Proofing Checklist

Prior to submitting your yearbook, review your pages in the editor using the checklist of common yearbook issues below.

Watermark & Copyright Issues

Copyright & content licensing issues issues. Some publishers / print manufacturers may refuse to print your book if it contains content that violates usage rights rules.

• Are there any trademarked images used to decorate the book? Examples include licensed characters, logos, art from books, movies, tv shows, streaming content, independent artists unaffiliated with your school, video games, etc.
  
  
• Do any images display ™, ®, © symbols, or watermarks indicating image ownership rights? (Look carefully, as watermarking can be subtle. Include backgrounds as well.)

Cover Issues

• Is the correct school year featured on the cover? (eg. 2025-2026 or 2026)
  
  
• Does the cover feature your school’s name prominently?
  
  
• Does the cover background and page-wide banners extend to the very outer edges? No content should stop at the red trim/bleed area.
  
  
• Are all text and featured images inside the safe margins? Content outside of the safe margins may be clipped or awkwardly bordered.
  
  
• Does the background flow across the spine area? Two facing backgrounds that abutt at the spine should be avoided.
  
  
• Are the cover background and feature images high resolution? Check for a warning sign or visible blurriness/pixelation.
  
  
• If there is text on the spine:
  • is the spine wide enough to accommodate it? Check with your publishing company for minimum page counts. (Saddle-stitch covers should not have spine text.)
  • is the spine text centered within the guidelines?
  • does the text cover less that 70% of the spine width?

• Are the spine margins clear from content from the front/back cover by a good 1/4"?
  
  
• Are all images well-positioned in their frames and unclipped?
  
  
• Do any photos display black or white edges on one or more sides? These may be screenshots that need to be cropped to hide the extra area around the image.

Portrait Pages

• Are the portrait pages in the right order?
  
  
• Are all students and staff flown into the book? Check Portrait Coverage on the Overview tab or the Portrait manager to make sure everyone is in the book.
  
  
• Are portrait labels readable against the page background? Ensure that busy backgrounds or low contrast label-to-background colors do not make individual labels unreadable.
  
  
• Do all names in the portrait labels appear complete?
  • Is the label text clipped on its bottom edge with low-lying letters chopped off their bottom edge? Size the font down or add row spacing to fix.
  • Are longer names (eg. hyphenated last names) extending outside the label area, clipped or under the portrait beneath them? Look for last names ending in a hyphen.  Change the font size, split names on two lines or add row spacing to fix.
    
    

• Are there any obvious typos in the labels – such as the same name appearing as both the first and last name, only a single name, or the label featuring placeholder text for missing names?
  
  

• If applicable, do only the appropriate staff members appear in featured portrait positions on classroom pages?
  
  

• Do the grids include one or more feature frames at the front of their grids (eg. teachers’ portraits are larger). If so, check the following:

• Are any student portraits accidentally featured?

• Are there any teacher portraits mixed with the student portraits?
  
  

• Are the portrait images well-positioned in their frames? Check for portraits with extreme size differences, noticeably off-centered or cropped.
  
  

• Are any students duplicated on their page? Check the labels for duplicate names – it may be hard to spot the same person twice if they have a different haircut & outfit in two adjacent photos, or the two photos have been split onto separate rows.
  
  

• Do the portrait page titles have the same word order and general styling? (eg. “Mr. Smith’s Grade 5 Class” on one page, “2 – Emerson” on another)
  
  

• Are there any typos in the portrait page titles (eg. names ending in s, z or x should never have a possessive ‘s after them, only a ‘, eg. Mrs. Fitz’ Grade 1) or a mismatch between the homeroom teacher’s portrait label and the page title (eg. Mrs. Richardson on the title, Ms Richardson on the label)?

Candid Pages

• Do all backgrounds cover the entire page from edge to edge, through the trim area?
  
  
• Are all backgrounds high resolution? Check for warning signs or visible blurriness/pixelation.
  
  
• Are all text and featured images with the safe margins?
  
  
• Are images of heads/faces clipped in their frames or covered by other photos?
• Do images spilling off the page edges keep faces/people within the safe margins?
  
  
• Are all images high resolution? Check for visible blurriness or pixelation.
  
  
• Are there any images used twice in the book that should not be? In the editor, check the Used Photos folder, and sort by Number of time used.
  
  
• Do any photos display a blank, black, or white edge on one or more sides? If so, these may be screenshots with extra blank area around them, which may be resized in their image frame to mask out the extra area.
  
  
• Is all text readable against its background? Text on very busy backgrounds or that is not contrasted in color to stand out against the background is very hard to read.
  
  
• Are there any obvious typos or text formatting issues? Be sure to read the page titles closely as these are often overlooked.