Epson, the inventor of the first ever electronic micro-printer in 1968, has just launched a pan-European competition to celebrate its 40th birthday.

Marking four decades of innovation and inspiration, the competition is open to all age groups and levels of ability, setting a challenge to design an image to be used on Epson's birthday card. The overall winner will receive ‘the trip of a lifetime' worth €5,000 (around £4,000), second place will receive €1,000 (circa £800) worth of Epson products and third €500 (circa £400). All entrants will have their work displayed within an impressive online gallery.

You'll have to submit an original image, which can be a photograph, illustration, montage or any other image that encompasses the theme: ‘celebrating 40 years of innovation'. A gallery of entries will be displayed on the site linked below, which also contains an online entry form and an interactive timeline chronicling the significant technological advances pioneered by Epson over the past four decades.

Entries must be submitted to Epson before midnight on July 31st 2008. Digital entries need to have a resolution of 360dpi and can be submitted via the dedicated site. Hard copy entries can be posted to Epson. All entries must fit within 150mm x 215mm in either landscape or portrait format and the lucky winners will be announced on September 29. See the Epson site for full T&Cs.