Frequently asked questions

Choose "Place an order," create or log into your account, and enter your school code — a short code your school's yearbook team shares (on order links or flyers) that unlocks your school's yearbook options. Don't have one, or your school isn't partnered with us yet? Ask your yearbook team for the code, or refer your school and we'll reach out to them.

Three things: auto-built myClass and myGrade pages with 35–60 photos relevant to your child from their classroom and grade, your child's name and photo on the cover, and the option to add two custom pages of your own. The pages are generated automatically — no design work needed from you.

Custom pages attach to a personalized book order. Add them while you're ordering, or later from the My Orders page — sign in with the one-time code we email you. For each book you can either upload a ready-made PDF, or upload 2–20 photos and we'll lay them out into a collage for you (enter the student's name and grade first). You can replace your pages anytime before your school's print deadline — there's no email step, everything is uploaded in the app, and you'll see an on-screen confirmation with a preview link once it's saved.

Print and delivery take about 3 weeks. Regular orders ship in bulk to your school's yearbook team, who handle distribution. Summer orders ship to the address you enter at checkout. If a book hasn't arrived within 3 weeks of ordering, reach out and we'll look into it.

Yearbooks are print only — there's no digital, PDF, or flipbook copy for families.

Once a book enters production it's printed and sealed, so changes aren't possible. Refunds for incorrect personalization, misprints, or damage are handled case by case — email support@rethinkyearbooks.com with your order number, or contact your school's yearbook team for urgent issues.

Email support@rethinkyearbooks.com. For urgent issues you can also reach your school's yearbook team directly.

Canva. You design the base book in Canva using our free templates and toolkits — nothing proprietary to install or learn. Your whole committee can collaborate in real time, and you can bring in any freelance Canva designer for extra help. Prefer not to design at all? We'll create the first draft for you, free.

No. There are no binding contracts and no deposits. Invoices are payable by card or check before books go to print.

The latest AI tech, put to work for your team — assistants designed to make you more efficient across the yearbook cycle, like choosing the best photos, spotting which classrooms or events are underrepresented, and flagging which orders are missing a portrait photo. More helpers are on the way.

Print and delivery — that's the only fixed deadline, about 3 weeks. Every other date is a recommended milestone. Event photos can be added as late as 3 days before the print cutoff. If books don't reach print in time, on-time delivery before the last day of school can't be guaranteed.

It's optional and you choose when to announce it. After the regular cycle ends, the same link and school code switch to summer ordering automatically, and summer ordering closes on the date you set, or June 30 — whichever comes first. Summer works a little differently: books are priced $5 higher, ship straight to the buyer's home for a shipping charge of about $8–9, and no fundraising margin is collected on summer orders. Any custom pages must be uploaded at the time the order is placed, and an order can be canceled for a refund any time before it is sent to print; after that it goes into production and is non-refundable.

Email us and we'll confirm whether we're already an approved vendor for your district. If we're not yet on the list, we're happy to start the approval process and become an authorized vendor for you.

Most photographers — Lifetouch, Dorian, and others — provide student portraits in PSPA format for the yearbook, even if you don't use their book service. We can read whatever format your photographer shares and automatically generate the portrait pages.

Photos are collected in Google Drive folders (you can use what we set up or create one in your Google Drive) — one folder per event. If you'd like to gather photos from parents, we can provide a "request-only" upload link so families can add photos without seeing anyone else's submissions.

If you'd rather not design, our team builds your book's first draft for free. We work entirely from the requirements you share up front — your photos in the Google Drive folders we set up, your page list, and any layout or content preferences — and deliver a complete first draft built to match. The more you tell us before we start, the closer that first draft lands to what you want.

Student photos are used only to build your school's yearbook — never to train AI models. They're stored securely on U.S.-based servers and deleted after the yearbook season ends. Final yearbook files are kept longer so schools and families can reorder or reprint copies in the future. Families never see each other's custom pages, and our request-only upload links let parents contribute photos without seeing anyone else's submissions.

Usually not. Because there are no contracts or deposits, and we can build your first draft from photos you've already collected, schools can start with us partway through the year. As long as your book reaches print in time, we can deliver before the last day of school — tell us your date and we'll work backward from it.

You set the family price above your cost and keep the difference — most schools add $2–5 per book, so a 300-book sale raises roughly $600–$1,500 for your PTA. There's no upfront cost and no unsold-inventory risk, since families order and pay online and we only print what's ordered.

Yes. As long as your book reaches print by the agreed cutoff — about 3 weeks before you need it — we guarantee delivery before your last day of school, or we make it right. Every book is printed in the USA.