Yearbook curriculum

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.

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.

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.

Unlock the mysteries of yearbooking with this classroom-ready lesson plan. We designed this yearbook escape room to kick off the school year or to serve as an informal assessment. With yearbook vocabulary at the core of this activity, students progress through a task to “unlock” another. When all four keys are complete and correct, they unscramble the final code. Cue crowd cheering noise.

Escape room activities

Students progress through the following four activities to stretch their knowledge and application of yearbook terms. 

Task 1: Yearbook lexicon

Find words related to yearbook terms within the jumbled letters horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. After finding all 21 words, the unused letters in the grid will spell out a hidden message which will unlock the next stage of the escape room.

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Task 2: Emoji combinations 

Analyze the emojis' meaning in the context of yearbook-related activities and concepts. After entering all the words, students will find a three-digit code used to unlock the next task.

Task 3: Yearbook riddles

Solve six riddles based on the who, what, and when of yearbook creation. Once solved, a hidden word will reveal the next clue.

Task 4: Identification station

Examine two yearbook spreads and identify the elements of design and yearbook hierarchy. Students’ answers will produce the last three letters needed to unlock the final puzzle. 

Teacher instructions

This electronic escape room works best in student pairs. Students enter their responses on a self-checking Google Form to advance through the activity while collecting letters to unscramble for the final code. (This also works well if you have a sub covering your class and want to leave a low-prep, meaningful activity.)

Because you know your class best, you can hand out tasks one-by-one or distribute them in a packet. Both require the trifecta of teamwork, collaboration, and content knowledge to be successful.

To use the yearbook escape room, 

1. Download the task cards; print one copy per group of 2-3 students
2. Share this Google Form with your students via Google Classroom or email.

The Google Form is how answers are vetted, and is a necessary component. If you would like to manually verify answers, please contact marketing@treering.com for the teacher key.

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When the escape room is finished

Determine the goal: completion and material mastery or friendly competition? Based on the desired outcome, you may want to have directions ready for one of the following activities. 

By extending this yearbook-related activity, students can further develop and demonstrate their skills in communication, utilizing technology tools, and applying visual arts principles. Extension ideas include creating layouts, capturing and editing photos, and using digital tools for design and presentation.

Another consideration is how, and if, you will grade the escape room activity. Some teachers award points for completion and bonus points for the first, second, and third-place teams.

Educational standards for this escape room activity

The yearbook-related activity can meet several national standards. We’ve listed some below; please note specific standards may vary depending on the framework or guidelines followed by your educational institution or state. Your district curriculum or CTE coordinator might help you align your usage of the yearbook escape room with the appropriate standards and objectives in your specific context.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) - Communication:

Standard: Apply verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual communication techniques to create, express, and interpret information and ideas.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) - Technology Operations and Concepts:

• Standard: Use digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
• Standard: Use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

National Core Arts Standards - Visual Arts:

• Standard: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
• Standard: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
• Standard: Reflect on and evaluate artistic work.

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Remember, our primary goal in creating this escape room is to foster collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills within your yearbook students. Collaborate, listen, enjoy the adventure, and be sure to tag @treering on Facebook and @treeringcorp on Instagram.

“Just putting pictures on pages” and other misleading statements about yearbook production do not capture what happens in the newsroom. However, it’s easy to take a heads-down approach to design as the deadline approaches. We all just want to finish! Nevertheless, amidst the rush, there are essential skills that you shouldn’t overlook. You’re going to want to save these activities.

1. Teaching Yearbook

Because no teacher program provided the comprehensive graphic design, marketing, journalism, editing and proofreading, photojournalism, contract negotiation, and volunteer management training that makes a great yearbook adviser. Breathe! (Club leaders, you too need to facilitate students’ creative and collaborative development.)

We created the Teaching Yearbook series so you would have grab-and-go resources to enhance your yearbook classroom. 

2. Speaking the Language

Understanding yearbook and design terms means the team can have a conversation about the effectiveness of a dominant bleeding into the gutter without raising (too many) eyebrows. 

3. Creating a Plan to Cover Everyone

Creating a plan to cover everyone involves more than just taking photos. It requires thoughtful consideration of how to represent the entire student body in your yearbook, even if you don’t offer custom pages.

Every student is more important than every activity. 

4. Teambuilding Activities

Yes, games are important. Those forced fun activities help you break down the proverbial walls. (That’s the introvert talking.) More important: building a team of the right people. 

Time spent investing in the right people and building healthy relationships will only benefit your book.

5. Managing Yearbook Complaints

Ouch. No one wants to field criticism of the yearbook when it is in print for all to see. No one volunteers to field emails with “friendly suggestions” for next year. From active listening to clear and transparent communication, having a plan in place for managing complaints ensures that any issues are addressed promptly and professionally.

This is one of those “better to have it and not need it” kind of things.

What I Wish I Knew Before Taking Over Yearbook

Every new adviser is going to mentally prepare this list. You can take one thing off by setting up the new yearbook adviser with a list of must-know and must-do information.

Why Do People Stop Advising Yearbook?

Advisers move to new schools. Administrators cut costs. Teachers retire. Others no longer have an affinity for awesomesauce. 

Remind the new adviser to take heart! There are many on this journey to become a project manager-slash-school-historian-slash-marketer-slash-designer.

One Sheet To Share

Use the list below to create an indispensable guide for your successor. If you’re like me, you may be tempted to create a fully illustrated manual with a month-by-month guide, financial forms, and plenty of Lucid charts. Don’t. 

A one-page reference should include the following:

Publisher info This is #1: include all your contacts for your publisher plus how to contact support. If you have a multi-year contract, include it and its expiration date. 

School photographer Add the photographer’s name, email, and phone number plus who who is in charge of picture day. (No one wants to find out last minute they are stuck with that gig.) 

Financial information Include information on your book price, publisher promotions (heeey 10% off in the fall), ad prices, book sales from previous years, and subscriptions.

Page count We love a good yearbook ladder. Your predecessor will too.

Yearbook traditions There’s a fine line between sacred cows and ordering an archive copy of the library. 

Procedures If there is an editing checklist, camera checkout policy, or go-to person for name proofing, include that info.

Passwords Ensure your successor can access social media accounts, generic photo emails, and the yearbook room computers. 

“It’s Not About Me, It’s About Us”

Make the transition smooth. No one is going to run your program exactly like you did. That’s an unfair expectation. Instead, offer your ongoing support and mentoring to your successor. By remaining available to answer questions and provide (solicited) guidance during the transition period, you are putting others first. That’s classy.

Camaraderie. Team work. Unity. Stress relief. Fun. These are just some benefits of adding games to your yearbook class. Balancing academics, extracurricular activities, and personal commitments can be demanding for students and advisers. Obvious statement: the yearbook production process adds a layer of responsibility. Playing games with your yearbook team early in the school year can be a way to break down walls. At the end of the year, playing games is a way to reconnect, rejuvenate, and review (because, if your district requires it, games can be a summative assessment.) Our curriculum team put together three games.

1. Off-Limits, Yearbook-Style

This is the game of forbidden words. In teams, students try to get their teammates to guess the word on the card without saying the word itself or any of the off-limits words listed on the card. We created a mini-deck of 12 cards as a quick (and potentially loud) warm-up.

Rules

1. Divide the group into two teams.
2. Each team will alternate as the guessing and enforcing teams.
3. In each round, one person from the guessing team will serve as the clue-giver. The clue-giver draws a card from the deck and tries to get their teammates to guess the word written on the top of the card. The clue-giver is not allowed to say the word itself or any of the “off-limits” words listed on the card. 
4. One member of the enforcing team will keep an eye on the “off-limits” words. If the clue-giver accidentally says an off-limits word (this includes variants) or phrase, the word is forfeited with no points awarded.
5. Set a timer for each turn, typically 30-60 seconds, depending on age.
6. When the guessing team correctly guesses a word, they earn a point.
7. The game continues until all cards have been used. The team with the most points at the end wins the game.

Variations for Play

• Project a card on the screen, and have the guesser stand in front while classmates deliver clues.
• Send a card via Team, Slack, Band, etc. and have team members comment with clues.
• Share a card on social and see if your followers know yearbook terminology.

2. Sketch Charades

Drawing and guessing go hand-in-hand in this guessing game. It challenges players' drawing skills and ability to interpret visual cues.

Rules

1. Divide players into two teams. Each team selects a player to be the “artist” for their turn.
2. At the start of each round, the artists draw one card.
3. Without using any letters, numbers, gestures, or verbal clues, the artists sketch an image representing the word or phrase on the card. Both teams are guessing the same word.
4. Set a timer for each round, typically 45-60 seconds, depending on age.
5. If a team guesses the word correctly before time runs out, they earn a point.
6. Rotate artists each round.
7. The game continues until all cards have been used or until a predetermined point goal is reached. The team with the most points at the end wins the game.

3. Category Countdown

Based on a classic party game, Category Countdown facilitates players to try to come up with unique words or phrases that fit specific categories in a hurry. Creative thinkers come up with some answers that push the limits–that’s why this is a crowd favorite.

Get 50 Prompts here.

Rules

1. Display a category related to yearbooks. 
2. Set a timer for one minute, and have students take turns writing down items that fit within the category. 
3. When time is up, have a student read off their list. If no other student has the word, it’s one point.
4. The student with the most unique answers after five rounds wins.

Variations for Play

• In larger yearbook classes or clubs, break students into teams. One team can negate the others with duplicate words.
• Have students create a yearbook alphabet by brainstorming one answer per letter, A-Z.
• Use a random letter generator to limit responses to one letter.

Bonus: Yearbook Escape Room

We created this yearbook freebie, which includes four puzzles that “unlock” the final clue. Yearbook advisers, use this print-and-go lesson for vocabulary review. 

When you use these games for moments of shared fun, be sure to tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok when you share the videos.

This blog is part two of a four-part series on creating a yearbook in 60 days. Each part contains two weeks' worth of tasks and inspiration, and this time, it’s all about promoting and designing the yearbook.

There are links to articles, videos, and additional blogs throughout. Treering editors, you'll need to log in to your dedicated help center to view some.

Yearbook (yes, it is a verb) along with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

1. Share the Good News

You’re building a yearbook, which is a mic-drop task in itself. People need to know how awesome you are the yearbook will be. Treering created flyers, QR codes, and personalized links for you to quickly share.

Yearbook Marketing 101

“Buy your yearbook” is not your only message. 

Yes, you are selling the yearbook. You are also rallying stakeholders (administrators, teachers, plus students and their families) to support the yearbook project by purchasing, sharing photos, donating books, and joining the yearbook staff next year. So, go get them!

Identify the best to reach each stakeholder where they live. In other words, go to them. Utilize all the communication channels available to you and evaluate which ones work best for each group. 

Possible channels include:

• Email
• Staff newsletters
• Morning announcements
• All-call services
• Parent organization website
• In-school bulletin boards
• All-school events
• School meetings
• School sports games
• School arts events
• Social media

Yearbook Marketing Resources

• Article: Tools for Promoting Your Yearbook
• Blog: 5 Social Media Posts to Sell Yearbooks

2. Autoflow Portraits

Ready to level up your yearbook achievement? Portraits comprise 40-60% of a yearbook. Between the choice of a Heritage Cover and building portrait pages, you’ll be halfway finished. Take a minute to let that soak in.

If a professional photographer took your school photos, chances are you have a PSPA (Professional School Photographers' Association) file. This is industry standard. With it, you'll be able to go to the portrait tab and follow the prompts. (If you don’t have a PSPA file, you can still use autoflow. See the resource section below for instructions.)

Portrait Resources

• Video: Importing Portraits with Portrait Auto Flow
• Article: Uploading Portraits Without a PSPA File

3. Fill Your Photo Folders

Remember when we set up the photo folders, and some were green? That means only the editorial team (you!) can see them and their contents. The yellow public folders are marked public, and your school community can share photos by

• Emailing to the folder
• Using a link to access the folder
• Signing in and accessing the public folders
• Using the Treering app to upload

Treering’s privacy measures prevent just anyone from uploading to your shared folders. Only your invited school community members with activated yearbook accounts can see and share. 

Parents and editors can add photos from their computer or mobile device as well as third-party connections to your personal Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Google Photos, and Google Drive. 

5 Ideas to Source Yearbook Photos

If you build it, will they come? 

1. Send each teacher a link to their class folder; ask them to share it with their room parents
2. Share event-specific (hello, last Friday’s zoo trip) asks via social media
3. Show coaches and club leaders how to add photos via their phones
4. Connect with event organizers so they know you have dedicated space and you need pics
5. Comment, “Will you share this for the yearbook [email/link]?” on Facebook photos you want to include

Crowdsourcing Resources

• Article: Email Photos Directly Into A Photo Folder
• Article: Sharing Photo Folders with the School Community

4. Build Your Spreads (First Semester Events)

As your photos fill your folders, drag them onto your spreads. There are two ways to quickly complete pages using Treering’s built-in tools: auto page layout and templates. 

Everything is fully editable, so if you need to add or remove a photo, text box, or piece of theme art, permit yourself to do it!

Yearbook Design Resources

• Article: Changing the Background on a Page (remember to login to view)
• Article: Page Editing Options - Graphics
• Article: Page Editing Options - Layout and Design 

Feeling Adventurous?

Create your own layouts using Treering’s drag-and-drop design tools. 

Intermediate and Advanced Design Resources

• Examples: Winners of the 2024 Design Contest 
• Blog: What is Modular Yearbook Design? 
• Article: Setting Default Text Styles 
• Article: Setting Default Photo Styles 
• Article: Alignment Tool - Customizable Guideline Grid 
• Templates: InDesign

Halfway through building a yearbook in 60 days, you should split tasks between gathering photos and adding them to the book. The cover is finished. Portraits are flowed. First semester events are filling in. Congrats!

Two types of people start a yearbook towards the end of the school year: those handed the crown minutes ago, and those with hundreds of other tasks for the school and now have “free” time to begin one more. Creating a yearbook in 60 days is doable. Promise. We’re breaking it down for you in four parts, each with two weeks' worth of tasks and inspiration. Consider this your yearbook easy button.

Throughout the series, there will be resources for inspiration and help. Watch this quick video to see

• How to log into the Ediotr Help Center for exclusive step-by-step articles
• Where to find resources to share with parents
• Where to get design inspiration, lesson plans, and more

Yearbook (yes, it is a verb) along with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. 

1. Confirm Your Book Details

It’s tempting to jump into the glamorous yearbook tasks such as theme and design. There’s a little back-end work you need to do first for two reasons:

1. Your dates will direct your workflow
2. Your yearbook details determine the price of your yearbook

Dates

With Treering, you can change your dates at any time. Remember, your three-week turnaround begins once you hit Print Ready, and send your book to the printers.

For Parents: Custom Pages Deadline

Parents will see this date on their account, indicating when they should purchase the book or complete any customized pages. It doesn't impact the printing schedule. 

Some parents {raises hand} need a little extra time and reminders to complete theirs. Treering recommends a cushion of about two weeks.

For Editors: Finish Editing Yearbook Deadline and Estimated Delivery Date

This is your one and only deadline for editing the book—and you set it! Select a date three weeks from when you want to distribute it. 

You won’t be able to edit the delivery date directly. Treering automatically populates it by the date you choose for your deadline. If you need additional time to capture year-end events, no problem. Your three-week turnaround will align with your new deadline.

In part four, you’ll learn how to send your yearbook to print. 

Pricing

The yearbook price will change in real time when you adjust the page count and cover finish. The best way to firm up your page count is to create a ladder (more on this below). 

Shipping and Index

Bulk shipping to the school is free. If you select this option, you choose how to receive your yearbooks:

• Sorted alphabetically
• Sorted by grade and then alphabetically
• Sorted by teacher and then alphabetically

Alternatively, many online or hybrid academies and schools electing to do a fall delivery choose the ship-to-home option. When parents order yearbooks, they also pay a flat rate shipping fee.

Book Details Resources

• Video: Chief Editor Dashboard
• Free Live Webinars: Treering’s Yearbook Club

2. Build a Ladder

A ladder is a chart that represents the pages in a yearbook. It’s the industry-standard tool to help you stay organized. On it, you allocate a topic to each yearbook spread (that’s yearbook-ese for two facing pages). 

Because yearbooks tell the story of the year, there isn’t a codified order to how things go. Typically, they include

• Academics: school distinctives, achievements, and activities
• Events: fundraisers, activities, performances, before- and after-school activities
• Organizations: clubs and teams
• People: student, staff, and faculty portraits
• Thematic content: larger books employ divider pages to separate sections

To build your ladder, look at the last few yearbooks and the latest school calendar.

1. Brainstorm the non-negotiable events, sections (people, arts, sports), and yearbook traditions
2. Brainstorm features, specials, and theme-related content
3. Decide how you will organize the book
4. Allocate spreads

We love doing this digitally because it can be fluid. If your page count is looking overwhelming because of time or budget, combine some topics. Remember to update your page count on your book details so it matches your plan.

Yearbook Ladder Resources

• Google Sheet: Free Yearbook Ladder Template
• Google Sheet: Example Ladders (there’s a separate tab for elementary, middle, K-8, and high school examples)

3. Set Up Photo Folders

The best photo organization tip I can give came from Yearbook Hero Katie Parish. She said to create folders to mirror your ladder. This way, you know you are collecting content for every single spread you planned. And spoiler alert, your design process will look like this.

By investing the time to set up folders this way, you can simplify your workflow. Just open the corresponding folder and click, drag, drop, and done! 

In the video below, you’ll see how to add folders and set up crowdsourcing features. Notice the Art Show folder is Editor Only. This means only you, the editor, can place photos in this folder. After activating their accounts, parents will see the yellow “public” folders and be able to share. At any time, you can make a folder Editor Only and vice versa.

In Part Two, we will give you five strategies to fill those shared folders with content so you can build your pages.

Photo Organization Resources

• Article: Creating Folders and Subfolders (this is one of those Editor-only resources, so you'll need to log in)
• Article: School Photos

4. Choose a Whole-Book Look

The Styles menu is where it’s at: you can create font and photo presets, adjust your margins (#TeamMarginsOff), and select the theme for your yearbook. Because I have 60 days to create a yearbook, I am skipping all the customization options and selecting a pre-designed theme to give my yearbook a unified look.

For a cover-to-cover drag-and-drop experience, the design team recommends the following Treering themes:

Theme Resources

• Google Slides: All Treering’s Yearbook Themes
• Blog Category: Theme Ideas and Inspiration

Remember, get to know your dashboard; it’s the first thing you see each time you log in. Part two of this series will outline the promotion tools built in the yearbook builder and start the design process.

Yearbook with a Friend

You can also recruit team members to help you build and market the yearbook. With Treering, you can set permissions and assign pages to help delegate your workload. Additionally, parents, teachers, and students can help gather content and promote book sales.

Organization Resources for Yearbook Teams

• Article: The Difference Between Chief Editors and Staff Editors 
• Blog: 5 Yearbook Volunteers to Recruit

Raise your hand if you've made a mistake in the yearbook. Yup. The editing process for our small (read: five members) yearbook team transformed when we goofed up the spring sports section. Who noticed page numbers missing from the softball page? Softball players. Do you know who didn’t notice? Everyone else on campus. Regardless, that was the proverbial wake-up call this adviser needed to create a spread checklist to accompany the editing process. The flexible framework and quality assurance that came with its implementation simplified spread creation and elevated the theme elements.

List of Things to Include

If your goal is cohesive design and layout, include a copy of your style guide in your checklist.

Yearbook Style Guide Ideas

• Font size and weight: heading, subheading, caption, body copy, portraits, rosters, pull quotes, group photos, folio/page numbers
• Text alignment rules
• Color palette
• Theme graphics: size, use case
• Photographs: borders, size, shape, alignment, spacing, rules on hand gestures and photobombs
• Banned words: favorite, family, this year, come together (these aren’t industry standard, rather my list of campus-specific cliches I’d rather not see again)

Pro tip: Set up photo and text styles in your yearbook editing program.

When Do You Need a Yearbook Spread Checklist?

The quick answer: any time a spread is in progress.

Yearbook checklists provide a foundation, ensuring that students cover all essential elements of a spread—from images and captions to layout and design. There are no surprises. The checklist can alleviate surprises and questions such as, "What size are headlines again?"

At a minimum, spread checklists should accompany PDF proofs because we all do our best proofing after the book goes to print. 

Using Yearbook Checklists in Peer Editing

The checklist becomes an educational resource in itself. It is a tool for quality control, enabling students to cross-check their work against established criteria. This fosters a culture of accountability and attention to detail.

As students engage with it, they absorb design principles and begin to internalize design standards as they learn what works aesthetically. This learning opportunity extends beyond the checklist and contributes to the overall growth of emerging designers. (According to the folks at Cornell, peer editing increases student output.)

A Checklist is not a Rubric

In the educational realm, checklists and rubrics are like the Rocket Raccoon and Groot of assessment. Think of a checklist as your friendly to-do list; it's straightforward and lists criteria that need to be met. Using the cycle above, it’s a coaching tool that moves yearbook spread designers from blank page (scary) to complete and tells the story of the year (goal). On the flip side, rubrics break down criteria into levels, providing a nuanced understanding of performance.

In yearbook class, the spread checklist emerges as a non-negotiable tool for success. From providing structural guidance to serving as a quality control mechanism, its benefits extend to both students and advisers. For new advisers, it acts as a compass, while returning advisers find it a means to ensure consistency and embrace innovation.

If starting the year with a yearbook debrief wasn’t possible or 3rd period publications popped up on your schedule the day before school started, start here. Keep, change, stop is a conversation to have as a team. Thumb through the yearbook, project some spreads on the wall, and complete a matrix. What aspects of your program are proverbial home runs and should be keepers? What needs to be changed? (Remain proactive and brainstorm solutions.) What needs to be stopped? At TRL 23, we sat down with four advisers to learn their takes.

Watch the full interview on Treering’s Facebook page.

Katie Thomas, Elk Grove, CA

We first met Katie Thomas when she became the yearbook coordinator for her daughters’ K-8 school midway through the year. As the lone parent volunteer, she sold 60 yearbooks in a week and now oversees the middle school club.

For Thomas, cover contests are a keeper. She said each year the school has a theme and she loves how the yearbook club chooses to “intertwine” it with the theme they select.

Moving forward, she’s going to change up the interview process for students in favor of more journalistic writing. “We want to make sure that there are more voices heard,” she said. “This is a student-produced yearbook.” 

This year she stopped having multiple editors share a spread. “I learned the hard way,” she said about having students edit each other’s work without a formative peer editing process. 

Janet Yieh, San Francisco, CA

Like Thomas, Janet Yieh began as a parent volunteer. Now, she’s transitioned the club from an after school activity to a school day program with 19 middle schoolers. 

For the foreseeable future, Yieh will keep giving away yearbooks. Last year it was 100. “We are in San Francisco, and it's an urban environment. We have many families who qualify for free and reduced lunch,” she said. To ensure all eighth graders leave with a yearbook, she adds a small fundraiser to the cost of each book and pushes Treering’s early discount. Since many families take advantage of the sale, Yieh “buys into every single fundraising dollar.” To distribute the books, she creates a contest to win a yearbook so no one is singled out.

She is going to change up the class structure by inviting more experts to share with the club and creating some lesson plans for her students. Last year Yieh piloted this idea with her boss who went to design school. This year, an English teacher will guest teach on writing. “I'm a mom. I'm not a teacher,” said Yieh. “I'm trying to personally create curriculum for them to follow each week.”

While Yieh’s students led the design concept, she’s stopping their theme-less tradition. “If we create a foundation, it will be much easier when it's time to actually pop the photos into their pages.” 

Chris Frost, Hemet, CA

“I was a student editor on this exact book, which I'm super proud of,” Christ Frost said. Because he knows the value of ownership, he keeps the tradition of a student-led yearbook program. “Our students decide everything. They pick our theme. They pick and design our layouts by hand because they like to struggle and fight with what a design should look like.” He and co-adviser Billy Valenzuela advise by keeping students on track towards their deadline.

The big change is how Frost’s students will increase representation in their yearbook. Historically, the team at West Valley High covers 80% of students beyond their school photo. That’s not enough. In repose, they created a B.O.L.O. (be on the lookout) wall with “ASB’s Most Wanted” using their coverage tracker. “It's also going to help us see who are those people that are hiding in the shadows that are in that background,” Frost said.

He stopped the way students received page assignments: instead of individual assignments, they are now in teams. Each team of five, led by one editor, works on five spreads at a time. Frost said, “They can delegate amongst each other… so it gives kind of a broader range on the pages.”

Beth Stacy, Huber Heights, OH

As a class adviser, Beth Stacy knows how much work her students do to identify each featured person in a photo, write body copy and captions, and place it beautifully in an effectively designed layout. 

Without hesitation, she would keep grading spreads. “Every grade or every spread is graded on pass/fail,” Stacy said. The end goal of having all spreads submitted to Stacy print-ready means students are in control of their grades. 

Stacy said, “Probably 95 to 98% of our book is taken by one parent who has kids in a bunch of activities, one teacher who is an amateur photographer, and then our professional photographer.” The yearbook culture change is student photography. She’s motivated by the fresh energy the younger team in her class brings. 

Stopping the blend of chronological and traditional coverage is top of her list. After trying it for their 75th anniversary book, she said, “It got messy and didn't work very well.” Focusing on the traditional sections such as people, student life, and sports will help returning students train new ones and also balance the load for the few dedicated computers they share. 

For more from these advisers, including their tips for getting started, favorite Treering hack, and application processes, watch the full video on Facebook.

Recreating the wheel is exhausting. Having Treering Live (TRL) experts provide all their tips and tricks saves time and energy and brings the fun back to yearbooking. (Yes, yearbook is a verb.) Treering tailored TRL for yearbook volunteers, educators, and aficionados of all levels, offering 18 sessions so you can engage with various aspects of the creative process. In anticipation, we compiled our top reasons TRL is the yearbook event of the season.  

1. Leave With a Road Map

Figuring out how to get started when you're new to the school yearbook is daunting, especially when the person who used to do it is no longer at the school. Learn how to start and finish your yearbook.

Recommended sessions: I’m the Yearbook Coordinator… Now What? and Teaching Yearbook

2. Live Event

Real-time sessions mean your questions get asked and answered promptly. Between the live Q&A during each session and the chat throughout, there are plenty of opportunities for shared learning. 

Recommended sessions: Ask Us Anything with Treering’s Co-Founder Brady McCue and Keep, Change, Stop

3. Connecting with Other Advisers

Because two—or four hundred—heads are better than one, working together turns terrifying yearbook mountains into easy-to-approach small hills. TRL is not just about knowledge acquisition; it's about building connections within the yearbook community during National School Yearbook Week. You'll collaborate with fellow yearbook enthusiasts, sharing your triumphs, learning from your challenges, and forging bonds beyond these three days online.

Recommended sessions: Fundraising and Crowdsourcing and Social Media for Yearbook

4. Making a Plan

From a ladder and coverage calendar to the next marketing campaign, you’re leaving TRL with concrete steps to make the best yearbook yet. 

Recommended sessions: Getting Organized and Creating a Marketing Plan

5. Design Inspiration

Yearbook Hero Lauren Casteen introduced us to mild, medium, and spicy design. Wherever you fall on this scale, you will gain an understanding of layout, typography, and color and how to go to the next level. You’ll also be able to help your yearbook team produce robust designs. Because, seriously, no one should yearbook alone.

Recommended sessions: Design 101 and Design 201

6. Three Days of Training

Joining TRL for one or all 18 sessions is a testament to your passion for preserving the memories and historical record of the school year, one page at a time. 

7. Cash

Kind of. Because we love a theme, there will be some sort of game in many sessions. Prizes include pizza parties, art supplies, and gift cards for coffee or Amazon.

8. 6+ Hours of PD

Treering loves teachers. You’ll see learning outcomes in the session descriptions, and some of us, unabashedly, speak in teacher-ese. We know the importance of pro-grow opportunities. We know how annoying it is when someone reads their slides. 

9. The Treering Difference

Many schools consider changing their yearbook program and need to see Treering’s software firsthand. Busy schedules make it difficult, so we have four opportunities to dive in.

Recommended session: Live Demo

10. The Journey isn’t Over

In keeping with our game theme, your next winning move can take the form of weekly posts on the blog, monthly webinars, and 24/7 support with the Help Center. These myriad options allow flexibility in scheduling and enable you to revisit content or learn something new at your own pace. 

Share your top moments during TRL: 23 by tagging us on social using @treering (Facebook and X) or @treeringcorp (Instagram and TikTok) using #trl23.

An agenda slide is more than an organizational tool: it creates a method to maintain accountability in your yearbook class.

What Goes on an Agenda Slide?

You could write the items below on your whiteboard easy peasy. Many advisers told us they prefer to create their agenda digitally because it provides a record for administration and parents (hello, accreditation year). The following year, it simply needs basic edits to remain current. Give yourself bonus points if you adapt the slides to your yearbook theme and/or color scheme. 

Because a structured daily agenda slide helps your yearbook staff understand what to expect during the class or club session, we like to include these five things:

1. Date and class information
2. Learning objectives or goals for the day's lesson
3. Class agenda
4. Deliverables
5. Announcements and reminders

If your yearbook program is a club, and you do not need CTE or ELA standards, use a brief description of the yearbook club's purpose or mission to keep activities aligned.

Two Examples of Organization and Accountability

Obvious statement: the yearbook is a big project. By creating and posting an agenda, you can chunk the work to make it realistic. 

Example 1: Project-Based Agenda

The example above clearly identifies the learning objective and how they complement the broader yearbook project. The stand-up meeting includes deadline setting, content creation, and photo assignments. This method helps all editors and support staff see how their section contributes to the entire yearbook.

Example 2: Time-Management Agenda

Many clubs meet twice a week, so chunking the work time helps the team know the purpose of their time together. That sounds simplistic, and we’ve seen strategies such as Deep Work or the Pomodoro Technique highlight short periods of focus to yield more valuable results. Less is more. Reserved space on the agenda slide also informs about upcoming deadlines, events, and opportunities.

If your campus or district requires documentation, a deck of yearbook agenda slides complements your curriculum map. It ensures both your production and learning outcomes align. (True story: administrators love them.) They also simplify preparing for sub plans and absent students’ catch-up bins: students come to expect your established routine.