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Video: The Crop Tool – Yearbooks Desktop

Posted by: admin In: Help and Tips, Tutorials, Videos 09 Oct 2013 Comments: 4 Tags: candid, crop, crop tool, help, text, toolbar, tutorial, video, youtube

We published our first new video for Yearbooks last week, and the topic was the Floating Toolbar.   This is the second video from that recording session, and another recording session will be scheduled shortly.  If you have any ideas for video topics, please leave a comment and we will consider making it into a help video!

The Crop Tool is one of the most useful and versatile tools in Yearbooks.   The tool can be most easily accessed by simply double-clicking on any candid image.  The first thing you will see when the Crop Tool opens up is a full-resolution display of the image you are cropping.  Sometimes this can be a very large image (as Dave shows us in the video) so you may need to zoom out a bit (or a lot, depending on the image of course).   The “Rotate 90” button is a quick way to correct images that were imported and appear sideways – this can happen when you are importing photos from multiple sources like smart-phones or digital cameras, not all of them will save the image orientation correctly.

Simply draw a box where you want to crop the image, and click the crop button.  It’s that simple!  If you make a mistake, just return to the page, delete the photo and re-import it, and then you can try again.  You can find more information about the Crop Tool in our online help guide.

We will be adding new videos every week so be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and thanks for watching.

 

Video: Floating Toolbar Overview – Yearbooks Desktop

Posted by: admin In: Help and Tips, Tech Support, Tutorials, Uncategorized, Videos 03 Oct 2013 Comments: 0 Tags: candid, floating toolbar, text, toolbar, tutorial, video, youtube

As mentioned last week, we have completed shooting a new tutorial video on the Floating Toolbar in the new Yearbooks Desktop (download here).   We managed to record two videos during the session, and the first one was edited today.

The floating toolbar is one of the new enhancements granted to us by developing the Canvas page editor.   The toolbar appears on the right side of your screen when you right click on any object and choose “Object Properties”.  From the toolbar you have access to a context sensitive menu – when you click on a text object, the text controls are enabled; likewise when you click on a shape or candid image, the corresponding controls are activated.    We made this change to provide more screen ‘real estate’, and the result is that the draw area of the Page Editor has gained about 20% more workable space.

Here’s the video, we’ll be adding more videos very soon.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to know about new videos and announcements.

 

Yearbooks Desktop Help Videos – New Content Coming Soon

Posted by: admin In: Help and Tips, Tech Support, Tutorials, Videos 24 Sep 2013 Comments: 0 Tags: help, import, playlist, PSPA, tutorial, video, year book, yearbook, youtube

If you are brand new to our software and are looking for some instruction on how to get started, or an overview of the major features of the program, you should definitely visit our YouTube channel.  We’ve created tutorial videos of how to Import Students from your PSPA File, Generate PDF files, Auto-Flow your Panels, and over a dozen more helpful videos for Yearbooks Desktop.

Each year we review our video archives to share new best practices, highlight new features and promote our software around the net.   This year we have decided to create some new videos, and the production will start immediately!  Dave and Simon are setting up the recording studio space and will be adding new videos to our channel very soon.  We don’t have a voice actor this year, so it’s likely we’ll hear one of their voices on the audio track.  This year we are recording the videos with CamStudio and editing them with Sony Vegas Pro and Photoshop (our previous videos were mostly created with CamTasia).

Do you have any suggestions or topics you’d like discussed or demonstrated in a video ?  Leave us a comment below.   Here is our current Yearbooks Desktop YouTube playlist, which you can also get to by clicking the ‘Videos’ button on the Registration Screen.

 

High School Spells Own Name Wrong on Yearbook Cover

Posted by: admin In: Covers, Help and Tips, proofing, Yearbook Blunders, Yearbooks Desktop 19 Sep 2013 Comments: 2 Tags: cover, proofing, proofreading, reprint, spelling mistake, video, yearbook blunders

Here’s some commentary from vlogger Richard Fowler, of The Richard Fowler Show, on a school in Moorhead, MN that has discovered a quite unfortunate spelling mistake on the front cover of their 2013 Yearbook. They have spelled the school name wrong. The cost to reprint the book is over $19,000 dollars, which means that the 2013 edition of the Yearbook will remain the way it is, misspellings and all.

The front cover of Moorhead HS's 2013 Yearbook.

The front cover of Moorhead HS’s 2013 Yearbook.

This is a perfect example of why the proofreading stage must not be rushed, and your yearbook design project should always be proofread by at least one other person. Often times you can make a simple mistake, like this school, and not notice the error until it is too late. A printing error, especially on the cover, can run into the thousands of dollars to correct and as such, most schools would choose to not reprint the book.  We have written a large number of articles for our Yearbooks Desktop help guide to help you through the proofing stage, which you can browse here.  Unfortunately, no software or article is going to be able to detect when you spell a name incorrectly, so our best practice is once again to take as much time as you can in the proofing stage.

As Mr. Fowler says, “Always proofread.  When you’re done proofreading, PROOFREAD AGAIN!”

 

Keeping up with the times – QR Codes in Yearbooks!

Posted by: admin In: Help and Tips 02 Nov 2012 Comments: 0 Tags: 2013, candids, desktop, import, page editor, photography, QR, QR Code, video, year book, yearbook

Our team was inspired this morning, after reading a story about a Texas high school bringing their yearbooks a leap forward using modern technology.

The changes sparked by new Apple mobile devices on campuses can already be seen in a long-cherished print product, the McAllen High School Yearbook. The first page of the 2012 edition sports a QR code — a kind of barcode that can be scanned with a cellphone, often to pick up website URLs.

Each QR code in the yearbook takes readers to a video of a different club or sports team, all shot with iPads distributed last year.

Check out the full story here!

So, interested in using this innovative idea for your own yearbook?  We thought so, so we put together a short tech note outlining the whole process, from shooting the video to adding the QR code to your yearbook.

Themed banners are all the rage

Posted by: admin In: Uncategorized 23 Oct 2012 Comments: 0 Tags: 2013, banner, desktop, page editor, photography, support, video, year book, yearbook

Banners are easily becoming the most talked about new feature in Yearbooks Desktop.  If you don’t already know, banners are themed header and footer packages that can be added to your pages.

We offer several sets of banners.  Each set contains standard headers for grades, activities, field trips, autographs, etc, as well as matching footers.  A ‘Blank’ header is also available so you can insert your own page title.

Learn how to add banners using our online help videos!  Banners can be added to one page at a time, or they can be added to multiple pages using the auto flow banners function.

Change your banner theme at any time, and watch as all of your pages are updated with the new theme automatically.

This has been a successful launch!

Posted by: admin In: Press Release 28 Sep 2012 Comments: 0 Tags: 2013, desktop, help, support, video, year book, yearbook

September is coming to and end, and we are reaching the end of our launch.  Yearbooks Desktop is more popular than ever this season, as people are excited about inexpensive alternatives for their yearbook solution.

We’ve been strengthening our support system daily, by adding tutorial videos, and help articles on our support page.  Watch for new content every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!

Are you following us on Twitter yet?  Did you know that you can launch support tickets from there, as well as facebook?  Whichever channel is most convenient for you, we’ll be there!

Do you recognize the header and footer used on this blog?  If not, you should learn about banners!  Learn about them in the help manual, or just try them out in the software!

 

Help videos posted for Yearbooks Desktop!

Posted by: admin In: Press Release 26 Sep 2012 Comments: 0 Tags: 2013, desktop, private label, video, year book, yearbook

Two new help videos posted for Yearbooks Desktop!  Check them out right here, or head to the video page.

Having trouble registering the software?  Here’s a short walk through of the registration process. You’ll need to get a registration code from your publisher.

Do you need to add, remove, or change the location of your page number? Here’s a quick video that will show you how to do just that!

Keep in mind that some publishers do not allow you to change the position of the page number. You’ll know that is the case if you do not see a ‘Custom Footer’ button on your page ladder.

Do you have suggestions for additional tutorial videos that you’d like to see? Let us know!

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