The Yearbook Blog

Our favorite short cut key. Also known as “undo,” this combination can be used in InDesign, eDesign, Word, most email programs, and after taking a really hard test that you didn’t study for (although we don’t know where to find the keyboard to perform that last one). Other helpful keystrokes include:

• Ctrl/Cmd + S = Save
• Ctrl/Cmd + C = Copy
• Ctrl/Cmd + V = Paste
• Ctrl/Cmd + P = Print
• Arrow keys to nudge elements

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “Z” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

No, thank you, we don’t need a tissue. x-height is a typography term referring to the height of the body of lowercase letters, not counting ascenders or descenders. Typically, this is the height of the letter x in the font (hence the name–now do you get it?), as well as the u, v, w, and z. Why is it important? When two typefaces are set in the same point size, one often looks bigger than the other. Why? Because bigger x-heights make a typeface appear larger. Differences in line weight and character width also affect the letters’ apparent scale. When choosing fonts for captions, by-lines and other smaller bodies of text, checking x-height can help with readablilty.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “X” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

If you’ve been paying attention in math, you know it’s the horizontal axis on a graph. How is it relevant in Yearbook Land? Well, designing on a grid is basically using a graph. If you know the X axis of an element (what pica the bottom of the element rests on), you can line up other elements on the same line or equidistance away. It’s very handy when using internal margins less than a pica wide. Both Adobe InDesign and HJ eDesign have places to input the X (and Y) values for individual or multiple objects to ensure exact alignment.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “X” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We already told you why we don’t like orphans (if you forgot, just look at the O card). Now, we are delighted to tell you why we hate widows, too. What is a widow? It’s the last line of a paragraph that falls on the beginning of the next page or column, thus separated from the remainder of the text. The moral of the story: Don’t leave a sentence hangin’. Make sure it always has some company so it isn’t left stranded at the the top of the page all alone.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “W” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We all have one–although some of us have”American Idol” voices, and some of us have only-for-the-shower voices, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Each yearbook, each theme, each body of copy has a voice/personality, too. And each year, the voice of your yearbook should be different from the year before. It should reflect the individual voices of students, teachers and administrators on campus as well as the voice of the yearbook staff. How do you do that? Follow these tips:

• Get more individual voices in the book by including more quotes
• Include profiles of people who have stories to tell, and let them tell their story in their own words
• Create secondary packages that are quote-based. For example, ask a question (What’s your best friend’s most annoying habit?) and print the 5 -7 best answers
• Run quotes along the bottom of your class pages to incorporate as many voices as possible

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “V” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

You know how sometimes you just don’t get it, and someone says, “Do I have to draw you a picture?” Well, sometimes a visual is a much more powerful form of communication. How does that translate in yearbook language? Easy! Try graphics to enhance your story.

• Create graphs to show comparisons (Number of students who use iPhone, Blackberry, flip phone, slider phone, etc.)
• Use large graphic numbers to show participation (Fall Play/Musical spread–number of actors, stage hands, set designers/builders, choreographers, musicians, lighting technicians, sound technicians, etc.)
• Make tables or grids for scoreboards instead of just lists

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “V” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We’re not talking about sandwich condiments, but yearbook spreads and how important it is to design in spreads. Even if you’ve only allotted one page per topic, you can improve the design of your book by combining both topics into one double-page spread. You can do this by

• one headline and copy package that covers both topics

• graphic elements that cross over both pages

• consistent color scheme

• picture packages that contain photos from both topics

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “S” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

(Pronounced pie-ka) It’s the measurement of all those little squares on your layout grids. One pica has 12 points in it. Pica measurements are represented like this: “5p6” (or “5 picas and 6 points” or “5 1/2 picas”). But what IS a pica? According to Dictionary.com, a pica is…

• “A printer’s unit of type size, equal to 12 points or about 1/6 of an inch.”

• “An equivalent unit of composition measurement used in determining the dimensions of lines, illustrations, or printed pages.”

• “A type size for typewriters, providing ten characters to the inch.”

• “An abnormal craving or appetite for nonfood substances, such as dirt, paint, or clay.”**

(**Okay, that last one has nothing to do with yearbooks, but thought you might want to know!)

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “P” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Also known as strokes, these are graphic lines used to enhance the look of a page design or to help with the hierarchy of elements. Elements that are framed draw more attention and thus demand that we look at them first. Rule lines can also denote connection, separation, movement, mood or emotion. For example: rule lines can be used to separate two columns of text or different bodies of text within a single column; or when used as a frame, they can connect all the elements of a secondary story; thick rule lines combined with large point type can mean “start here”.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “R” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

It refers to how easily text can be read. Line spacing (or leading), line length (the number of words per line), and font choice can affect the readability of text. Here are some tips to ensure the readability of your text:

• While the default leading is fine in most cases, you might want to play around with leading to see the different results. For regular copy, try the 2x’s rule: increase the leading to at least 2 points larger than the point size of your type.

• For line length, take the type size of your body text and multiply it by two. For example, 12 point type would have an ideal line length of  24 picas.

• Avoid low contrast or uncomplementary colors when placing text on a color background.

• Never use a “headline” font for copy blocks. Can you imagine if we wrote this sentence with the same font as the word “readability”?

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “R” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We know you’ve got ‘em: “When’s the next deadline?”, “What happened to my pictures?”, “Does anyone know this person?”, etc. But here are a few questions that good designers and copy writers should continually ask themselves and each other as they work. Keep these in mind as you look over your spread/copy before you call it “done”:

• Is it fresh? Current? Original?

• Does it relate to the theme? the year? the school?

• Is it specific to the theme? the year? the school?

• Is it my best work?

If you can answer “yes” with confidence, then your work is complete. When the book arrives, you’ll be glad you took the time to ask these critical questions, because “good enough” never is.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “Q” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

The opening of your yearbook is like a good pick-up line. It should grab their attention and make them want more. Below is a quick list of what your opening should or could have:

• Opening Copy - This should explain the theme and why you chose it for this year. It should be compelling and set the tone or voice of your copy for the WHOLE book.
• Design Elements - Design elements from the cover that you plan to use throughout the book need to appear on your opening pages.
• Photography - The pictures should reflect your theme through their content.
• Table of Contents - If you can’t do this on your endsheets, then the opening is the place to do it. (Try to avoid putting it on your title page!)

For ideas on how to design your Opening Spread, go to Yearbooks.biz and click on “Showcase.”

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “O” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

If you ever hear anyone yell out in a yearbook room, “I hate orphans!”, it isn’t because they are mean and insensitive. It’s because someone wasn’t following journalistic copy standards.

• An orphan is one word at the bottom of a paragraph or column. It is just hanging out by itself and creates awkward white space that makes it hard for the reader to move to the next paragraph or column.
• The moral of the story: Don’t leave your words all alone. Make sure they have some friends.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “O” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Let’s face it, we all love to complain sometimes and we know that yearbook can give us lots of opportunities. So here are the top 5 reasons why being negative (well, negative space–the area on your spread that is void of text and captions) is actually good.

• Don’t always design all the way to your margins.
• Give your pictures room to breath; make sure your internal spacing is consistent in and around photos.
• Set off your secondary packages with wider margins than your internal spacing.
• Use white space as a design element. Leave room for it purposefully.
• And always remember that White Space is your friend.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “N” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Deadline just around the corner? Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Here are some tips to help you keep it simple:

Leading (rhymes with heading) is the vertical space between each line of text. Typically we leave that set to “auto,” but there are times when playing with leading can have interesting results.

• Increase the leading to open up the space for an airy feel. No cheating, though: don’t do it just to make your copy look longer
• Decrease the leading for a bunched approach. This is particularly popular with grunge fonts and in headlines
• Be consistent within sections. Use the same leading for all headlines and copy
• For extra “yerd” points, impress your friends by telling them that it came from the days of old when typesetting was done by hand. A strip of lead was used between each line of letter

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “L” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Kerning is another technical word that dates back to days of manual type setting (yes, even before typewriters). Each letter had its own metal frame and so letters couldn’t overlap at all. Today–what, with all those new-fangled computers and stuff–we can adjust our kerning so that the spacing between individual letters can be decreased. Think of it as one letter entering another letter’s personal space.

In the words of G. I. Joe, “Knowledge is Power”. This includes the knowledge of what NOT to do as well. We’re filling these cards up with yearbooks do’s, here are 7 yearbook don’ts:

1. Don’t put faces or text across the gutter.
2. Don’t use too many fonts. Choose just a few (or one font family) that match your visual theme.
3. Don’t trap your captions (putting them between two photos).
4. Don’t have unplanned white space.
5. Don’t have a theme that’s too complicated for your school to understand.
6. Don’t fill your book with images/photos that are unrelated to your school.
7. When selling, don’t ever beg someone to buy a book.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “K” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

It may be the most boring and tedious section in your book, but it’s definitely the most popular! It’s the first place students look to see how many times they’re in the book!

• Generate your index throughout the year to make sure you’re including everyone in your book at least twice. Highlight your target list in one color (students that are only in it once) and your blacklist in another color (students in it too many times)
• If you are including everyone, why not advertise it? Post your index in a window with the headline, “Buy a Yearbook. Look how many times you’re in it!”
• Make your index more interesting by interspersing club photos and other group photos to break up the monotony of names
• Be creative with the letters: have students spell out the letters on the floor, include world news that begins with that letter, take photos of areas around the school that “create” the letter,…

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “I” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

InDesign, the ultimate in layout software. It’s what the professionals use, and chances are you’re not using even half of what it’s capable of. Here are some quick InDesign tips and tricks to get you started:

• Use the eye-dropper tool to copy text treatments in addition to colors. Click on the eyedropper, then click on the text you want to copy. Now drag the eyedropper to highlight the text you want to transform. Voila! You can repeat this on as many text elements as you want. The eyedropper stays full each time.
• Access Photoshop layers within InDesign - Right click on a graphic created in Photoshop, then click “Layer Options”. Here, you can turn on and off the different layers you created in Photoshop. (NOTE: This only works on .psd files with multiple layers.) This is great if you have one graphic that will  be in different colors on different spreads. Simply create one .psd file with all the colors as layers, insert the .psd file onto your InDesign spread, and turn on the color layer that you want to use.
• InDesign Layers - InDesign also has layers. You can lock layers and designate certain layers to be “non-printing.” This is great for templates.
• Place photos inside your text by highlighting the text, and clicking “Type” -> “Create Outlines”. You’ve just turned your text into an object. Now drag a photo into it!
• For more InDesign Tips & Tricks, visit “www.yearbooks.biz” and click “Resources” -> “InDesign Tips & Tricks”

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “I” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…