Treering Blog

By improving the composition and lighting of your photos, you’ll be able to use any device with confidence. While drool-worthy mirrorless cameras are all the rage and DSLRs “look the part,” cellphones, tablets, and point-and-shoots can also produce great photos. The key is your perspective and awareness of the action.

Composition Basics

Composition creates compelling photos. When composing a shot, think about elements like background, framing, balance, leading lines, depth of field, and viewpoint. Even at sporting events or the school musical—when you’re limited on where you can stand—take some time to go through this list in your head to intentionally get the strongest photos. 

In the digital age (did you read that in my grandma voice?), just clicking away and hoping for a usable image can be a waste of time. Being intentional for five to ten moments will help you anticipate action and yield more authentic images.

Background

If it’s not drawing the eye to your subject, you might want to get rid of it. Take time to assess what is behind your subject:

• If possible, remove distractions like garbage cans, signs, or other people
• At sporting events, stand on the opponent’s side so you get your fans’ reactions
• Position a photographer backstage or in the sound booth to capture behind-the-scenes action

Simple camera fixes such as adjusting the aperture (see “Depth of Field” below) or environmental ones (see “Leading Lines”) can help improve your photos’ backgrounds.

If it’s not drawing the eye to your subject, you might want to get rid of it. Take time to assess what is behind your subject:

Simple camera fixes such as adjusting the aperture (see “Depth of Field” below) or environmental ones (see “Leading Lines”) can help improve your photos’ backgrounds.

Framing

Your photos should focus on key interactions. For example, a tight frame on a student meeting their teacher on the first day of school captures a meaningful moment. 

Alternatively, a wider frame might show the atmosphere of an event. Consider how close you want to be and what details you want in the shot.

If the event and space allow, move around to add diversity to how you frame your subjects. My yearbook adviser used to say, “Zoom with your feet.” It’s the second-best piece of photo advice I’ve received. (Lighting takes first billing for those of you playing along at home.)

Balance

While symmetry works well in group shots, you might also want asymmetry to draw the eye to a specific part of the frame. Think about how elements are weighted in the frame to achieve the mood you want. 

In the example above, the laptop is what holds us captive.

Leading Lines

Use natural lines—like desks, edges of buildings, or stripes on the school bus—to draw the viewer’s eye towards the subject. 

Depth of Field

This can be easily achieved with portrait settings on phones and cameras. Blurring the background adds drama and focuses attention on the subject. Whether you're using a DSLR or a smartphone, depth of field, or aperture, can elevate your images.

Viewpoint

Experiment with angles. Try taking shots from above, below, or behind to add variety and interest. Different perspectives help tell the story more creatively and capture aspects that a straight-on shot might miss.
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Teaching Yearbook: 5 Photography Mini Lessons

Improving yearbooking skill sets is an ongoing process, and we sometimes forgo instructional time as deadline season creeps in. Using these five mini-yearbook lessons, you’ll be able to improve your photography skills with a DSLR, mirrorless, or cell phone camera while still having plenty of time for yearbook production. Lesson 1: Rule of Thirds Imagine … Continue reading

Treering Yearbook Ideas

These five lessons will help improve composition.

Lighting Essentials

To say lighting is crucial is an understatement. In photography, too much or too little light can impact the photo’s quality. Be aware of your main light source. If you’re at an event, take a moment to assess from where the best light is coming. 

Tips for Indoor Photography

Windows can be problematic if they are behind your subject. Unless you are aiming for a silhouette, keep them to your side. 

If the lighting isn’t ideal, adjust. Sometimes, just asking students to move to a better-lit area can make a big difference. They’re usually happy to accommodate. For example, if you are photographing a dance, set up an area to take group photos with good lighting.

Using flash can also help in tricky lighting. For instance, in a situation with backlighting (like a window behind your subject), a fill flash will illuminate the subject and balance the exposure. In low-light conditions, adjusting your camera’s ISO or shutter speed with the help of a tripod can also help capture the shot without losing detail.

Outdoor Photography Considerations

Outside, natural sunlight is ideal, and just like inside, positioning is important. Move so the sun is off to the side or behind your subject to reduce harsh shadows and prevent squinting. Most professional photographers avoid outdoor photoshoots when the sun is overhead for this reason. (Basically, when the fun run is happening.)

We recommend using a tripod and angling yourself so the sun is at your subject's side.

Remember that a good photographer’s eye matters more than fancy equipment. Whether using a DSLR or a smartphone, focus on framing, lighting, and timing to compose meaningful moments.

This blog is adapted from Sandra Violette's Photography session from TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. Violette, a professional photographer and PTO mom, serves on the Onboarding and Engagement Team at Treering Yearbooks.

When anyone first steps into the world of yearbooks, it can feel like learning a new language. Terms like "gutter," "bleed," "spread," and "copy" have specific meanings that may be different from everyday language. Understanding this unique vocabulary is part of the journey. We hope that after your read this you can speak yearbook fluently.

What are the Basics for Yearbook Creation?

To borrow from classical education, the grammar stage is the first step in learning any subject. It focuses on mastering foundational knowledge and vocabulary so we can eventually progress to more complex tasks. During this stage, the focus is on memorizing terms and concepts, recognizing patterns, and building an understanding of a subject’s basic structure.

In the context of yearbook creation, this foundational knowledge helps you communicate effectively with students, your publisher, and fellow volunteers. 

Step 1: Learn the Key Terms and Concepts

Just as you would start learning a new language by building vocabulary, learning yearbook terminology is your first step. Here are some essential terms to get you started:

• Bleed: extra space around your page that is intentionally printed, then trimmed by the printer. The standard bleed size is 1/8 inch, and is usually used to allow for movement the paper during printing.
• Copy: the content of an article or news element. (Basically, it’s the words used to tell a story.)
• Ladder: a chart that represents the pages in a yearbook. It can be helpful when planning section placement and page content.
• Gutter: the space between two facing pages (an important place to keep clear because, when a yearbook is bound, the space between the pages shrinks). It’s best to apply a 1/2 inch margin to both sides of the gutter, or 1 inch in total.
• Spread: two pages that face each other in a yearbook.

If you’re craving more or want to quiz your yearbook class or club, check out Teaching Yearbook: 24 Yearbook Terms. We even built you a Google Form to test their knowledge!

Step 2: Recognize the Patterns

Certain patterns and conventions are used repeatedly. Understanding these patterns can be helpful when organizing content or working with the team on visual elements. Here are a few patterns to look out for:

• Sections: Yearbooks are typically divided into People, Student Life, Organizations, Sports, Academics, and Reference. This pattern helps create a natural structure that tells the school’s story.
• Design Hierarchy: Pages are often designed with a visual hierarchy, placing the most important elements—like headlines and main photos—at the top or center. Everything should be built from there.
• Themes: Each yearbook has an overarching theme that shapes its design, colors, and tone. Applying theme elements across spreads will help you stay consistent and focused on the story you’re telling.

Step 3: Practice and Apply

The final part of the grammar stage is applying your knowledge. Start by using these terms and patterns as you work with other volunteers and students. For instance, if you’re helping with a layout, use terms like “spread” and “gutter” when discussing the design. Practicing the vocabulary helps reinforce your understanding and builds confidence. Our favorite review activity is below.

Mastering the Basics to Move Forward

By building a solid foundation in yearbook terminology and structure, you’ll increase your comfort level with the language of yearbook creation, allowing you to collaborate and contribute meaningfully to the project. The next step is to level up to more advanced stages of yearbook production, perhaps by trying modular design or a chronological yearbook.

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

What could you do with a group of four elementary students? How about a middle school club of 10? April Nelson produces separate elementary and middle school yearbooks for her pre-k-12 school. And she won’t take credit for it.

Big picture: How do you manage two teams to create two different books?

My job is to advise and let the kids lead. I look over everything the students create to keep things appropriate and ensure equity in coverage. Each year I cede more control to the students.

This year, the elementary students chose their theme and the middle schoolers created their own ladder. We started with a sample layout from Treering and discussed what had to go in and what they wanted to go in the yearbook. Then, we budgeted pages appropriately.

They really wanted it to be their book. I really try to make it their book.

What does theme development look like with your elementary students?

They chose “Galaxy of Possibilities” for their yearbook theme. It’s fun. Throughout the book, they will incorporate famous quotes about possibilities and dad jokes about space. On the staff spread, it talks about teachers being rocket fuel. They designed their cover and title page. They're enthusiastic.

With only four students meeting once a week, organization is key. I helped them use folders to organize photos so we could keep everything by topic. I communicate with the students and their families regularly and use Google Classroom for assignments and questions. 

How is the middle school club different?

Their ambitions are really high, and I love that they're aiming big. But we have to stay realistic—there are only a certain number of pages and a limited amount we can include. I tell them we may need to scale it back a bit, but I’m still excited to see what they’ll create.

Typically, students come in, grab a Chromebook, and log into Treering. They check how many photos they have and figure out how many more they need. For example, they might notice that they only have photos from one volleyball game and need coverage of another. Then, someone will look up the school website to see when the next game is scheduled. 

I love that they want to just keep working on stuff.

The middle schoolers do a mix of Treering templates and their own designs. They chose to do a board game theme and hired a senior who is dual-enrolled to do the cover design. She came into one of their meetings and they shared their vision, and she drew it out.

Inside the book, the game starts in sixth grade. On the pages, they put fun spaces: they've got things like “You skipped class. Go back four spaces.” “You finished Percy Jackson. Go four spaces ahead.” 

Before partnering with Treering, how did you manage multiple books?

I didn’t! My first year advising was an elementary and a combined middle/high school book. We used to send photos to our previous publisher, and they would create the yearbook. The students didn’t like it because it lacked organization: pictures were thrown together without captions of identifying information. You couldn’t distinguish prom from a dance, and our big Earth Week celebration was sprinkled throughout. Unless you went to the school, you wouldn’t know what was what.

Switching to Treering made the yearbook more personal. We split the book by schools (elementary, middle, and high) when we made the change. It also empowered students to create the book they wanted. The elementary students are now writing basic captions.

Treering allowed them to do that.

Admin was also on board. We’re an environmental school, so our principal loved that there is no waste. We only receive what we pre-order.

How have you seen the yearbook impact students?

If you can develop that rapport with your staff and they know they have the power, they will do great things.

A colleague who studied violin using the Suzuki Method shared that he was able to succeed because he didn’t go from 0-60 in a few lessons. He mastered a concept, then added another. This anecdote inspired me to make “Easy +1” my MO. I use it as a guide for teaching my students to read, increasing the palate of my toddler, and improving each yearbook of which I am part. We don’t have to do it all.

You don’t have to do it all.

With the right support and the resources we picked for you below, choose one thing (yes, one!) as a focus for this year. Get in the details. Fail. Learn from your mistakes, and to paraphrase Michael Scott, create “even harder.”

3 Photography Helps

Improving yearbook photography is going to have an immediate impact. Why? The assumption is that the yearbook is a book of photos. While I truly wish people went as crazy as I did about the wordplay in ledes and headlines and understood the thematic verbal-visual connection, knowing parents, teachers, and students are sharing storytelling photos is part marketing genius, part one-less-thing-this-adviser-has-to-do. 

1. Set Up a Sports Photo Submission Process

Tap into whatever system your school uses to share files using Treering’s crowdsourcing tools. In addition to shared folders, Treering also has Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Drive integrations. Remember to include groups such as the marching band, poms, cheer team, boosters, and the spirit squad which are also at sporting events.

2. Teach Photography

(Spoiler alert: if you’re not a photographer, you can learn alongside your yearbook team.) We created these five mini-lessons to level up your photography.

3. Create a Shot List (or Use Ours!)

Classroom photos highlight the bulk of a student’s in-school day. And I promise you, they aren’t lined up against the classroom centers with fake smiles. Do yourself and the staff on campus a favor: show and tell. Show examples of action pics in the classroom. Tell them what you need. Professional photographers use shot lists to ensure they take all the essential photos and their clients receive what they need.

How To Include More Students in the Yearbook

Yearbook coverage is a personal soapbox. Our job is to create a yearbook that accurately reflects our student body from price point to the people pictured. Here are five ways to improve yours.

1. Crowdsource Content for a More Equitable Yearbook

If you want your book to look like your school, your school needs to help you build your book. 

2. Develop Evergreen Content

Using these 40 open-ended interview questions, you can get students talking. Start with a question of the day and have your yearbook team members connect with five other students. The next day, there is a fresh question for five different students. And so on. 

3. Change How You Cover Holidays

Many of us parents grew up with the adage: politics and religion never make for polite conversation. By focusing your interviews on the individuals—versus the religious or cultural practice—you will see their POVs.

4. Create Topical Collage Pages

There’s a difference between a printed pile of pics and a well-designed layout. 

5. Shrink Your Portraits and Add Content to Portrait Pages

Personality profiles, responses from the evergreen content (see #2 above), and infographics can increase the impact of your class pages. Feature those students who aren’t starring in the spring musical or beating school records.

Level Up Your Layouts

You can upgrade your yearbook’s design by applying hierarchy in your layout design. 

1. Design Hierarchy Basics

Identifying dominant, secondary, and tertiary elements will help you see why some pages “work” and others do not.

2. Mild, Medium, or Spicy Design?

Yearbook Hero Lauren Casteen developed a scaffolded approach to teaching yearbook graphic design to her students and created these adviser resources.

3. The Truth About Yearbook Fonts

Your font choice will affect and effect your buyers. Choose wisely.

4. Mastered the Above? Try Modular Design

Design hierarchy is essential when going modular: each mod has its own dominant and secondary elements that fit into the structure of the spread. When done well, modular design improves consistency, collaboration efforts, and coverage.

We took the first step in gathering lessons, examples, and tips from other editors. It’s your turn to take the next one.

Thinking critically about yearbook coverage is an editorial mind shift. Shiny things such as theme art and backgrounds often take precedence. Yearbook coverage highlights all the memorable people and events. And there is a flip side: planning yearbook coverage is also a conscious decision on what you’re not going to cover. 

Coverage Limitations

Yearbook price, page count, and–gasp–traditions limit coverage. For Treering schools, page count directly influences the price point. Your per-book price is based on the core page count (does not include custom pages), and cover finish.

Page Count and Coverage Budgets

For those with a class or club, a coverage budget helps you and your team be intentional. Start by listing the sections in your book. Then budget spreads to each section.

Yearbook Traditions

We don’t mean the fun ones like Yerdsgiving or distribution. No matter the school size, there is an element of expectation on you as the adviser. Be aware of the sacred cows of your yearbook program. These can range from color palettes to the ultimate sacred cow, senior quotes. (We interrupt this blog to give you the resource you didn’t know you needed: three reasons to get rid of senior quotes and how to replace them.) 

If you're willing to take the energy to fight tradition, and have a clear reason, go for it. 

For example, when my school hit 11 years, my students deviated from alternating purple and black covers. They created a blue and red book, with PK-6 on one side and 7-12 on the other. Their reasoning? For the first time in school history, there were separate principals for the upper and lower schools. 

My students wanted to highlight how each grew independent of the other, and instead of pushing to do two smaller books, recognized the power of us all still being in one building. The yearbook students saw it as a picture of unity; the other students saw it as the school spirit equivalent of treason. Bottom line: blue and red make purple. Once that line made it around campus, everyone loved the book. Ten years later, we have not published a purple or black book. 

Change takes time.

People Over Events

This is our coverage mantra. When you highlight people, your yearbook develops an emotional connection as students see their art, stories, meaningful quotes, and photos of their experiences. Every student wants to know they were in it. They were included. Their story was deemed valuable enough to be in the yearbook. 

We're always going to highlight people over the events. People happen in the context of the events, and in each event, highlight those behind the scenes, up front, and watching. Remember:

• Set up and take down
• Fan and audience reactions
• Snack bars, spirit shops, and the bench
• The booth: announcers, tech crew, coaches, press

You need not think each will get a spread. Modular design is a way to fit more content in and do it stylishly. (If you don’t want to start from scratch, Treering themes “POV,” “Tied Together,” and “Crafted” have modular layouts from which you can model.)

People First Ideas

We want to move away from students opening the book, finding their name or face, and moving on. Below are some ideas to help you add stories and make them dynamic so people pause their perusal to get personal.

Dedications, Retirements, and Unsung Heroes: Every school has one teacher, volunteer, or student leader who positively impacts school culture. Honor their impact with a small write up or a full-spread dedication.

Future Plans: Publish elementary school “What I want to be…” and high school post-graduation plans.

Trends: Waterbottles, fashion, and laptop stickers are great. The stories behind them are better.

Personality Profiles: We love making room for additional stories by shrinking portraits and adding content.

Pets: Pets are an easy way to cover camera-shy students or get families started with crowdsourcing.

School Map: Students spend 8-12 hours on campus. Find out where the best study and nap locations are. Interview athletes from each sport who practice on the turf. 

Interactive Pages: One thing we saw multiple times during the duration of TRL 24 was “Guess Who?” spreads and modules:

• Guess Whose… eyeglasses, water bottle, ect.
• Match the baby photo to the 5th grader or teacher
• Match the teachers to their first job

People also loved the Treering About Me pages.

Yearbook Blacklists and BOLO Boards

Many students are easy to cover three times because they fell into the 1-2-3 coverage pattern:

1. Portrait
2. Extracurricular
3. Academics

For those who do not, use the coverage ideas above to get them in the book. 

We understand that the same events occur year after year. Challenge yourself to cover them in two new ways. How will you and your yearbook team give a fresh take on the students on your campus this year?

This blog is adapted from Brent Mikolaycik and Erika Lin Payne’s Coverage Ideas session from TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. Mikolaycik and Payne came to Treering Yearbooks after nearly two decades as classroom teachers and high school yearbook advisers.

Your precious memories deserve more than just floating in the digital ether! It's time to bring your favorite moments to life all year long with our new customizable photo gift line. Join our contest and give your cherished memories the tangible presence they deserve.

For Treering's Cloud Breakout, share a photo of a special memory that's been trapped in your Cloud storage, yearning to break free. Tell us why this moment deserves to escape the digital realm and become a physical keepsake. Your liberated memory could win you a $100 holiday shopping spree with our new customizable photo gift products!

Official Participation Rules and Steps to Enter

1. You must be at least 18 years old and a parent, faculty/staff member, or student at a Treering school to participate.
2. Valid posts must include an original photo and a caption on what makes this memory special.
3. To participate, you must have a public Instagram account. Entries open from October 14 to November 1, 2024.
4. Share your photo on Instagram with #TreeringCloudBreakout and tag us @TreeringCorp
5. Instagram photo posts are due by November 1, 2024 by 11:59 PM PT. No late or incomplete entries will be accepted.

Judging and Finalist Selection

A panel of yearbook parents, journalism educators, and social media managers will select five winners. Photo criteria will be based on: the creativity of the photo, emotional impact of the accompanying caption, and overall aesthetic appeal.

Winning photo designs will appear on Instagram on November 8, 2024.

Prizes

Treering will notify #TreeringCloudBreakout Contest Winners via Instagram stories and posts by Friday, November 8, 2024.

A total of five individual winners will receive a $100 Treering product credit (yearbooks are not eligible purchases). Use on canvas enlargements, blankets, ornaments, yard signs, apparel, and more.

Ownership

By submitting your photo memory, you have verified the approval of others pictured, and you approve Treering to use your name, write-up, and school name for any marketing purposes, including but not limited to showcasing on www.treering.com, sharing on social media, and sharing with media.
If you have any questions, contact us at marketing@treering.com.

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

In high school, Sarah Coleman joined the yearbook staff for the varsity letter. As a competitive dirt bike racer, she could not earn one through school-sponsored sports. 

The yearbook became more than just a means to a jacket.

What value did being on the yearbook team bring to your high school experience?

Student journalism was a means to be involved in everything. I got to know all the students on campus—they didn’t know me—through this inside look. I was the first-ever editor of both the yearbook and newspaper. My focus was on writing (there was another editor who led the design aspect).

Now, you’re an adviser! How have things changed?

I never thought I'd be working on the yearbook again, ever in my life. Being able to knock it out with ease was pretty cool. Photos are so much easier to upload. I see in real-time what my edits do. Also, the printed proof is the actual book. I know that even this past book, I overlooked things from the computer side that I caught on the print side. I remember we used to have paper proofs. There were no tools to show us duplicate images or an easy way to duplicate layouts. It seems archaic compared to what Treering offers.

For example, during my senior year, in February, someone knocked over our server, and we lost our entire yearbook. We had a few weeks to rebuild the layouts. It was horrible. We got it done, but it was horrible. The entire book was due by March so that we could get it by the end of the year. We also made an insert with a sticky back to include more events. It was mailed out in the summer. That was the dumbest thing. What I like about Treering is that you can go all the way through the end of the school year and still get the book back in less than a month.

You’re about to begin your second yearbook for your school. What do you do to make it special?

Because we are a smaller school with a little over 120 pages, every student gets their own spread. Their fall and spring pictures are there to show growth. I put every event in the book: big ones, like a foam party, and even the little ones, like crazy sock day.

Kids loved the custom pages. They're so excited because they made their yearbook all about them. 

How do you get all the photos?

I take photos whenever I’m out and about on campus. I tell the teachers to let me know whenever they are doing something like an experiment. Teachers tell their students, “The yearbook lady is coming; look alive.” I really hate staged photos.

Our kindergarten teacher showed the others how to put the Treering app on their phones so they could share. The church secretary also takes a lot of photos. We also encouraged our parents to log in and create an account so they could add theirs. Two moms contributed a bunch. Now that the school community has seen the yearbook, I’m hoping more will participate next year.

I’m also working on getting a digital camera for teachers to use.

Any other takeaways from your progression from a student editor to a yearbook adviser?

Treering is also economically pleasing to work with. The books are a great price and nice, thick quality. You don’t have to be a professional to have a good book. The designs available just elevate everything. 

I come from a strong yearbook culture. My mom bought every yearbook for us, and I do the same for my kids. I love that if people didn’t buy one early, they can still order it. As a creative person, it’s nice to be able to make something for others. 

Coleman's photo courtesy of Fenceposts Photography, LLC.

Treering Live (TRL) 24 exists because of you and for you. We tailored this virtual conference for yearbook volunteers, educators, and aficionados of all levels, offering three days of flexible sessions so you can engage with various aspects of the creative process. Use these ten reasons to convince your admin, as overarching objectives for your class or club, or as a mantra while you’re pulling on comfy pants.

1. The Price is Right

My colleague and I evaluated a marketing-focused webinar. Once she saw the price tag, she quipped, “If it isn’t free, it isn’t for me.” Good news: TRL is free. So is the replay.

No fundraising and no POs are required.

2. “I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know”

We see that all the time in monthly Getting Started webinars: New yearbook coordinators know they have to plan and produce a book. However, the in-between steps are fuzzy. Every day, TRL starts with an I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? breakout. In this new adviser session, learn what tools are available and how to plan for success. If a question comes up that Liz T., Cassie W., or Sandra V. doesn’t answer, support is in the chat so we can get to it live.

Other sessions for new advisers include:

3. Been There. Done That.

Is your POV: experienced yearbook adviser? Maybe you’re dipping your toe into the world of competitive yearbooking, or you’re looking to add structure and reduce stress in your program. You've already mastered ladders and drag-and-drop design. It’s time to boost your skill set.

Have we got a show for you.

While the first-time advisers do their thing, we have three expert advisers—each with over a decade of classroom experience—leading a breakout for returners. Join Brent M., Ed G., and Liz T. for

• Tuesday: Project Management and Hacks
• Wednesday: Leveling Up Design and Copy
• Thursday: The Craft of Yearbook: Style Guides and Workflows

Additional sessions returning editors include:

4. Finish 60% of the Book in a Few Clicks

Our three-part portrait auto flow session is the one that builds. Each day, learn how to enhance your portrait pages (typically 40-60% of a yearbook) so that they reflect your school community even more.

• Tuesday: Get your portraits in the book
• Wednesday: Add a larger teacher photo and candids to your portrait layouts
• Thursday: Create blended coverage on your portrait pages

5. The Other 40%

Recreating the wheel is exhausting. That’s why we packed in three never-before-seen sessions at TRL:

• Tuesday: Custom covers
• Wednesday: Photography
• Thursday: Coverage ideas

See what other Treering schools are doing to create a yearbook that authentically represents their school community.

A word of caution for our first-year advisers: you do not have to do it all.

6. Flexibility

Live or on demand? Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday? Yes.

Please note: Each day requires a separate registration. There is no limit on the number of days you may attend. The times below are in Pacific Time; Zoom will adopt your local time.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: How to Do a Cover Contest

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 1 of 3) + Top 10 Parent Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Not a Designer

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: Photography Tips and Tricks

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 2 of 3) + Top 10 Editor Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Ready to Move Beyond Templates

Thursday, October 10, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: Coverage Ideas

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 3 of 3) + Top 10 Parent Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Not a Designer

7. Marketing Moments

Hear what other advisers are doing around the US. Throughout TRL 24, we’ll visit a colleague in their classroom to learn how they get books into the hands of students.

This is just one way attendees will inspire one another. Share your ideas during TRL 24 by tagging us on social using @treering (Facebook and X) or @treeringcorp (Instagram and TikTok) using #trl24.

8. Yearbook Pro Grow

You’ve seen the memes: I’m not listening to training from anyone who hasn’t been in the classroom this decade either. After you watch live or in-person, request a training certificate for up to 12 hours of design technology and theory to create a yearbook publication.

9. Prizes

We always give away the goods. If you have fast fingers, you may be able to win big by participating in the live chat.

10. As Always, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

The learning doesn’t end on October 10. Grow with weekly blog posts and YouTube shorts, monthly webinars, and 24/7 support with the Help Center.

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate National School Yearbook Week than with the Treering Community.

This is the heart of Treering’s Yearbook Club webinars. Teachers looking for classroom support and parent volunteers looking for a launch pad can find resources and how-tos throughout the school year at no cost.

Synchronous Instruction

If you don’t speak teacher-ese (or don’t care to on your prep period), this just means it’s live. This real-time interaction means attendees receive instant responses to their questions. (Full disclosure: occasionally, we divert from the script because the group’s needs demand it.)

Direct Access to Expertise

See what happens when you bring together staff members from product knowledge, marketing, and community advocacy. No PowerPoint slides. No hypotheticals. All yearbook. 

We Believe in Show and Tell

Starting at Treering.com, every webinar shows you how to create, get inspiration, and receive help. We show you how to customize your styles and settings, find marketing materials, and maximize the automations in Treering’s yearbook builder.

Each month, new advisers can join a Getting Started webinar to get an overview of the design and print process. As you progress through your yearbook journey other webinars are available, including Treering Live, our flagship virtual yearbooking event and topical sessions on portrait, advanced design, and theme development.

Your Yearbook Your Way

Yearbook creation isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Neither are Yearbook Club webinars. We’ll show you all your options to make your yearbook represent your population, from changing up backgrounds to creating custom word art.

The Yearbook Club team releases new Tip Tuesday videos each week on YouTube.

Community

Call it networking, if that’s your thing. In the live chat, attendees exchange ideas and strategies. 

On a personal note, I’ve met some yearbook advisers in the chat who have become contributors to this blog, and I’d like to think lifelong friends. We celebrate professional and personal milestones together. Occasionally, family pics pop into my inbox, or we text a timely yearbook meme. 

No one else understands what being a yearbook coordinator is like outside this small world. I’m going to seek support from those who do.

POV: You’re on the 2024-2025 yearbook team! Cue the confetti—for some—and the sweat for others. No matter your personal point of view, our flagship event, Treering Live (TRL), offers three days of FREE live virtual training for anyone helping to create the most epic yearbook ever. 

Every National School Yearbook Week, the Treering Community comes together for 

• Organization hacks
• Content examples that will wow your community
• How-to guides to master yearbook design and marketing

POV is More Than a Social Trend

We love a good theme. And we know it’s more than graphics: your comments on last year’s survey shaped the TRL 2024 schedule and session offerings. Here’s what you taught us:

• “I need something earlier in the day or meant more for classes to engage in.”
• “Wednesday was very heavy with sessions; perhaps spread them out more evenly across the days.”
• “I would like to be able to rewatch the sessions.”
• “If you do these events again, I would like to see more on designing a yearbook.”
• “This will be our 3rd Treering yearbook but my first time as Editor et al. It got handed to me, and I was lost, so when I got the email about TRL, I was all about it and so glad I attended sessions. Thank you so much for having this.”
• “I loved the free flow conversations and how one person really kept an eye on the Q&A so all were answered.”

Treering’s Response: You got it! 

Join us October 8-10 for TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. We’ve kept all that you loved and added more of what you want. Expect:

Lunch and Learn Schedule. TRL 2024 spans three days from 9 AM - 1 PM PT. (The rundown is below)

Prizes. Need we say more? 

Real-time support. Your Community Advocate Team will continue to monitor and engage in the chat and Q&A to help you get resources and answers. 

On-demand replays. Did you miss one because of lunch duty? Did you hear something you wanted to share with your class? Did we say something funny that you need to export and autotune? All registrants will have access to recordings through May.  

Start the day with the same sessions, different POVs. After the obligatory welcome, the first two sessions tackle yearbook organization. With breakouts for first-time and experienced advisers, there’s content tailored for volunteers, educators, and aficionados of all levels. The best part? Each day, a different speaker will share their perspective.

Multiple electives. Ideas, examples, and instructions—oh my! Attend specialized sessions on portrait pages, spread design, photography, and coverage. 

Webinar Schedule

Please note: Each day requires a separate registration. There is no limit on the number of days you may attend. The times below are in Pacific Time; Zoom will adopt your local time.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: How to Do a Cover Contest

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 1 of 3) + Top 10 Parent Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Not a Designer

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: Photography Tips and Tricks

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 2 of 3) + Top 10 Editor Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Ready to Move Beyond Templates

Thursday, October 10, 2024

• 9 AM PT - Breakouts: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? OR This Ain’t Isn’t My First Rodeo

• 10 AM PT - Elective: Coverage Ideas

• 11 AM PT - Knowledge Sessions: Portraits (Part 3 of 3) + Top 10 Parent Questions Answered

• 12 PM PT - POV: I’m Not a Designer

2024 TRL FAQs

It’s fall, and we’re all going crazy about yearbook themes. After your team decides on the collective story to tell, consider how you will communicate it visually. If you haven’t yet, use student art on the yearbook cover to celebrate and showcase the diverse talents of the student body. It adds a unique, only-on-our-campus touch, which we love. After all, customization is our thing.

Custom Cover Advice from the Pros

The Treering Design Team helps roughly 200 schools annually with their cover issues. The biggest piece of advice: make sure you have enough bleed. This keeps art from being cut off in the scanning process. We always say to get those printed proofs ordered early; this is one more reason.

They also suggest advisers understand the technical requirements so your art prints sharply and vibrantly: 

• Scan the page at 300 DPI or higher
• Save it as a JPG or PNG
• Upload the image to Treering as a photo

Ideas For Gathering Student Art

Student art is that simple: it’s art from students. Whether you source it with an intra-campus partnership or create a school-wide drive, 

Cover Collaborations

Class projects, such as collaborations with art teachers, get students outside the yearbook room involved. (And really, this is marketing gold: you’re building a relationship with a group who are now stakeholders in your final project.) 

Yearbook volunteer Lauren D. shared how they went from classroom to yearbook cover with an art project at Normandale Elementary. The art teacher used batik patterns made by her students into creatures for their yearbook cover.

How to Do a Yearbook Cover Art Contest

“I believe that students should be the driving force behind the yearbook's design,” said yearbook Adviser Julie R. She uses a cover contest to showcase student art. She asks students to use school colors and to “represent what learning and school look like to them.” Her yearbook team looks through the submissions and selects the one that most authentically captures the year.

If you share Julie’s POV and want to do your own contest, you’ll want to communicate the following:

• Dates for the contest: submission window, evaluation period, and announcement of the winner(s)
• Art requirements: paper size and orientation, medium, required elements (e.g., school motto)
• Judging criteria
• If you have any grade or class restrictions (some schools hold the contest with the highest grade or limit it to students in the art program)

Explain the contest rules in advance to avoid unnecessary tears, hurt feelings, and frustration.  Depending on the number of entries received, all can be included in the yearbook. Check out how these schools integrated their runners-up.

Student Art on the Front and Back Cover 

This is the most popular approach: the winner on the front and runners-up on the back.

Student Art Throughout the Book

Think about it: if you asked students to represent your verbal theme through their submissions, why wouldn’t you use their interpretations throughout the book?

Tag us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X) to show us how you use student talent to foster pride in your school community. 

Picture day either makes you call out ill or grab disposable combs and a spray bottle for flyaway patrol. With portraits making up 40-60% of a yearbook, anything Treering can do to make it easier on you is a win-win-win. It’s the bulk of most elementary school yearbooks. It’s where there’s the most potential for error. It’s where you’ll prevail this year. 

1. Find a Yearbook Photographer

When interviewing a yearbook photographer, be sure to learn about the photographer's

• Experience: How long have you been in business?
• Security measure: How do you vet employees? What does your background check process entail?
• Training: What does your photographer training look like?
• Dependability: Every school photography company is experiencing staffing issues. Ask if they are prepared.
• Turnaround time: What is the time from picture day to delivery? How do I get my yearbook export?
• Longevity: How long are the photos available?

Consider all factors—quality of work, professionalism, cost, and feedback from local references—in your search.

2. Prep for Picture Day 

As you create a ladder and assign spreads to portrait pages, your photographer prepares by organizing students in their database to produce PSPA-formatted portraits for the yearbook. (PSPA is the fancy abbreviation for the industry-standard way portrait photographers and yearbook software communicate.)

School photographers need accurate information well before they arrive at your school. If you don’t receive a template, ask what specific details they require and their preferred format. 

This is so important. For the yearbook, traditionally all photographers would need name, grade, and teacher. Photographers use school data provided to the photographer to create all school services including a PSPA file, such as IDs. The more info the better! This means your picture day photographer may give you a template with room for house names or team names, room numbers, and staff salutations.

3. Go From Picture Day to Yearbook Pages

Make sure you know your photographer’s expected turnaround time before scheduling your school picture day. Most need 3 to 4 weeks. Given that time frame, if you schedule picture day in mid-September and hold a retake day in November, you’ll have all the portraits for the yearbook before winter break. 

This syncs nicely with winter webinars by Treering’s Yearbook Club to help you flow your portraits. And with Treering’s three-week turnaround, you’ll have time to add any students who join in the second semester.

4. Create Your Schedule… and Share It Early

Picture day should be on the school calendar from the beginning so parents and teachers can plan. Work with admin to share the schedule with staff and parents at least a week in advance. 

The best scheduling advice we can give is paraphrased from “Toy Story 2.”

At the high school level, getting students and faculty through the queue may feel like you’re on the logistics staff for Major League Baseball or in an air traffic control tower. Breathe deep. You’ve got this.

When creating the picture day schedule, allow the appropriate time for each class. The guidelines below should help.

• Pre-K and Kindergarten: Plan for upwards of one minute per student. (About 25 minutes for a 20-30 student class.)
• Grades 1-5: Plan for 45-55 seconds per student. (About 20 minutes per 20-30 student class.)
• Middle and High School: Plan for 45 seconds per student. (About 18 minutes per 20-30 student class.)

Your photography company should send one photographer for every 250 students.

5. Recruit Picture Day Volunteers

If your school allows it, parents can help prep students for the camera. Remember flyaway mom in the opening paragraph? Chances are, you have a parent on campus who can assist in getting kids ready for their portraits and reduce the time each student spends with the photographer. This also helps reduce the picture day stress on teachers. (By the way, a few boxes of doughnuts by the mailboxes in the office will go a long way.)

Picture day volunteers can also help relieve tensions. PTA mom Abby dresses up each year to help students smile. 

Some photo companies offer free or reduced picture packages as a thank you. Remember to negotiate that ahead of time.

When these elements come together, picture day can transform from a hectic event into a smooth operation. You’ll receive great photos and provide a stress-free process.