The last two weeks before the print deadline
Day by day: what has to happen in the fourteen days before you hand over the print files, what must not happen any more, and the three things that always still turn up.
The last two weeks are the only phase of the project with real time pressure from outside. Until now everything could slip by a week. Not any more: the printer’s delivery date is fixed, and the leavers’ ball sits right behind it.
The good news: two weeks is plenty — as long as nothing new gets collected during them.
The one rule
From day 1 nothing new is accepted. No profile, no photo, no quote, no free page, no advert. What isn’t there now isn’t in the book.
That sounds harsh, and it is the only reason two weeks are enough. Every exception costs two things: the work itself, and the reflow of every page after it. A late page is never just one page.
Announce it to the year group a week beforehand, clearly and with a date. And then hold it. This is exactly where it is decided whether you hand over on time.
Day by day
Day 1–2 — Take stock
- Export the complete PDF. From now on that is the working version.
- Count it against the name list: who has no profile? Who is missing from the photo pages? Who has no free page?
- Decide what happens with the gaps. Two legitimate routes: fill the space some other way, or a collective page “without a profile” — but decide, don’t leave it open.
- Go through the sponsors: are all the adverts there, in the size promised?
- Check the page count: an even number, and does it fit the printer’s step size?
Day 3–5 — Proofing round 1 (content)
Names, attributions, numbers. Two people, one list, as described in Proofreading.
In parallel: finish the cover. The spine width depends on the final page count — which is why it comes only now.
Day 6 — Apply and re-export
Apply every correction from round 1, export again, declare the old version invalid. The most common mistake in this phase is somebody still correcting in the old PDF.
Day 7–8 — Proofing round 2 (form)
Spelling, hyphenation, line breaks, page numbers. A different person from round 1.
Day 9 — Apply, then leaf through
Apply the corrections, export again. Then: one person looks at the complete PDF from front to back without reading it. Just looking at pages. That is what finds empty pages, duplicated images, a photo at the wrong size.
Day 10 — Sign-off
One person says “this goes out”. By name, with a date. Without that moment there is nobody later who owns the version — and three people who think it isn’t finished yet.
Day 11 — Hand over
Upload, wait for the printer’s confirmation, react to their questions. Expect them: the most common are bleed, spine width and an image at too low a resolution.
Day 12–14 — Buffer
The three days that make the difference. If nothing comes: a gift. If the printer objects to something, you have time to fix it instead of having to beg.
The three things that always still turn up
Hard-won experience. Plan for them and they aren’t a crisis:
1. Somebody has no profile and notices now. Decide in advance how you handle it — a 24-hour extension, or the collective page. What you should not do: fill it in for them. A profile with invented answers is worse than none.
2. A photo is too small. Usually one from a chat. Two options: place it smaller, or replace it. Don’t upscale it — that looks mushy in print.
3. A quote becomes a problem. Somebody reads the PDF, recognises themselves and isn’t happy. Take it out. Don’t argue. A quote is never worth the risk, and in AbiHive the person named can take it off the wall themselves — and then it drops out of the book too.
What must not happen in these two weeks
- Fundamental layout debates. The typeface does not change now.
- New chapters. Not even small ones.
- Accepting late sponsor commitments if pages have to be rebuilt for them. Take the commitment for next year.
- Working on the layout while proofing runs. One version at a time.
- Changing the print run without having counted the paid pre-orders.
What can run in parallel
Not everything has to wait. These things cost no layout time and get tight later:
- Collecting and settling pre-orders — the run has to be fixed before the handover.
- Planning distribution: when, where, who hands them out. See Distributing, selling, leftover copies.
- Deciding on free copies: teachers, the office, the head, sponsors, the archive.
- Preparing the handover to the next year group — everything is still fresh now, see Handover.
Takeaways
- From day 1 nothing new is accepted. Announce it a week beforehand.
- Two proofing rounds, re-export in between, declare the old version invalid.
- Leaf through the whole thing once without reading.
- One named sign-off, then hand over.
- Three days of buffer for the printer’s questions.
- Pre-orders, free copies and distribution run in parallel.
More from Organisation
Schedule for a new year group: one school year, twelve stages
When do you start the yearbook, and what is due when? The process across a whole school year — with the dates that follow backwards from the leavers' ball.
Setting up the committee: who does what
How big does a yearbook committee need to be, which roles do you actually need, and how do you stop two people ending up doing everything? Roles, division, handovers.
Handing over to the next year group
Every year a committee starts from zero — even though the knowledge is already in the building. What to pass on, in what form, and the one hour that saves the next year group weeks.