File Uploads

Collect images, documents (PDF, Word, plain text, Markdown), video, and audio on your AwardKit entry form. Choose Media for the work judges score and Attachment for supporting files, set accepted types and caps, and know how judges and the gallery see the files.

Two question types collect files, and the only difference between them is how judges get the files. A Media question holds the work itself, shown large at the top of the judge's page. An Attachment question holds a supporting file (a consent form, a caption sheet, a CV), listed in the answers under the question. Both store the files with AwardKit and show them on the entry page, so judges never chase a Drive link that turns out to be private.

Every new program starts with one Attachment question named Attachments. Add more of either type from Add question in the form builder, or remove it if your program is text-only.

Media or Attachment

Ask one question: is this file what judges score, or does it support or verify the entry? The work is Media. Everything else is an Attachment.

	Media	Attachment
What it is for	The work judges score	Files that support or verify the entry
Examples	Design boards, campaign visuals, a portfolio or case-study PDF, a demo video, a podcast	A consent form, a CV, a headshot, proof of eligibility, a receipt, a signed agreement
Where judges see it	The media stage at the top of the entry, before the answers	A thumbnail grid in the answers, under the question's label
Judge dashboard	The first file is the entry's image on the dashboard cards	Not shown on the dashboard
Accepted types	Images, documents, video, and audio, like any file question	Images, documents, video, and audio, like any file question
Defaults when you add one	Required, Images and Video on (switch on Documents for PDFs and text), up to five files	Optional, Images and Documents on, one file

The two share every other setting on this page. Pick the type when you add the question. To change your mind later, open the question's menu and click Turn into Attachment or Turn into Media in its header; answers already collected are untouched, because the type only changes where judges see the files.

Entrants never see the difference: both types use the same upload control on the entry form.

A program with no Media question keeps the list layout on the judge dashboard, and an entry with no media shows its answers right under its title, so an essay-only program never sees an empty box.

In a program built before the Media type, check each file question's menu: the header says Media or Attachment, and Turn into switches it.

Settings

Open the question's menu (the handle beside it) to set what it accepts and its caps, each saving as it changes. Under Accepts, switch Images (JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF), Documents (PDF, Word .docx, plain text .txt, and Markdown .md; an older Word .doc can be saved as .docx or PDF from Word), Video (MP4, MOV, WebM), Audio (MP3, M4A, WAV), and Web pages (a single HTML file with its styles and scripts inside, such as a prototype exported from an AI tool) on or off, keeping at least one on. Below them, the caps read as a sentence: Up to N files, N MB each, and once Video is on, Video up to N followed by seconds or minutes, so a 30 second pitch clip and a 10 minute film both fit (30 minutes at most). A "Headshot" question can accept images only; an "Entry pack" question can accept documents only; an "Attachments" question can accept images, documents, and video.

Audio is off by default. Switch it on for a podcast, a radio piece, or a spoken answer given in place of a written one. An audio file counts against the question's N MB each cap, like an image or a document, with no length limit. It plays in the browser's own player, with play, pause, a seek bar, and volume, on the judge's stage, on the entry page, and in the entrant's form right after the upload, so the entrant can check it. If a browser can't play a file, a Download link appears instead.

Videos are hosted and streamed automatically. Entrants upload the file once, and it plays directly on the entry page for organizers, judges, and (once the gallery opens) the public, with no third-party account involved.

Web pages open as working pages on the judge's stage and the entry page, kept apart from AwardKit and the viewer's account. A prototype that saves its state starts fresh on every visit. Open page opens the file in its own tab under an AwardKit banner that marks it as uploaded by an entrant. A web page is capped at 4 MB, and a text or Markdown file at 2 MB, even when the question's size cap is higher. Web pages are off by default: switch them on only for a question that asks for a prototype, since a page can show anything its author wrote, links and forms included.

What entrants see

The upload control reads Drag & drop or click to upload. Entrants drop files in or browse for them, and a file of a type the question doesn't accept is refused. Once the question's file count is reached, no more files can be added until one is removed.

If an uploaded web page needs other files that did not come with it (a separate script, stylesheet, or image), the entrant sees a note asking for one self-contained HTML file instead. The upload still goes through.

Each uploaded image has an optional Alt text box, each video a Video description box, and each audio file a Transcript box, for a written version of the recording. An image's alt text is read aloud by screen readers wherever the image appears (the judge's stage, the thumbnail grids, the full-screen view), in place of the entry name, and an ALT badge on the image shows it to everyone else. Videos get captions automatically, unless the organization has AI features turned off; a video's description shows under the player, in a collapsed Video description, so judges who cannot hear or see it still get its content. An audio file's transcript shows the same way under its player, in a collapsed Transcript.

Uploaded files stay editable for as long as the entry is: while entries are open, the entrant can open Edit Entry and swap or remove files.

What judges and the public see

On the judge's page, Media fills the stage. Images show in one frame. PDFs open in a page viewer with an Open PDF link, text and Markdown files in a text viewer with an Open file link, Word .docx files in a Word viewer with a Download link, and web pages with an Open page link. Video plays in the player, and audio in the browser's audio player with its transcript under it. Several files show as a thumbnail strip under the stage; the arrow keys, a swipe, or the strip page through them, and clicking an image opens it full screen with Zoom in, Fit to screen, and Original.

Attachment answers appear as a thumbnail grid under their question and open in place: an image in the same full-screen view, a PDF in the inline viewer, a text or Markdown file in the text viewer, a Word file in the Word viewer, a video in the player. Audio files play full width above the grid, each with its name above the player and its transcript under it. See Judging interface.

The Word viewer shows a document as if every tracked change were accepted, and it does not show charts or SmartArt, so ask for PDF when those matter. In a blind round the judge's page shows a Word file in the viewer under its masked name, with no Download link.

The audience voting page shows entries the same way as judges see them. The organizer's entry detail and, once the gallery opens, the public entry page render file uploads as the same thumbnail grid.

In a round with blind judging switched on, file names on both types are masked (judges see "Attachment 1.pdf" instead of "AcmeCorp_case_study.pdf") so a file name cannot reveal who entered. Alt text, video descriptions, transcripts, and captions stay visible, like any other answer, because judges who use a screen reader or cannot hear the recording rely on them; the boxes ask entrants to leave out names if the program judges anonymously. If the file contents themselves are not for judges, set the question's Judges row under Shown to: Never for paperwork no jury needs (a signed consent form, a CV), Except in blind rounds for a file that identifies the entrant but belongs in an open final (a company profile). An Attachment question whose label mentions a consent form, agreement, signature, or ID reminds you to. See What judges see.

Who can open a file

Uploaded files are private: only your team, the entrant and their teammates, and the entry's judges and audience voters can open them, and a file link copied out of AwardKit expires. To hand files to someone outside AwardKit, use a files export. On the public entry gallery, an entry's cover image appears only once the gallery is visible.

Files in exports and imports

The CSV export includes an Entry Link column rather than the files themselves; open the entry to download a file. CSV import does not import files: entrants or organizers add them afterwards by editing the entry.

Tips

Ask for the format judges will actually open. One PDF beats a folder of loose images for written case studies; video beats slides for product demos.
Set caps that match the ask. A 3-minute video cap and a 20 MB document cap cover most award programs and keep judging pages fast.
Keep the work and the paperwork apart. One Media question for the work, one Attachment question per supporting document, so a consent form never lands on the stage and the work never hides in the answers.
Use URL questions for things that live elsewhere (a live website, a social post) and a file question for things that should be preserved as submitted.