The end of the school year is always filled with emotion: students, parents and teachers alike are thrilled to start the long awaited summer vacation, but there’s also a tinge of sadness. It will be the last time many will be able to create more memories together for a while, and for some it may even be their final days in education forever. However, there is an even bigger concern: where to store those memories the class collected by the end of the year? Thankfully the solution is very simple: a yearbook.
Not only is this type of photo book the best place to collect all those photos students, parents and teachers have taken during semesters, but it’s also an ideal community project since everybody can take part in designing the book’s interior and exterior or selecting photos to be included. And let’s not forget, it is the perfect gift for students who are not returning, graduating classes or relatives and teachers who want to cherish the shared memories of their favorite children.
School Yearbook Theme Ideas
Unlike many other types of photo books, choosing the theme of your yearbook is pretty easy, since all you have to do is decide whether the book will be for an elementary school, middle school or high school class. Aside from this, just have fun (without going crazy). The book can be extremely colorful, full to the brim with memes and embellishments, or anything else that comes to your mind. Most importantly each and every student should offer their own idea into the mix, turning the creative process into a true group experience.
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A crucial thing to keep in mind when building the yearbook, though, is balance: the book should contain quotes (and try to avoid cliches) chosen by teachers, parents and the most important stars of the book, the kids. No matter if they just barely left kindergarten or are about to receive their high school diploma, just include a page to jot down where they might see themselves in the future. Try to get as many group photos as possible, but also leave space for individual ones as well. In fact, solo pictures are of utmost importance since the book will be designed by each individual student, so each will want their personal stamp inside the book.
Collaborating on a School Memory Photo Book
With the exception of Mixbook and MILK Books, collaboration with a group on your yearbook in the photo book editor is impossible. In other words, you’ll need to plan in advance and appoint someone to put the book together in the chosen builder, preferably sharing the results constantly with the class to collect further feedback.
The simplest way to collaborate is by creating a Facebook group or opening a dedicated Instagram account. Both are ideal ways of storing photos where students, parents and teachers can each upload pictures, which can later get imported into the photo book editor. Not only that but comments are just begging to be featured as quotes in the would-be book.
One of the most important things the group will need to focus on is choosing the right photo book company and then choosing the best design, layouts, embellishments and such. This way the person appointed as the ‘creator’ of the yearbook can start working on the project according to the instructions of the students while they are selecting the right photos.
Recommended Photo Yearbook Services
There are plenty of top-tier photo book editors out there, most of which are capable of social media integration and presenting various yearbook themes. The following three, however, are the ones to consider for your photo yearbook.
Shutterfly
Shutterfly is an ideal choice for plenty of reasons. Not only is it possible to choose from three editing methods, but thanks to the Photo Story app you can start drafting your book from your iPad as well. The reliable editor makes the creative process very convenient: you can choose from plenty of layouts, backgrounds and embellishments or rely on “Ideal Pages”, which auto-arranges everything according to your book’s theme. Speaking of themes, Shutterfly has a dedicated page of 80 yearbook ideas to get inspiration from, but there are always the other 200+ themes to choose from, too.
Shutterfly recommends four sizes with soft or hard cover for your yearbooks, the smallest of which can be purchased for as low as $8 with free shipping. To top it all off, you can ask for individual quotes, order books in bulk and even pay the whole purchase price in advance.
Blurb
Blurb is another photo book company that allows users to pick the platform to use, in this case the basic but straightforward online editor, Bookify, or the full-fledged downloadable editing software, BookWright. Whichever solution you go with, there are plenty of options to pick from: various photo papers, covers, book sizes, and themes. As for yearbooks, Blurb has three templates, one standard portrait size, two covers and a dedicated page explaining how to create your books.
The base price of books starts at $14.99, but the more you order the bigger the discount you’ll be rewarded with. However, the biggest reason to choose Blurb is its unique online store system: not only you can turn your books into eBooks, but you can also upload your project to Blurb’s store to allow others to purchase your yearbook any time that they want.
PrestoPhoto
Although PrestoPhoto’s editor is eons from ideal, the company makes up for that downfall with its outstanding customization options. Customers can choose from 84 free templates, but if we take into consideration every style featured on PrestoPhoto, that number raises to a jaw dropping 1,054. Additionally, PrestoPhoto’s books can be ordered in 21 different sizes, with nine paper types and four covers, plus you can even select the binding technique applied on your books. But to top it all, PrestoPhoto operates with probably the best pricing policy of the photo book market: standard photo books can be purchased for as low as $10.99, which can be further reduced should you place a bulk order.
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