Mistakes happen, errors are missed, and typos are made! We don’t intentionally do it—we have a lot of small and large details to keep track of and proofread. Unfortunately, sometimes, the people who are the ones affected aren’t so understanding, so we do our best to make it right, but we have limitations and ways to make it as right as we can.
Here are some mistakes I have made in my 13 years:
- Misspelled Names
- Cut off Names
- Wrong names
- Duplicate photos
- Missing student portrait
- Student nowhere in the yearbook
- Wrong font used on a page or the wrong size
- Leaving out a section
- Forgetting a club or sports team
- Typo of a heading
- Photo with unexpected hand gestures
- And I’m sure many more…
Some are easily corrected or apologized for, but it’s easy to make these errors or overlook them by mistake.
Here’s a list of 10 common errors often missed in yearbooks:
- Misspelled Names: One of the most frequent mistakes is incorrectly spelling student, teacher, or staff names.
- Forgotten Students: Accidentally leaving out a student, especially in class photos or team sections.
- Incorrect Grade Levels: Listing a student under the wrong grade level or mislabeling class photos.
- Misidentifying Students in Photos: Mixing up student names in captions or incorrectly labeling group photos.
- Duplicate Photos: Accidentally using the same photo multiple times in different sections of the yearbook.
- Inconsistent Fonts and Formatting: Having different font sizes, styles, or inconsistent spacing throughout the book.
7. Wrong Dates or Event Names: Using incorrect dates or naming events incorrectly (e.g., mislabeling a dance or sports game).
8. Missing or Incorrect Photo Credits: Forgetting to give credit to photographers or incorrectly attributing photos to the wrong person.
9. Typos in Captions and Quotes: Simple grammatical errors, misspellings, or punctuation mistakes in photo captions or quotes.
10. Empty or Missing Pages: Forgetting to finalize or fill in pages, leaving blank spaces or unfinished sections in the yearbook.
11. Inconsistent Page Numbers: Skipped or repeated page numbers, or misaligned page numbers that don’t match the table of contents.
12. Incorrect Photo Alignment: Misaligned photos or images that are cut off, stretched, or pixelated due to improper resolution.
13. Wrong Logos or School Colors: Using outdated or incorrect school logos or colors that don’t match the school’s official branding.
14. Unintentional Cropping of Faces: Cutting off parts of people’s faces in group photos due to improper cropping.
15. Spelling Errors in Headlines or Section Titles: Missing or incorrect letters in prominent headlines or section titles, which are easy to overlook.
16. Wrong Teacher or Staff Titles: Using the wrong job titles or roles for teachers and staff (e.g., calling a counselor a teacher or listing someone with the wrong subject).
17. Incorrect Quotes or Attribution: Misquoting students or staff or attributing quotes to the wrong person.
18. Inconsistent Theme Execution: Failure to follow through with the yearbook’s theme on every page, leading to sections that feel disconnected or off-theme.
19. Incorrect or Missing Deadlines: Misstating important deadlines for senior photos, ad submissions, or club participation, leading to confusion or missed contributions.
20. Low-Quality or Blurry Images: Using photos that are too small or low-resolution, resulting in poor image quality when printed.
These common mistakes can be avoided with multiple rounds of proofreading and thorough checking! If they do happen, don’t think you are alone in making these mistakes or missing them, and do your best to make it right. Your efforts to fix it will be appreciated.