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

TheLoop

Draft · Signed twice · V1 · Proofed · V2

A plan is quick to fix. A finished spread isn’t. That’s why we plan first.

3
stages
Every spread

Draft, V1, V2

Design owes 2 passes a checkpoint. Everyone else owes 1. A pass is a V1 or a V2.

01Do this1 of 7

Instructions

One thingPlan it. Get two signatures. Build it. Get it proofed. Fix the notes.

Every spread goes through three stages. The last word of the file name says which one it’s in.

  1. Start from the keep. Every spread starts there, so your chair can see it.
  2. Set up the file. Spread Setup: 17.25 × 11.25 in, 300 dpi, CMYK, guides layer locked on top. Ten minutes, once per spread.
  3. Make the DRAFT. A layout sketch, the photos you need, the angle for your writing, and who you’ll interview. Messy is fine. Paper is fine. It has to be specific.
  4. Post _DRAFT.pdf in your spread’s #yb-proofs thread by Friday of draft week. Tag your chair.
  5. Wait for two replies that say SIGNED: your chair, then Sensei. An emoji is not a signature. No signatures, no building.
  6. Build the V1 in Photoshop (photo spreads) or Canva (text pages and ads), using real photos from the Pipeline. Follow the Design Bible.
  7. Post _V1.pdf in the same thread. Due 5 school days after the second SIGNED, and never later than Monday of checkpoint week.
  8. Someone proofs it and replies with notes by the end of the next class. (That’s Proof a Spread.)
  9. Fix every note. Post _V2.pdf. Put the print file in Walsworth and the whole folder in Drive. That’s the Hand-In.
Two signatures before you buildYour chair signs the plan, then Sensei does. Signing the plan lets us help you steer. Signing at the end could only say no.
No plan, no photo requestYour plan tells Outreach what photos to take. Skip it, and your page sits unfinished in February waiting for a photo nobody knew to take.
Two at a timeNobody works on more than 2 spreads at once. Finish one, then start the next.
02Compare yours to it2 of 7

What it should look like

Open any yearbook to a spread that works and you’ll find the same seven things on it. Every time.

MAIN PHOTO24 · SPORTS25 · SPORTS1234567
This isn’t a template. These are the seven things readers look for, even when they don’t know they’re looking.
  1. One main photo, at least twice as big as anything else. It tells the eye where to start.
  2. Three to five more photos from different distances: far, middle, close.
  3. A headline that says something. “Volleyball” is a label. “Nineteen straight, then Beverly” is a headline.
  4. Body copy, 150 to 250 words, with a real quote. Someone said something to you.
  5. A caption on every photo. Who, what, when. Full names, spelled right.
  6. A folio (page number and section) in the bottom outside corner of both pages.
  7. Nothing important near the spine. 0.375 in clear on each side of the fold.
The test

Point to all seven on your spread.Can’t point to one? It isn’t finished.

03The picture3 of 7

Visual guide

One file, three stages. The only thing that changes is the last word.

DRAFTthe plan_DRAFT.pdf2 SIGNED repliesV1built, up for proof_V1.pdfnotes come backV2every note fixed_V2.pdfwhat the checkpoint countsA PASS IS A V1 OR A V2. THE CHECKPOINT COUNTS V2 ONLY.
Clean V1 (zero notes) becomes your V2 right away. It counts once, and you get your Thursday back.
  • DRAFT
    _DRAFT · the plan. Chair signs, then Sensei. A draft is not a pass.
  • V1: PROOF
    _V1 · built, ready to be checked. Someone else reads it and posts notes. Counts as a pass.
  • V2: POLISHED
    _V2 · every note fixed. The version that goes in the book. Counts as a pass. The checkpoint only counts these.
  • The minimum
    Every checkpoint, Design owes 2 passes, everyone else owes 1. CP1 is extra long, so everyone owes one more: Design 3, everyone else 2.
  • Relays
    Hand off at V1 and start your next plan. Someone else takes it to V2. You both get a pass. Never hand off a DRAFT. Your chair decides who gets which handoff.
  • The clock
    V1 is due 5 school days after the second SIGNED, no later than Monday of checkpoint week. Proof by the end of the next class. Wednesday for fixes. Thursday, V2.

V1 is when it looks done.V2 is when it is done.

04The teaching4 of 7

Lesson

Why we plan first

A plan is quick to fix. A finished spread isn’t. Rebuilding a page you already designed costs you a weekend. Redrawing a sketch costs ten minutes.

Your chair checks whether it fits the section. Six volleyball spreads that look the same is a chair problem. Sensei checks whether it fits the book: fair coverage, and nothing that’s a problem once it’s printed. Once a plan is signed, it’s the plan. Want to change it? Talk to us first.

Which tool

  • Photoshop
    Photos are the main thing. Sports, events, candids, anything that runs off the edge. Real print color (CMYK).
  • Canva
    Mostly text. Ads, indexes, filler pages. Faster to lay out, easier to share.

Canva only works in RGB. Its colors shift when the book prints, and a Canva photo next to a Photoshop photo won’t match. No setting fixes this. Not sure? Ask your chair. Ten seconds.Guessing wrong can cost two weeks.

The printer’s numbers

300 dpi. CMYK. 0.125 in bleed. 0.375 in away from the spine. Page Specs has all of them, with the diagram and the print contrast checker. How the book looks this year (the modes, the type, the color) is in the Design Bible, and your proofer checks it against the Design Bible.

A draft is
  • A sketch, a photo list, a writing angle, an interview name
  • Specific enough that Outreach knows what to shoot
  • On paper, if that’s faster
A draft is not
  • A finished page
  • “Volleyball spread, photos TBD”
  • Something only you can read
The two mistakes that cost the most

Building at the wrong size. Can’t be fixed later. Start from Spread Setup every time.

No photo list in the plan. Every late spread in this class’s history had the same problem: nobody took the photos. The layout was never the issue.

05A real one5 of 7

Example

A real thread: FALL_PEP_RALLY_Gianna C_42-43, pages 42 and 43.

  • Fri Oct 2
    _DRAFT.pdf posted. Sketch: one big crowd shot, four smaller, headline angle “the loudest 40 minutes of October,” interview the ASB emcee. Photo list sent to Outreach.
  • Fri Oct 2
    Chair: SIGNED. Sensei: SIGNED.
  • Fri Oct 9
    _V1.pdf posted, five school days later. Built in Photoshop from the pep rally folder.
  • Mon Oct 12
    Proof comes back: a misspelled senior, one caption with no date, text too close to the spine.
  • Wed Oct 14
    _V2.pdf posted. All three fixed. Print file in Walsworth, folder in Drive.
Why this gets a 5

Signed before a single pixel was placed. Photo list in the draft, so the photos existed when the V1 was built. V1 on the clock. Three notes, three fixes, nothing argued. V2 two days before the checkpoint, not two minutes.

06Where it goes6 of 7

How to turn it in

How to turn it inThree posts, one thread

Every stage is turned in the same way: a PDF in your spread’s #yb-proofs thread, with a Drive link.

  1. DRAFT: post ..._DRAFT.pdf. Wait for two SIGNED replies.
  2. V1: post ..._V1.pdf in the same thread.
  3. V2: post ..._V2.pdf, then Walsworth, then Drive. The Hand-In has every click.

Bounty: hit your floor in V2s at the checkpoint and the bounty lands in your wallet. It climbs every checkpoint: 500 DK on 10/29, then 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1,000 DK on 3/18.
A pile of V1s pays nothing.

Open #yb-proofs ↗ Draft: Friday of draft week, 12:58 PM. V1: 5 school days after the second SIGNED, no later than Monday of checkpoint week, 12:58 PM. V2: checkpoint Thursday, 12:58 PM (start of 4th period).
07How it is scored7 of 7

Rubric

Three checks, 1 to 5 each. Same scale as Graphic Design.

Check1 looks like5 looks like
On timedraft Friday, V1 on the clock, V2 at the checkpointDraft posted the week of the checkpoint. V1 on Wednesday. V2 on Friday, which isn’t Thursday.Draft signed in draft week. V1 inside 5 school days. V2 posted before the Thursday bell.
Correctnames, facts, specs, the Design BibleA misspelled senior. Dark text on a dark photo. Built in RGB. One mode on the left page, a different one on the right.Every name checked against the roster and the student’s preferred name. Specs right. One mode, from the Design Bible.
Completeall seven partsA main photo and a headline, with “captions coming” and no folio.All seven parts, pointed to. Copy with a real quote. Nothing marked “later.”

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.

Check it yourself first, 90 seconds

  1. ☐One photo is clearly the biggest thing on the spread
  2. ☐Three to five more photos, none of them the same shot twice
  3. ☐The headline would make sense to someone who wasn’t there
  4. ☐150 to 250 words of copy, with a real person quoted
  5. ☐Every photo has a caption, every name is a full name spelled right
  6. ☐Both pages have a folio in the bottom outside corner
  7. ☐Nothing important within 0.375 in of the spine
  8. ☐300 dpi, CMYK, and it opens on someone else’s computer
0/8Nobody has ever failed all eight. Everybody fails one, every checkpoint.