We never plan to fail, but many of us fail to plan. You need to make sure to tackle each internal milestone head-on. Address page submission, school portraits, and school holidays. Here are a few questions to consider as you plan for your deadlines.
OVERALL QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER (MONTHLY • QUARTERLY)
• How many pages can you complete by the end of the month? (Look at the ladder.)
• Will school testing and holidays impact your schedule?
• Have you provided yourself time to edit and review your yearbook pages before submission to the plant?
• Have you provided time for your staff to revise any changes you are requesting on their yearbook pages?
• Have you and your staff reviewed the submission process?
• Have you allowed yourself computer time to prepare your pages for submission to the publisher?
• Do you have all necessary supplies/materials for submission?
• Have you communicated any special questions ahead of time to the publishing company, and are you awaiting an answer?
• Are you receiving proofs on your pages? If so, how long do you have to review them before your scheduled shipping date is affected?
• Have you completed your cover design? If you use foil and/or embossing you will need extra time for dies to be made, etc. Coordinate your yearbook cover submission schedule with your yearbook representative.
• Have you processed the film/photos needed for the deadlines?
• Have you completed your school picture day and retakes? If so, when are you going to receive your photo CD from your photographer?
• Do you have your club and team photo shoot scheduled? If so, will the photographer provide you images for the yearbook? When?
We know these questions can be overwhelming and stressful, but just a little planning can help you successfully address each internal milestone you have. Here are a few tips to consider:
• Review your ladder and secure/lock down your coverage for the school year.
• List a month next to every page of the ladder to indicate what month the event listed will be covered and completed.
• Set up mini-deadlines to allow you time to review pages and rough drafts.
• Develop a checklist for each month that shows what pages are due, and track the overall
progress of the pages.
• Enlist the aid of parents to assist you on a work schedule where they can bring snacks/pizza/ refreshments every day after school the week of a deadline.
• Have a celebration every month you make your milestones. Let the staff see the importance of submitting pages ontime.
Standard hard cover binding is typically the least expensive of the hard cover binding options, and works well for books with smaller page counts (as low as 24 pages, up to 220 pages). The signatures of the yearbook are gathered together into a book block and then bound into a hard case. This type of binding is also known as library binding because it is very durable.
Smyth sewn hard cover binding has the added strength of overlapped stitches, and can be used on books that have 64 or more pages. The advantage of this binding style is that the book will more easily lie flat when open. Typically, you’ll see this binding style in reference books such as medical books, law books, etc.
FULL-COLOR COVERS
The full-color printed cover is the easiest and most popular cover and is
available in both soft and hard covers. It is very popular because of the stunning design techniques and number of colors you can use to immediately capture the reader’s attention. You can choose one of our professionally designed stock covers, or you can create your own custom cover design! A durable coating is applied to all full-color yearbook covers to ensure the colors remain vibrant and the books withstand the test of time.
PAPER WEIGHT
Yearbooks are traditionally printed on a coated glossy paper with a standard
80-pound paper weight for excellent opacity and durability. Of course, you
can always request 100-pound paper for a more distinctive, durable feel.
Hard Cover Board Weight
Binder’s board is the most common material used to make book covers. The
heavier the board weight, the stiffer the cover will be when trying to bend it.
Our standard cover weight is 90 pt. Heavier, 120 pt. and 160 pt. board
weights are also available upon request.
EMBOSSING AND DEBOSSING
Embossing is a technique which creates a raised, or 3D, image on a piece of
paper. It is typically accomplished with a combination of heat and pressure on
the paper. Embossing can also be used with foil stamping or on a full-color cover
to create an even more unique look. Debossing uses the same technique as
embossing, except the impression is heat-pressed into the surface of the paper
so that an image is depressed (lowered) instead of raised. As with embossing,
debossing can be used with foil stamping or on a full-color cover to create special visual effects and textures.
FOIL STAMPING
Foil stamping involves the use of heat to transfer metallic foil to a solid surface
such as a yearbook cover. As with embossing and debossing, a die is needed to
“stamp” the foil into the cover material. Foil stamping can be combined with
embossing or debossing to create a very striking 3D image. While gold and
silver metallic foil never go out of style, the additional colors shown are gaining
popularity as well—choose colors that give your book a one-of-a-kind look!
LEATHERETTE COVERS
Leatherette covers are made of synthetic materials that are made to look like leather but are much more durable. Typically, leatherette yearbooks use foil stamping, embossing and/or debossing to accentuate the school name and cover design. Choose from this generous selection of leatherette colors (at left) to make a great first impression of your yearbook!
ENDSHEETS
Endsheets are the thick paper attached to both the inside front and back covers of a hard cover yearbook and the flyleaf (first and last sheets in a book before and after the book content). The quality of the paper is usually different than what is used in the rest of your yearbook. Listed at right are colors available to you. If you’re looking for a color not found here or would like to get pricing on the cost of printing your own custom design on an endsheet, just ask!
HEAD AND FOOT BANDS
Head and foot bands are included on smyth sewn books and can be requested on standard hard cover books. These small ornamental bands, generally made of silk or cotton, are attached to the top and bottom of a hard cover book block. They serve as a decorative way to hide the binding application or stitching on the spine of a yearbook. They come in a variety of solid and “striped” colors listed in your price guide.
EMBOSSING AND DEBOSSING
Embossing is a technique which creates a raised, or 3D, image on a piece of paper. It is typically accomplished with a combination of heat and pressure on the paper. Embossing can also be used with foil stamping or on a full-color cover to create an even more unique look. Debossing uses the same technique as embossing, except the impression is heat-pressed into the surface of the paper so that an image is depressed (lowered) instead of raised. As with embossing, debossing can be used with foil stamping or on a full-color cover to create special visual effects and textures.
FOIL STAMPING
Foil stamping involves the use of heat to transfer metallic foil to a solid surface such as a yearbook cover. As with embossing and debossing, a die is needed to “stamp” the foil into the cover material. Foil stamping can be combined with embossing or debossing to create a very striking 3D image. While gold and silver metallic foil never go out of style, the additional colors shown are gaining popularity as well—choose colors that give your book a one-of-a-kind look!
LENTICULAR COVERS
Lenticular printing is used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. You can create various frames of animation for a motion effect, show a set of alternate images or make an image appear 3D for a truly interactive experience!
DIE-CUTTING
A die is a specialized tool that cuts specific shapes into your yearbook cover. Die-cutting allows you to cut out specific areas or shapes on your cover, allowing text or part of an image to show through from the inside.
SPOT UV TREATMENT
Spot UV is a great treatment to use if there are specific areas (or spots) on your cover that you would like to highlight. The application can deepen the color of the area and be very shiny or flattened to a matte finish. It’s a great way to add eye-catching emphasis to important areas.
Yearbook pages fall in numerical sequence when you look at the finished book. They are NOT printed in that sequence. Thankfully, you do need to worry about the mechanics of preparing and submitting pages according to how your publisher prints the pages (unless your book consists of pages printed in both black and white and color). It is always educational to learn about the printing process, however, so the following information is provided to assist your understanding.
Pages fall in numerical sequence once both sides of the large sheet of paper are printed, folded, and trimmed. Yearbooks are printed on large sheets that allow 8 pages to be printed at the same time on both sides of the paper. These large sheets are called signatures. Only two pages truly face each other on a signature. This is known as a “natural spread”. This would be the best place to use photos that spread across the gutter (the center of the book), since you have a natural fold. Anywhere else, the photos are trimmed and then printed apart and rejoined after the fold. It may be difficult to make sure all images match nicely as they come together where the book is bound (at the gutter).
Each set of sixteen pages is called a signature, while each side of the printed sheet (signature) is called a multiple or flat. When you plan your yearbook, if it is Smyth sewn, you do so in 16-page signatures. If your book is bound as a Side-sewn yearbook or a Saddle-stapled or Perfect-bound book, you can purchase the book in 4-page spreads.
Survival Tip:
The key to your book being submitted on time to the yearbook plant is developing
and meeting your own internal milestones so you can meet your publisher’s deadline.
Once milestones are given to your staff, review progress on a weekly basis. Coordinate milestones with events on your school calendar.
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: As you know by now, digital cameras are everywhere—including in cell phones and smart phones—but are all cameras alike? If you would like to use digital photos in your yearbook, you should consider following these guidelines.
Work with your representative to pick the appropriate equipment. It’s a good idea to consult Consumer Reports or online resources like C-NET when choosing a camera. Look for these suggested camera and computer specs:
• A camera that is at least 4-5 megapixels, set at it’s highest setting, will provide images suitable for print in your yearbook. The higher the megapixel number, the higher quality of image your camera will be capable of capturing.
• Zoom lens: recommend looking for a higher optical zoom vs. digital on cameras with built in zoom functions.
• Rechargeable batteries help save money in the long run.
• Consider getting a tripod or unipod with your camera for stable shoots.
• Consider getting a camera that comes with digital imaging software that allows you to review the images as well as remove red-eye or adjust the brightness and contrast of photos. If you are a Microsoft Office user, see if your computer has Microsoft Office Picture Manager under Microsoft Office Tools. Another program available to purchase is Adobe® Photoshop®.
• Exchangeable memory cards allow you to store lots of high-quality images.
Once you get the camera, make sure it is set on the proper resolution at the highest quality. This will store large images on your camera and use lots of memory, so you should also purchase additional memory cards and an adapter for easy downloading of your images. Make it a point to read your instruction manuals for your digital cameras
.
HINTS FOR GENERAL PURPOSE USE OF DIGITAL CAMERAS:
• View all action and events through the viewfinder and anticipate your shot at least one second before it happens. Remember, your camera needs about a second to react to your command and take the photo once you press the button.
• Stabilize your hand and finger when photographing. Many times when you press your shutter button, your camera is moving and your image will be blurry.
• Have a backup battery, memory card, and carrying case for every camera.
• Download all images to a computer and burn to a CD after every shoot so you have a back up image you can archive. Never store all images on one computer or server without first backing them up on a CD, DVD or other remote storage device.
• Always have the flash function turned on and not on auto-flash. Your lighting will help get cleaner color both indoors and outdoors.
• Blurry images cannot be cleaned up with software. Delete all blurry images and keep only
clear images.
• Make sure to get close to your subject as you shoot. Consider shooting at least three to four shots so you can make sure you have the best photo. Delete any extra images where you know the subject has closed his or her eyes.
In order to help you come up with page content ideas, we have developed this chart to assist you in story and coverage ideas. Page content is divided into most common sections in a high school yearbook listed below.
STUDENT LIFE: Activities that usually involve everyone on campus
Dances
Spending Habits
Cars & Driving
Lunchtime
Favorites
Passing Periods
Locker Life
Guest Speakers
Day in the life…
Assemblies
Homecoming Events
Hairstyles
Music
College Plans
Hangouts
Fads & Fashion
Pep Rallies
College Plans
SPORTS: All male & female teams as well as different grade levels
Varsity Football
JV Football
Freshman Football
Varsity Cheerleaders
JV Cheerleaders
9th Grade Cheerleaders
Varsity Volleyball
JV Volleyball
Freshman Volleyball
Swimming
Boys Cross Country
Girls Cross Country
Varsity Boys Basketball
JV Boys Basketball
Boys 9th – Basketball
Varsity Girls Basketball
JV Girls Basketball
Girls 9th – Basketball
Varsity Soccer
JV Soccer
Varsity Tennis
Golf
Boys Track
Girls Track
Varsity Baseball
JV Baseball
9th Grade Baseball
JV Tennis
Varsity Softball
JV Softball
Drill /Dance Team
Athletic Trainers
PEOPLE: All the individual photos of every student & adult on campus
12th Grade
11th Grade
10th Grade
9th Grade
Library Staff
Nurses
Entire Faculty
Administration
Paraprofessionals
Janitorial Staff
Security Guards
Cafeteria Staff
Counselors
Teacher Aides
ACADEMICS: Contains curriculum electives or academic teams & competition
All Academic Teams (math/spelling/reading/writing/science/drama/speech/keyboard/etc.)
Band (all divisions/flags)
Orchestra
Jazz Band
Choir (all divisions)
Speech
Debate
Building Trades
ROTC (all companies)
TV-Communications
Yearbook-Journalism
Newspaper-Journalism
Drama
Auto Mech/Paint Body
CLUBS/ORGANIZATIONS: Groups that meet before/after school or during lunch
Student Council
National Honor Society
Math Club
Science Club
French Club
Spirit Club
Spanish Club
Art Club
Chess Club
4-H Club
Business Prf. America
Crime Stoppers
Key Club
Future Farmers America
Class Officers
Future Educators
Fellowship Chrstn Athlts
Bible Club
COMMUNITY: Usually includes advertisements (if any) as well as an index
Business Ads
Personal Ads
Patrons
Principal’s Message
Index
Club Officer Ads
Memoriam Page
Colophon
Survival Tip:
The list of page ideas here is extensive, but not complete. At the start of the year, ask
your student council or administration for a list of all club sponsors, as well as,
coaches on campus.
Also ask for their planning periods since you may need to speak to them regarding their team or group.
