special characters, such as # and “, which can sometimes cause issues with upload. Special characters to avoid include:

Items, works and projects are terms we use to talk about parts of the submission process:

Item – Something which you upload, embed or add as text in to your submission, such as an image, video, or document.

Work – A singular piece of artwork, which is often asked for if you are being judged by a piece of work itself.

Project – A body of work, which is often asked for if you the candidate as a whole is being judged.

We try our best to ensure opportunities listed through us are legitimate and ethical. We show all previous opportunities held by the organisations and make sure they are transparent with any fees and what you can get in return. 

If you think an opportunity listed through us is a scam, please let us know and we’ll take a look into it ASAP. You can email at [email protected]. To save time, please give us a link to the opportunity and the reason you think it is a scam.

To apply for any opportunity on Zealous, you will need to register for an account. However, there are lots of other benefits to making a Zealous account:

• Being able to edit submissions before and after the submission deadline 
• Keeping your application as a draft and then submit it fully later on the platform
• Being able to see your results on Zealous

Reusing elements on your portfolio:

• Any project you have uploaded to Zealous, can be reused when you are applying to other calls. These are duplicated for you, so you can edit them independently of each other (i.e. if you submit to call A and call B, and reuse the same project. Editing it on call B won’t edit your submission to call A).

Making multiple submissions to the same call

• You’ll only need to fill the application form once. For any future submissions to the same opportunity, we’ll automatically fill in the application form for you. Fear not though, you can still make edits to each individual submission.
• If the opportunity takes a payment, you can buy all the submissions you want to make in one go. We’ll skip that step for all additional submissions you have bought.

Once you have made a submission, you might want to share it on your social media. To do this: 

1. Go to your page of submissions
2. Add your submission entry to your portfolio (if you have not already done so)
3. Go to your portfolio and open the entry
4. Copy the link of the page from the address bar and use it to share your submission

Sometimes, you may be completing a submission and when you get to the payment step, you are being asked to pay for more than one entry. If you were expecting to just pay for one, the first thing to do is to check how many categories you are entering. If you have selected more than one category, then your entry is now counted as multiple submissions. For example, if you add your entry to three categories, this would count as three submissions. If you just want to pay for one submission, then we would recommend removing the other categories.

The MOV files are a format, developed by Apple.

MOV files cannot be played directly within most browsers. This would mean requiring organisations and judges to install extensions or download the file (and QuickTime if you own a PC) before being able to play the video. This is why Zealous doesn’t currently accept this format.

Instead, we have chosen to accept files the MP4 format which is supported by nearly all major browsers across different platforms (particularly when encoded with the H.264 codec). MP4 is considered ideal for HTML5 video embedding due to its smaller file sizes and smooth streaming capabilities, guaranteeing a smooth experience for admins and judges.

You can convert MOV files easily into MP4 (H.264 codec) format with existing tools, such as these.

A short introduction should be a very short introduction to your work. 

A short introduction is capped at 280 characters, which is the size of a tweet. This means that organisers and judges can have an immediate understanding of what they are looking at, which is good for when there are hundreds of applicants. They may also be used for social media.

This may feel like repeated information from the works description, but descriptions are not capped, and give you more space to define your work.