The Internet has always been a fantastic resource for information, but as online applications grow in sophistication, we now have access to many online tools that can help you create your yearbook – including, of course, Spacific Creative’s specialist yearbook software.
BACKGROUND REMOVE
While you can remove backgrounds in an application like Photoshop or even Microsoft Office (Under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Remove Background), it’s sometimes easier and quicker to use an online solution. Try PhotoScissors or Clipping Magic.
CROP OR COMPRESS
Open a new presentation on Microsoft PowerPoint. Click ‘insert’ on the main menu, scroll down and click ‘insert from file’. Double click the photograph and you’ll have a range of options, including a compression button that lets you choose your resolution. You can also crop your photographs.
When you’re finished, right click on the photograph and right click as ‘save as picture’ to save your edited photograph in a directory outside of PowerPoint.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Ideally, your school magazine will include photographs of the school’s news, activities and people, but your advertisers may require a ‘file’ photograph that is eye-catching and professional. Instead of buying a photograph, visit Unsplash.
Unsplash provides stunning photographs for free. All they ask is that you credit the photographer for his or her work.
MATCH FONT
If you need to find out what font was used in a piece of content, many online tools can help identify the typeface, including Font Squirrel, Fontspring and Identifont.
They generally work by scanning a sample image of the text that you upload. Browser extensions like WhatFont can help you identify fonts used on websites.
COLOUR PALETTES
Choosing a colour scheme for your yearbook can be tricky. Thankfully there are sites like Coolors or Adobe Color that can help you create a palette of complementary colours. Colormind is an A.I powered colour scheme generator that will generate a palette based on an image you upload.
WRITING & PROOFING
Sites like Grammarly and ProWritingAid can help with spelling and grammar, although their suggestions can sometimes be off the mark.
When seeking feedback on your design work, emailing out a PDF to everyone can quickly get out of hand, with multiple versions in circulation and the need to collate all the comments.
To remove the hassle, consider using a cloud-based proofing site like PageProof or GoProof to upload, share and collaborate with others on your team – but the monthly cost can be quite high.
Spacific Creative’s yearbook software also allows for multi-user collaboration and works from anywhere with an Internet connection.
ARTWORK
Canva is an online graphic design tool that gives you lots of templates – along with drag and drop functionality. The free version has restrictions, but it can still be handy for generating simple shapes, icons and background and print media graphics.
