YearBook Publishing And Printing

Recently, in the news, there have been a lot of mentions of yearbook publishing going into a slump. Despite the fact that students have more disposable income now than ever before, less of it is going toward school spirit and yearbooks. And a relatively new phenomenon has arisen . . . digital yearbook publishing.

There are plenty of arguments for digital yearbook publishing. After all, if it is true that the purchase of paper books is down, why wouldn´t you look into other options? However, there are a few reasons not to choose digital yearbook publishing.

• Digital copies of your yearbook could easily be lost.
• Digital copies require just as much work, but won´t be valued as much by students.
• They are easier to copy, resulting in more sharing and fewer purchases.
• Digital yearbooks don´t offer the same nostalgia of paper ones.

Some schools may be forced to go digital as they run into a problem with no sales. However, traditional yearbook publishing will always be something that is valued more than a digital product. Perhaps a better option for those looking into digital yearbook publishing is to include online additions to the paper yearbook or a CD version included with the yearbook.

Yearbook publishing is definitely not just limited to schools. As we saw a few days ago, homeschoolers find yearbooks to be a great way to remember their homeschool groups, but there´s no reason we can´t go further than that with the yearbook publishing concept. A good example of yearbooks for societies would be the Goethe yearbook.

The Yearbook aims above all to encourage and publish original English-language contributions to the understanding of Goethe and other authors of the Goethezeit, while also welcoming contributions from scholars around the world. The book review section seeks likewise to evaluate a wide selection of recent publications on the period, and should be of interest to all scholars of 18th-century literature.

The idea of yearbook publishing for a society is not exactly new, but many groups haven´t thought much about the idea. The fact is that this can be an excellent medium for a variety of articles and photos of any society. Obviously, this could be done on a wide variety of topics and themes, but the concept of yearbook publishing is the same.

Each society will need to figure out just how they want to do their yearbook. Adult yearbooks often contain more actual information than photos of the members, but this will depend completely on the society, of course. Yearbook publishing is quite flexible, allowing it to become a medium for many different groups to create memories.

While yearbook publishing is usually considered something for schools, it has many uses that we will be exploring over the next while on this blog. One of these uses is for homeschoolers. Many homeschoolers regret that they can´t have a school yearbook, but just because you don´t go to school doesn´t mean that you shouldn´t have the opportunity to own a book that covers your school year.

Here´s a great way for homeschoolers to get in on yearbook publishing . . . going together with their homeschool group. Most areas have a group where kids who learn at home can hang out, play sports and even go on field trips. This is the perfect time to get some yearbook photography done. You can also have the students write essays and stories to include in the yearbook.

A digital camera will allow you to get some great shots of students in action at homeschool events. Put these into a yearbook and send it to a publisher. You´ll find that most families will be more than happy to get involved and the kids will be thrilled to finally have the option of a yearbook.

Yearbook publishing isn´t just for schools. You can have a great yearbook for any group, really, but homeschoolers are great candidates for a well-done yearbook.

Yearbook publishing has long since been a memory maker in schools. Yearbooks allow students to look back over their school years encapsulated and relive those memories. However, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, yearbooks may be going the way of the dinosaur, being phased out by online applications like Facebook.

Several schools in the Houston Independent School District have even done away with yearbooks all together. Nationally, four college annuals folded this year alone. Teachers such as Miller blame the shift on changing times, changing demographics and the popularity of social networking Web sites, which are becoming the new repository of school memories.

“They all want them, but it’s like, who’s got $60?” Miller said of yearbooks. “They would rather go buy their tennis shoes or buy a grill for their mouth or something. A book is not as significant today to a child.”

With dropping yearbook sales, there is even more need to pump these yearbooks up to bring in more sales. Many students are more interested in using online applications like MySpace or Facebook to keep in touch with friends from school and the majority of them have little or no interest in actual yearbooks designed to recall their days in school.

However, this article in the Houston Chronicle goes on to point out that this issue is not nationwide . . . not yet. Many schools in other parts of the US are actually doing just fine. No one seems to know exactly what is affecting yearbook sales, since the internet should have a fairly universal effect.

One thing remains clear . . . we need more awareness in schools about yearbooks. They are an important part of our heritage and the memories of the school years.

Making deadlines is all part of yearbook publishing, albeit not a very fun part. The best way to ensure that you do make those pressing deadlines is to plan ahead.

Most people run into problems with yearbook publishing deadlines because they fail to do things in a timely fashion. Rather than wait on some major projects until the last minute, just make sure that you are doing them as the school year progresses. This is probably the best way to keep your staff on target and ensure deadline accuracy.

Having a yearbook ladder is a huge help in this case. You can see exactly what needs to be on each page and then go ahead and schedule everything. For example, you know that Valentine´s celebrations will be happening on Feb. 14th, so by the end of that week, you should have all the photos you need and can set up the page right then and there. You don´t need to wait and figure out placement because you´ve already done that part.

Yearbook publishing deadlines are not hard to make if you are working according to a plan and a schedule. You´ll find that you are easily able to meet the deadlines by working steadily throughout the year.

Finding a yearbook printer that fits your yearbook publishing needs can take a bit of time and research, but it is often more than worth the extra effort. Here are a few things to consider when looking for a yearbook publishing company.

• Cover options. Make sure the yearbook printer you choose offers personalization and any features you want to include on your covers.
• Service. Are your questions answered by the webpage? If not, can you contact the yearbook publishing company?
• Pricing. Shop around and make sure you are getting the best deal possible for the features that you want.
• Discounts. Do you get a discount if you order a lot of yearbooks? This can be a great reason to go with one yearbook publishing company over another.

Yearbook publishing companies are often a great deal different from each other, so you will want to make sure you do your research and find one that is good for your school.

When it comes to yearbook publishing, the delivery day is the day when a year of hard work finally comes to fruitation and everyone can enjoy what you and your yearbook staff have put together for them. However, there are a few things to keep in mind to prevent problems on yearbook publishing delivery day.

Proof the yearbook. This is very important. Check each page of the yearbook ahead of time to make sure there are no surprises. It is fairly rare, but sometimes someone will manage to slip a little extra something into the book.

Have the principal look over the yearbook. Getting approval from the principal is the best way to avoid issues later on. You may want the superintendent to check it over as well.

Remind students to pay. Giving them a warning a month or so before the yearbook publishing date will allow any late payments to be made so you can order the correct number of books.

Make it easy. Having a plan for distributing the yearbooks will help keep things running smoothly. Set up tables so students don´t have to prop books against backs and walls to sign them.

The yearbook publishing delivery date can be a few days before the actual distribution day so you have time to get everything set up and can check over the books. Decide now if you will be giving out refunds in case of mistakes to avoid hasty decisions later on.

One of the more unpleasant parts of yearbook publishing is the deadline. You may really enjoy putting together the yearbook and organizing things, choosing themes, etc, but it is pretty rare to find someone who enjoys yearbook publishing deadlines. There is always something more to do, another page to tweak, a new font to test . . . you could literally spend another year working on the yearbook!

Unfortunately, you don´t have another year,and if you don´t plan well, you may only have a week or two! It´s vital that you plan ahead to avoid time crunches with yearbook publishing deadlines. Here are a few ideas that work for other schools.

Set the yearbook publishing deadline ahead. By making all your deadlines a week earlier than they need to be, you can ensure rapid delivery and being able to get all the files off on time.

Offer rewards. Giving a little extra something to students who turn their work in ahead of time will motivate everyone to work harder and meet those deadlines!

Set up mini deadlines. By planning ahead, you can set up mini deadlines throughout the year, to ensure that your students don´t have to meet one big yearbook publishing deadline.

You can use any or all of these methods to beat the yearbook publishing deadline crunch that happens to so many schools. We can´t promise you won´t be stressed anyway, but it really does lessen the anxiety when you know that most of your book is ready to go, at least.

Yearbook publishing can seem pretty complicated, with all the fancy terms being used. One word you´ll probably hear is “bleed”. This is a very simple concept that will make your yearbook publishing experience a far smoother one and the end result will be much better!

Basically, bleed means that you design your page without margins. Rather than have a white border around the edge of the page, you will continue the design outside the regular margins. This is used whenever there will be ink printed to the edge of a page, such as with a photograph that spans the center fold or a background design that covers the entire page.

Using bleed means that your yearbook publisher will print the page slightly larger than normal and cut it to size. This eliminates the possibility of ugly white lines or spaces where the ink didn´t quite make it to the edge of the yearbook page. When used in centerfolds, it means that there won´t be a big white streak down the middle of the photo. You will want to overlap the photo halves slightly as well to ensure that with the fold the photo appears complete.

Yearbook publishing uses bleed to make your yearbook of better quality. Using this technique will produce a more beautiful yearbook and you´ll find that once you get the hang of extending all your designs out a bit, it becomes second nature.

Yearbook publishing is a major undertaking and you want to make sure that everything comes out just perfect. There´s nothing worse than getting back 500 yearbooks with a glaring error in them! While you may have proofed the yearbook many times on the computer screen, there are some mistakes that simply don´t show up until you see it in print.

Some mistakes may also be caused by the yearbook publishing company . . . a misunderstanding is not uncommon. To rectify this, it´s a good idea to get a proof copy to look over. Here are a few things to watch out for when looking at your yearbook publishing proof:

• Cover. Is the cover the way you like it, with correct colors and texture? If you asked for foil imprinting, check the quality as well.

• Photos. Check to make sure that all the photos are the way you want them and to be certain that no one accidentally slipped a bad one in there.

• Spelling. One last spelling check is a good idea at this point, especially for names. You might even want to assign someone to check all the names in the yearbook.

• Identity. Double check that all the photos are labeled correctly. This is very important, people have had some serious legal issues over this.

Your yearbook publishing experience will go much smoother if you are able to double check the yearbook before it goes to print. This is something that will be very useful to catch any last minute mistakes.