← The Olympian CTE Yearbook Design I & II 4th Period 2026–27
Proof a spread

TheRed Pen

Names · Facts · Seven parts · Specs · The Design Bible

Other people catch your mistakes better than you do. Proofing is the cheapest way to catch one before it prints a thousand times.

1
class
Every V1

Proof by the end of the next class

Numbered notes in the thread. Zero notes is still a reply.

01Do this1 of 7

Instructions

One thingHunt for mistakes. Number them. Say where, what’s wrong, and what’s right.

Someone else’s V1 is up in #yb-proofs. Your chair gave it to you. You have until the end of the next class.

  1. Open the _V1.pdf from the thread. Zoom to 100%. Read every word on the spread. Out loud if you can.
  2. Names first. Check every name against the roster and what the student goes by. Then every fact: scores, dates, grades, club names.
  3. The seven parts. Main photo, 3 to 5 more, a real headline, 150 to 250 words with a quote, a caption on every photo, a folio on both pages, nothing in the spine. (The picture.)
  4. The specs. Anything inside 0.375 in of the fold? Art that stops short of the bleed? Dark text on a dark photo? Turn it gray in your head.
  5. The Design Bible. One mode on the spread. The right faces. No dots under body copy. Check it against the Design Bible, not your taste.
  6. Reply in the thread with a numbered list. Each note: page, where, what’s wrong, what it should be.
  7. Check your work: could the builder fix every note without asking you a question? If not, add the missing detail.
  8. Zero notes? Say so. “Proofed. Clean.” Their V1 becomes their V2 right then.
By the end of the next classThe V1 goes up. The proof is due by the end of the next class after that. Miss it and your chair reassigns it.
Everything gets proofedSomeone else checks every page before every checkpoint. Spelling names right isn’t a style choice. It’s the job.
Notes, not opinions“I’d make the headline bigger” is taste. “Okafur should be Okafor” is a note. Notes get fixed. Taste gets a conversation.
02Compare yours to it2 of 7

What it should look like

A proof is a reply in the thread. Here is a finished one.

1 · THE PROOF REPLY, IN THE THREADMateo R · Mon Oct 12, 12:51 PMProofed V1. 3 notes.1. p42 caption 2: "Okafur" should be "Okafor" (roster + she goes by Ada).2. p43 bottom caption has no date.3. p43 pull quote sits inside the gutter. Move it right 0.4 in.Spelling, facts, specs, Design Bible: checked. Mode is consistent. Folio ok.1234 · WHAT YOU CHECKED, IN ORDER1every name against the roster + preferred name2every fact: score, date, grade, club name3the seven parts (main photo, captions, folio...)4spine, bleed, dark on dark5the Design Bible: one mode, the type, the colorBY THE END OF THE NEXT CLASS.Missed it? Your chair gives the proof to someone else.4
Every note has four parts: page, where, wrong, right. The builder never has to ask what you meant.
  1. A numbered reply in the spread’s own thread, under the V1. Not a DM, not a new thread.
  2. Each note says page, where on the page, what’s wrong, and what it should be. “Fix the caption” is not a note.
  3. A last line that says what you checked and found clean, so the builder knows the silence means “fine,” not “didn’t look.”
  4. Posted by the end of the next class. The builder needs Wednesday to fix it and Thursday to post the V2.
The test

Hand your notes to someone who has never seen the spread.Could they make every fix? Then it’s a proof.

03The picture3 of 7

Visual guide

The clock, start to finish.

Day 0

V1 goes up in the thread. Chair assigns the proofer.

Next class

Proof due by the end of class. Numbered notes in the thread. That counts as a pass for the builder.

Then

Builder fixes every note. Doesn’t argue them in the thread. Talks to the chair if one is wrong.

Checkpoint Thu

V2 posted. Walsworth, Drive. Proofer’s name is on the spread too, in a way.

a note
p42, caption 2: “Okafur” → “Okafor” (roster; she goes by Ada)

Page, where, wrong, right. Ten seconds to fix.

not a note
captions have problems
spine looks off?
I’d change the font

Which caption? Off how? The font is in the Design Bible, not up for a vote.

04The teaching4 of 7

Lesson

Why someone else

You can’t proof your own spread. You already know what it’s supposed to say, so your eyes skip the typo every time. Other people catch your mistakes better than you do, and proofing is the cheapest way to catch a mistake before it prints a thousand times.

Names are the whole job

A misspelled senior is misspelled forever. Check the roster, then check what the student actually goes by. The roster can be wrong about that. If you’re not sure, ask the student. It takes one message.

Dark on dark disappears in print

A screen gives off light. Ink doesn’t. Dark gray text on navy looks fine in Walsworth and vanishes on paper. Turn the spread gray, zoom out to 25%, look from arm’s length. The print contrast checker gives you a number.

A proofer checks
  • Spelling, facts, dates, names
  • The seven parts
  • Spine, bleed, dpi, CMYK
  • The Design Bible: mode, faces, color, dots
A proofer does not check
  • Whether you like the photo
  • Whether you’d have picked a different headline
  • Anything the Design Bible already decided
What the chair does

Assigns the proofer when the V1 goes up. Reassigns it if the proof is late. Settles it if the builder thinks a note is wrong. The thread is for notes and fixes, not debates.

05A real one5 of 7

Example

A real proof, three notes, every one fixable without a follow-up question.

Proofed V1. 3 notes.
1. p42 caption 2: “Okafur” should be “Okafor” (roster, and she goes by Ada, not Adaeze).
2. p43 bottom caption: no date. Should be Fri Oct 2.
3. p43 pull quote sits inside the gutter. Move it right about 0.4 in.
Spelling, facts, specs, Design Bible: checked. Mode is consistent. Folio on both pages. Clean otherwise.
Why this gets a 5

Numbered. Page and location on every note. Wrong and right on every note. The last line tells the builder what was checked, so “no note” means “fine.” Posted the next class. The builder fixed all three in twenty minutes and never had to ask Mateo a thing.

06Where it goes6 of 7

How to turn it in

How to turn it inReply in the thread

The proof is turned in when your numbered notes are a reply under the V1 in the spread’s #yb-proofs thread. Zero notes is still a reply: “Proofed. Clean.”

  1. Open the thread. Click reply on the V1 post.
  2. Numbered list. Page, where, wrong, right.
  3. Last line: what you checked.
Open #yb-proofs ↗ By the end of the next class after the V1 goes up. Missed it? Your chair gives it to someone else.
07How it is scored7 of 7

Rubric

The proof is graded too. It’s a pass for the builder and a task for you.

Check1 looks like5 looks like
On timethe next classProofed the morning of the checkpoint. The builder had no time to fix anything.In the thread by the end of the next class.
Correctcaught what was thereThree typos and a name in the gutter went through to the V2. Or notes about taste, not mistakes.Every real mistake caught. Nothing invented. Every note checkable against the roster, the specs, or the Design Bible.
Completepage, where, wrong, right, and what was checked“Some caption issues.” Builder had to ask what you meant.Numbered. Four parts per note. A last line that says what was clean.

5 is ready to print. 4 needs one round of fixes. 3 does what was asked. 2 is a real try. 1 is barely started. 0 is missing.

  1. ☐I read every word on the spread at 100%
  2. ☐Every name checked against the roster and the student’s preferred name
  3. ☐Every fact checked: scores, dates, grades, club names
  4. ☐The seven parts are all there
  5. ☐Spine, bleed, and dark-on-dark checked
  6. ☐Checked against the Design Bible: one mode, the faces, the color
  7. ☐Every note has page, where, wrong, right
  8. ☐Posted as a reply in the thread by the end of the next class
0/8Tap a line to check it off. It stays checked on this device.