YearBook Publishing And Printing

When it comes time to start taking photos for your yearbook make sure you know how to use your camera inside and out. There is nothing worse than having a perfect camera moment and not knowing what setting to have your camera on to get the best picture.

If you are already a photographer or have a passion for it than this might not be relevant to you but if you have been given the task to take photos for the yearbook you will want to know what you are doing so the pictures look tip top. For all you know you might enjoy this so much that it turns into a life long passion or even a career choice. Here are a handful of things you will want to look out for on your camera when you start taking photos.

1. Flash: It is important to know when exactly you need a flash. If you are outside and its sunny or even a little bit cloudy a flash might just not be necessary. Your models will look very bright and washed out. Try not using the flash and you will see often times you get a much richer and natural looking photo.

2. ISO: ISO speed affects the shutter speed. If there is less light than usual you will want a higher shutter speed other wise your picture will come out blurry if you are not using a tripod. Try experimenting at home when the sun goes down and take some photos with flash at a lower ISO and then no flash with a higher ISO and you will see what I am talking about.

3. Use a Tripod: If you are taking photographs of a group of people you know won’t be moving but standing still use a tripod and set the ISO lower to get a richer photograph. Remember that if you use a higher ISO setting you loose a little bit of quality in the photo and often times they can come out grainy depending on high the ISO is set. Most digital cameras go up to a 400 or so setting but some of the professional cameras can make it up a whopping 3600 ISO.

If you have been given the task to come up with the copy for your yearbook you might eventually have to reach out a bit to others for guidance to get past any writers block issues you might have. You will eventually want to start thinking outside the box and get creative with your journalism to keep it fresh and inviting. Put together a survey of what types of journalism the students would like to see in the book. Ask specific questions on what they would like to see and questions that might also give you some ideas on what to write.

Different questions to ask your peers:

1. Who is your favorite teacher and why?
2. What is your favorite class and why?
3. What is the funniest cafeteria moment you have encountered?
4. What is your least favorite class and why?
5. What has been your favorite sporting event at school?
6. How many different groups or cliques can you name?
7. What biggest improvement can your school make?
8. What was your favorite dance or event?
9. What has been your favorite effort to prepare for college or graduation and why?
10. What is your favorite cafeteria meal and why?

Give the students as many questions as you can so that you can have as much material to use for your yearbook. It will be sometime difficult to get over writers block so you want to make sure you have as much back up and firepower to battle through those times.

When it comes time to start picking and research for screen printers you will find that there is no shortage of printers ready to take on the job. Whether you find the right one is another questions. Not every yearbook printer will be right for you to get the job done so it is important to research and read reviews on a handful before you decide to work with one.

When you isolate 5-6 printers you might want to work start by search for their company name online. the first red flag to look for is any negative information that others might have posted on them complaining about their quality of work. Negative press on anyone or any company usually surfaces very quickly online for everyone to see. Also another red flag to look out for is nothing coming up on the company except maybe their website. If nothing else comes up on the company than it seems like nobody has anything really good to say about them either so this could also be a red flag. You can tell a lot about a company from their search results. looks for other bloggers and PR about the company. Their search results will be a direct reflection on their business and how they go about conducting it. This will also be a good time to negotiate with printers. With revenues down for many companies most will go really low on pricing to get the business, sometimes almost breaking even just to get some activity on the books.

You will be faced with many challenges regarding the design of your yearbook when you take on this project. Many people that they need to make this extravagant and noisy cover but sometimes less is more. Try using a black white and cover that has simple design to keep readers from trying to focus too much on what is going on.

Simplicity is usually appreciated by many and taking this approach can give your yearbook and nice classy look and feel for your cover. If you really want or need to add some color keep it minimal and to keep the classiness of the black and white intact. You can also try different things to add to the yearbook like embossing. If you use a black cover and emboss the design in silver foil you can have a really attractive looking cover for your yearbook. Using a great deal of white space is also good because it allows your readers eyeballs to rest. If you use a small photo and leave the rest of the white space plain.

Taking a minimalist approach does not have to be boring. You can make very tasteful tweaks and changes to your cover to keep it enticing and appealing to your readers. Try different things and research online for ideas. This is an approach that many businesses large and small have taken in the past and has created great works of art.

If you have been assigned the task of being your yearbook photographer don’t worry there is plenty you can do to tighten up your skill set. The power of the internet and the emergence of blogs have made it very easy for people to teach themselves just about anything.

if you are scared your photos will not come out just how you want them too don’t worry. The important thing to remember is photo quality is subjective. You won’t make everyone happy. Just remember to take a lot of photos. Generally photographers will take a great deal of photos with the hopes of finding a gem in the pile. Chances are you will find a gem if you take enough pictures. If you have not ventured into the world oh photo shop yet that will be your next step. You don’t need to be an expert in photo shop to successfully clean up your photos. Just a few minor adjustments can make them extremely presentable. If you do some searches online you will find a great deal of information surrounding photo shop and how to apply it directly to your photos.

There are many tutorials online that will teach you exactly what to do and how to do it. Not just with photoshop but also your camera. Don’t forget to try to include some trick photography into your yearbook. A few here in there could really get your audience talking about your photos.

Once you take on your yearbook project you will officially become the manager. Sometimes being a manager and telling people what to do could get very tricky. Managing people can get very tiresome but it is important to stay focused. Try doing some of these activities to keep people moving.

1. Brainstorming Sessions: Don’t just tell people what to do but rather ask your teams input. People are more apt to get involved and really participate. Your team will want to feel like their input is really being put to good use and if someone’s idea becomes a reality have them on that part of the project. It will most likely get done right if you involve the person with the vision in the execution.

2. Congratulate: if a team member or a group on your team, or even the whole team is doing a good job, let them know. Part of being a good manager is reinforcing good quality behavior. This will get your team working even better and more efficiently. People like positive reinforcement when they feel like they have been working hard and doing a good job. If you deny this to your team it cause them to loose focus.

being a manager means you have to keep your team moving like a well oiled machine. You have to manage not dictate. This will keep your team happy and smiling through the entire yearbook planning and building process.

When ever you start designing a yearbook or really designing anything you must first step into the shoes of your audience for just a moment and ask yourself what type of design would they enjoy seeing. Design work can be very subjective so you will never keep everyone happy.

When designing for smaller kids or children you first have to isolate the age demographic of that child. Are they very young kids? Maybe approaching it more with crayons and bright colors would be a smart choice. This way you are connecting with them. Your yearbook should connect with your audience in every way. If you are doing a book for an elementary school than you know that going with an elegant design will not fit or connect with the kids. The great thing of designing for smaller children is that you can really go out on a limb and kids will not judge you too much. not as much as an adult would. But if you ask them before hand what they would like to see in the yearbook they will gladly tell you. You can also ask them on your opinion before hand and they will tell you how they feel about your current plans without any regret.

When you start taking your photos for your yearbook you will quickly see that some are good, some are bad and some are atrocious. most likely your photos will need some sort of tweaking in a photoshop type software. You have to know where to start with enhancing the lighting in your photos.

1. Too Light or Too Dark?: Try to change the lighting on your pictures. In photoshop there is an called “curves” that really allows to play with how dark and how light your photo appears. If you want to do get creative the curves feature really allows you to have some fun with your photos. really play with this feature because it could take a photo you thought might be garbage and put it into a whole new light…literally.

2. Contrast: Contrast is great because it takes a washed out photo and brings some much needed life into the photo. Contrast is makes your colors pop in the photos and can really make things look vivid and vibrant.

3. Avoid Flash: Try avoiding flash when ever possible. If you are out doors or in a clearly lit room most of the time you really do not need any flash. Flash can create harsh shadows and make your faces look for washed out creating a very unflattering photo. Always try using natural light first and adjust the ISO to get the pic but if you find that the high ISO is making your photos very grainy than you might have to resort to a flash. If you do use your flash remember that you can adjust the power of your flash. This will allow for your model to not have such a burst of light right at them.

It will be very important to put extra care and attention on your yearbook photography. When you first take on the assignment to either take photos or manage the yearbook committee try recruiting someone that is already a photographer or enjoys taking photos. You will be more likely to get some really great photos and shots to enhance the user experience from a reader standpoint. Plus that will give a student photographer to get a head start on their portfolio.

If you just ask someone in your group to take photos and they don’t really care for photography than your yearbook will most likely suffer. You need to find someone that has a passion and interest for photography. Just pulling out your digital camera and snapping away will not yield the results you might be looking for. Most likely a student in your school might enjoy being the lead photographer for your yearbook if just given the chance. Post fliers and set up announcements on your yearbooks Facebook or MySpace page letting everyone know that you are in need of a photographer that can put some passion into their work. Most photographers will have experience in photo enhancing as well. You will want a photographer that knows their way around adobe photshop or similar products because most photos will need some sort of retouching and enhancing. Photoshop could take your photo from boring and dull to vibrant with just a few minor adjustments.

When you first take on the yearbook make it a point to get a photographer and writer aboard very early in the game because these two elements will be vital to how readers view and look at your yearbook.

There is more than one way to sell a yearbook. You will have to get a little creative in order to maximize sales and get these books of your hands. What works well on one group of people will not always work well for everyone. Spending habits will differ between different demographic of people at your school or organization so it will be important to give people different options in order to move the books. Here are some options for your peers to purchase.

1. Online: Setting up an inexpensive website with a check out feature for your students to purchase will create a great deal of convenience. Many students will have their parents pay for yearbooks so this will allow for both peers and parents to be able to purchase right from the comfort of their home, or even their cell phone.

2. Throw Parties: throw party announcing the yearbook where you can start taking some face to face orders either by check or credit card. Throw a bash inviting all your friends at school or off grounds to get people talking about the yearbook. This will get people talking and letting others know through word-of-mouth that yearbook sales are here.

3. School Store: Most schools have school stores. Go and speak with them and find out what it would take to get the books into the store and putting up some fliers in the store as well for pre-sales.

Most students will want to purchase a yearbook. Once you get people talking it shouldn’t be too long before orders start coming through.