APERTURE:The opening in a photographic lens that admits light to reach the camera sensor. The aperture number — measured in f-stops — determines how much light gets through. CANDID PHOTO:An action photo that captures the moment or tells the story. With the exception of headshots and group pictures, all yearbook photos should be candid. CAPTION:Identifies the who, what, where, when, why and how of a picture. Formula: ABCDQ. Action, basic information, complementary sentences, descriptive quote. Placed in the niches created by packaging photos. CENTER OF INTEREST:The dominant element in a photo. The part of the image your eye goes to first. CROPPINGEliminating excess content or dead space in a photo. Proper cropping provides focus to an image. DEPTH OF FIELD:Change in focus between the nearest and farthest objects in an image. DOMINANT PHOTO:This is the largest and highest quality photo on the spread. ENTERPRISE PHOTOGRAPHY:To walk around looking for interesting candid subjects or events to shoot. F-STOP:Stands for focal stop. The size of the aperture is measured in f-stops. FRAMING:To surround or frame the center of interest in a photo with another object to attract and focus attention. ISO:Number indicating the camera’s sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the less light required, but the grainier it looks. ZERO ZEROS:Coverage philosophy and technique where the goal is to include every student at least twice. Some staffs take their goals to three or more. MEGAPIXEL:About one million pixels. This describes resolution. The more pixels in an image, the higher the resolution. MEMORY CARD:Digital image storage device. PHOTO COMPOSITION:The arrangement of objects within a frame. Good composition creates reader interest. PHOTO OP:Short for photo opportunity: A planned event, like a pep rally or other school function. PORTRAITS:A straightforward head-and-shoulders photo, taken by a professional. RESOLUTION:Measured in dots per inch (dpi), resolution determines the quality of image detail. Higher resolution means more pixels per inch (ppi) which means more detail. Low-resolution images will not reproduce well in a yearbook. Minimum print quality is 300 dpi at the size printed. SELECTIVE FOCUS:An object in sharp focus will be isolated from blurred, out-of-focus surroundings. SHUTTER SPEED:How long the camera’s shutter stays open. SOFT FOCUS:An image taken purposefully without sharp focus. SUPPLEMENTAL PHOTOS:Any additional photos around the dominant photo, progressively getting smaller.
DESIGN
ALIGNMENT:Aligning elements to something else on a spread provides a visual anchor and helps readers navigate the content. BALANCE:Do not cluster all elements to one area. Distribute elements across the spread to achieve balance. BLEED:When an element extends past the grid and to the outside edge of the page. This can be used for color, graphics and dominant photos, but never copy. CLOSING:Final pages of the yearbook (typically three pages or more) where the theme concludes. Should follow ads and index. COLOPHON: Pronounced like marathon. A list of the technical printing information for the book, including number of copies, colors, fonts, photography company and awards won by the previous year’s staff. Often appears after, or part of, the index. CONTRAST:If items are not exactly the same, make them drastically different. Contrast helps with the hierarchy of a spread by emphasizing elements you want to stand out. COVER:Outside of the yearbook which protects the printed pages. It displays the publication title, volume, date, theme and other required information. DIVIDER:A spread used to separate each of the sections of the yearbook. A divider is usually theme-related in design and the copy links the main theme to the ensuing section. ENDSHEET:Heavier sheets of paper that hold pages to the cover. Endsheets may be plain or designed to reflect the theme. The front endsheet typically contains the table of contents listing. EXTERNAL MARGINS:White space around the border of a spread. All layouts should have a consistent external margin. While the top and side margins in the book are the same, the bottom margin is usually 2 to 4 picas longer. EYELINE:The horizontal separator on a spread from which mods hang or sit. It carries your eye across the page. FOLIO:The spread identifier including page number, usually placed in the external margin. FRONT LID:Front cover of the book which includes the name of the book, the year and the theme. The theme should be developed both visually and verbally. GRAPHICS:Elements such as color, white space, rule lines, gray screens, large initial letters and special type treatments which enhance the book’s design. GRID:This is a hidden layer on a document of same-sized squares. It helps create structure on which to build mods, but does not print. GUTTER:The 2-pica folding allowance between two pages where they are bound together. HANGING INDENT:When the first line is set slightly to the left of subsequent lines. This organizes dense copy to make it more readable. This paragraph shows a hanging indent. INNER SPACING:Half a pica of space between photos and copy indicates to readers these items are meant to be consumed together as one package of information. INTERNAL MARGINS, SEPARATORS:Internal margins, formerly called rails, provide consistent spacing between all coverage packages on a spread. Use pink to represent a “separator” in this space to make it stand out as distinct borders for mods when building a spread. They do not print. LADDER:A page-by-page diagram of the yearbook’s planned contents. Staff members use the ladder to stay organized and plan deadlines. LEADING LINES:Natural lines the eye follows in a photo, particularly elements running from the foreground to background. PEOPLE/PORTRAITS:The largest section of the book. Includes the professional portraits and names of all people at the school: seniors, underclassmen and faculty. PROXIMITY/PACKAGING:Group related items together. If an item is close in proximity to another, it is expected that they should be viewed as a whole package. SECTION:A traditional yearbook is typically broken into six sections: Student life, academics, organizations, people, sports and ads/index. These sections are used as organizational tools for the staffers and the readers. SEPARATORS:Markers of internal margins, they provide consistent spacing between all elements on a spread. They are shown in pink but do not print. SEPARATOR TEMPLATE:A template on the grid made up of separators without any content. Separators should be placed to accommodate the spaces you’ll need per mod. Follow the steps on the next page to measure the mods. SIGNATURE:A 16-page grouping for offset printing. Yearbooks are printed in signatures, which are then folded, stitched and trimmed to be collated and bound into the book. SPINE:Area of the yearbook connecting the front and back covers. The name of the school, name of the book, city/state, volume number and year should appear on the spine in a way that reflects the theme. SPREAD:Two facing or side-by-side pages such as 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7, etc. Designing in spreads helps your book look more cohesive. STYLE GUIDE:A list of guidelines a writer uses to maintain consistent punctuation, capitalization and school-specific rules. Use the Associated Press Style Guide as a starting point. It ain’t your MLA, that’s for sure. TABLE OF CONTENTS:Listing of the pages containing the opening, sections, index and closing. The contents is usually printed on the front endsheet or in the opening, but not on the title page. THEME:A verbal statement and a visual look which tie all parts of the book together and provide a way to tell the story of the year. Also called a concept. TITLE PAGE:The first page of the book. It should include the theme, the name of the book, the name of the school, the complete school address, the volume number, enrollment by grade, and year. The school telephone number, web address and enrollment should also be listed there. WHITE SPACE:Also known as negative space, is any area on a spread not taken up by content or graphics. It can make your visual message stronger and help navigate a reader through a spread.
WRITING
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:A listing thanking those who helped produce the book. Includes staff, contributors, faculty, parents, etc. Usually found alongside, but not part of, the colophon. ALTERNATIVE COPY:A different method of storytelling which can either expand on a central theme or show a completely new angle. Concise and easy to read. Includes lists, quotes, personal narratives, surveys and other formats that accurately tell the story. ANGLE:A writer’s specific focus on a broader topic. For example, on a theater spread: The star of the musical was almost late to opening night because he was pitching in the state final game, as opposed to facts and figures about the star. ATTRIBUTION:Identification of the person who said the words being quoted or paraphrased. Crediting a quote to its source. Should be written: Comma quote name said. CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION:Can be answered with one or two words. A yes/no question. Used to obtain facts, figures and other specifics. Should be followed by an open-ended question. COPY:The stories. Every spread should contain at least one story, also called a copy block or body copy, containing mostly colorful student quotes. DOMINANT STORY:The most prominent story on a spread. Typically goes along with the dominant photo in the photo package and has the largest headline. EDITORIALIZING:When reporters provide their opinions to readers. Editorializing must be avoided in yearbook copy. Reporters should remain objective and allow readers to establish their own opinions based on the information presented. FEATURE:Formerly called an interrupter or showstopper spread, coverage which is presented in a different fashion to break up the visual monotony created by templates. FEATURE STORY:A story worthy of standing alone. These are personal profiles or just well-told stories. HEADLINE:A line of large type used to tell the reader what follows in the copy below. It introduces the topic and serves as a main visual point of interest on the spread. Should have an active verb. INDEX:A list of names, places and subjects included in the book and the page numbers where they are found. Advertisers should be listed in contrasting type, as should topics. Indexes are vital to yearbooks so students can find themselves and you can monitor coverage. INDEX BUILDER:Tool that scans your book for index entries and makes it easy to create index pages by creating a database of entries. INTERVIEW:A conversation between a reporter and a source to obtain information and quotes to use in copy. LEAD:An attention-grabbing introduction setting the tone for the story. LEAD-INS:Caption starters. These are two-to-three-word cues to the reader that a new caption is beginning. Use them consistently in each section. OPEN-ENDED QUESTION:Cannot be answered with one or two words. Requires the respondent to describe actions and reactions, and could have a different response from every person you ask. OPENINGThe first few spreads which introduce the theme. PERSONAL PROFILE:Highlights one specific person, assuming that person’s story will capture enough attention to stand alone. The quotes come primarily from the subject of the profile. QUOTE:A direct statement a reporter obtains through a face-to-face interview. Quotes are included word-for-word in copy, are set off with quotation marks and include attribution. READABILITY/NAVIGATION:Design choices should make content easy to read and follow. READER SERVICE:Both visual and verbal elements of the book that help readers navigate the content and find what they are looking for. These include repeated graphics, folios, indexes, tables of content, etc. REPETITION:Repeat visual elements throughout your publication to develop organization and unity. SCOREBOARD:Listing of the season record of a sports team including opponents, wins, loses and scores. Your score always comes first. Always include a win-loss record as part of scoreboards. SOURCE:The person a reporter interviews. A “source” of information. SPIN-OFF:A “mini theme” used as a section title. Spin-offs help carry the theme throughout the book. STORY:Narrows a broad topic into a specific narrative. Shows a variety of perspectives by including quotes from a broad spectrum of people. Remember: one topic, one story. SUBHEAD:Also called a deck, this is a smaller headline accompanying the main headline and providing specific, detailed information about the story. TRANSITION:A sentence a writer uses to link one fact or quotation to another in a piece of copy. VOICE:The overall feel and personality of the look of your book. WEBBING:Brainstorming exercise to generate topic-based coverage ideas.