Submitting, Proofing and Ordering Your Book to Print

Submitting the yearbook does not mean the yearbook will go straight to the printing presses! It is a multi-step process designed to ensure best possible results when the book does go to print.

Once you submit your yearbook from your yearbook software, it will be locked for editing. No additional edits may be made unless it is rejected on the Studio Source Dashboard.

The proof will be rendered, then uploaded to the Studio Source Yearbooks Dashboard. Rendering times may vary depending on the size of the book and the time of the year ~ 30 minutes or less in the off-season, up to 2 hours in the spring.

Dashboard Review When the proof has been received on the Dashboard, anyone with proofing permissions will receive an invitation to review the proof.  A link to get to the Dashboard proof will be included in the email. Click on this to review the proof. If your book includes two cover choices (hard & soft cover option) you will receive two proofing notifications, one for each cover type.
Need to get to your proof without a link?  Log into the Studio Source Dashboard, scroll down to your At A Glance view to find the Proof tab.  Click on the last submitted proof to access it. It should be marked with a "Needs Review" status. Note: if you have a book with two binding types (eg. a hard cover and a soft cover), you will need to access both proofs to review them separately.

Understanding the Dashboard Proofing Page

When the Dashboard proof launches, you will find a trimmed flipbook at the top of the page followed by a trimmed version of your cover at the bottom.

Scroll down the page to see a full spread view of your trimmed cover.  Note: The spine guideline(s) appear in the middle of the page to define the back and front cover views.

Proofing the Trimmed Flipbook

The flipbook is trimmed to provide the best representation of how your final proof will appear printed and bound. This view is ideal for finding major design/placement issues.

It is important to note this view is an approximation of how your printed book will appear. Paper may move or stretch slightly (up to 1/8th of an inch) during printing. It is important to review the flipbook to make sure that no important content is too close to the page edges, as it may be trimmed more than shown on any side of the page.

Placement errors to look for in the flipbook: Images and text too close to the trim edge of the page. All important content should be at least a pencil’s width from the page edge People’s faces trimmed out of photos on the page edge or inside their image frame Check clipart to ensure it is fully visible, unclipped by its frame

Proofing the Trimmed Cover Spread

The cover of your yearbook is a very important feature on your book, so review it carefully for issues.

• Text and images closer than 1/4" from the spine guidelines
• If the book’s spine is wide enough to accommodate text, it must be centered within the spine guidelines and no more than 70% of the spine’s width
• Typos in your school name and other text.
  
  

Proofing Untrimmed PDF Files

Download your cover and interior pages pdfs to show a full, untrimmed page. Review them online on your browser or use your your local printer to pass to other proofreaders.
The PDFs display your pages in a large, clear format, so this is the best opportunity to check for: Typos Low res images (make sure you zoom in to check for resolution quality) Issues with portrait labels Text legibility issues Backgrounds/banner elements that do not extend to the outer edge of the pages can result in white borders on the page edge due to printing tolerances

Tip: Check out the Proofing Checklist article to learn more about each item you need review in your proof before clicking Approve.

Rejecting, Correcting, & Resubmitting

Yearbook software provided by Studio Source will automatically lock your book when you submit a proof to the Dashboard. Should you find problems in your proof to correct, simply reject the Dashboard proof. Your yearbook software will auto-unlock.

Back in your yearbook software, reject pages, sections or the whole book to edit your work, then resubmit your book when all corrections are done.

To reject the proof on the Dashboard: Open the existing proof in the Studio Source Dashboard Click the Reject button at the top of the page.

Once your book is unlocked, your yearbook software will be available to make edits.

Resubmitting the Book

Once corrections are complete, resubmit the book to the Dashboard.

Important: The new proof will have a distinct proof number, different from the previous submission. Be careful to review the latest proof on the Studio Source Dashboard, and not an older rejected proof! Using the link in the proof notification email is the best way to get into the book, since you can check the date of the email to verify the submission date.

Proof Approval

To approve the proof, review each item on the checklist to the left of the flipbook (Click each list title to review all items on the list) Every item on the checklist needs to be marked off to approve the proof. Click Approve to move forward.
Verify that you checked the Downloaded PDFs of the cover and interior pages. Click Continue Read the Proof Review and Approval Agreement. Important: this is a contract where you are guaranteeing your book is fit to print as is! Type your full name below the agreement Click Approve

Studio Source Technical Review

After a yearbook adviser or a studio has approved the Dashboard proof, most yearbooks will receive a technical review by the Studio Source Team (depending on your studio's manufacturing preferences and opt-ins). This review focussed on technical issues with the book --  content placement issues, copyright violations and other problems that may cause reprints or a rejection from the manufacturer. A maximum of two reviews are provided.

If problems are found, the Studio Source reviewer will marked the book as rejected during review. A detailed report will be provided to your studio and/or the primary adviser on the account. 

Should corrections be required, simply reject your proff, then make corrections and resubmit.

Note: Your studio may choose not to use the Studio Source Internal Review process, in which case your book will be available for order as soon as it is marked as “Customer Approved.”

Ordering and Production

After the yearbook proof has been approved by everyone required by your studio and it has passed the Studio Source technical review, the orange order button will become live and the final book order may be placed on the approved proof. For many yearbooks, the studio will place the order, so only they will see the live orange order button. If you have ordering permissions, you will receive an email notification to let you know that your proof is available to order, linking you back to the approved proof.  If you are placing the order, be very careful to get the order quantities correct. Once your book is sent to the manufacturer, quantities may not be updated! Contact your studio to make sure the order is done correctly.