Hello everyone!
Today I am going to tell you how I create my super quick and basic planner inserts and
printables.
Before I learned how to use illustrator and photoshop I created all of my printables in
Microsoft Word, because it was the only program I had access to.
I was inspired to do this video after watching a couple of videos on Skillshare about planning,
organization and time management.
One of those videos teaches how to create planner pages using Adobe Illustrator so that’s
why I decided to show you how you can some basic layouts using software that most people
have in their computer – Microsoft Word.
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For this tutorial I will be creating one planner page for half a week.
You can apply these methods for any kind of printables, from yearly calendars to to-do
lists, meal planners, fitness trackers, project planenrs and so on.
Independently of the project, the first thing you need to do is setup the page size in Microsoft
Word.
The size you choose depends on the planner, binder or general medium you want to print
the inserts for.
You can either pick from one of the pre-defined sizes or customize your own by going to format
document, page setup and then define the paper size.
Make sure that whatever size you choose is compatible with your printer so there will
be no hassles during the printing process.
For calendars, monthly views and weekly views, you can either create an automatic table to
quickly sketch the layout but for better precision, I advise you to use shapes.
Simply click the shape button and select a rectangle shape that you can place anywhere
you want.
Click and drag the corners to resize the box and place it on the page.
In order to have full freedom and not be bothered with margins, make sure to select wrap text
and then chose a setting like behind or in front of text so you can move the shape around
without being blocked by the lines that define the header and footer of the page.
You can either fill the box with a solid color or, like I am doing here, deleting the fill
and reduce the line width and selecting a different color for the outline instead of
black.
For precise measures, to duplicate the selected box for the other days of the week, simply
press ctrl or command C whether you are using a windows pc or a mac and then press ctrl
or command v and it will copy and paste an identical shape.
Microsoft Word also helps you snap the shapes together for better precision so you don’t
have to worry about aligning everything perfectly.
To insert the days and month it’s easier to create a textbox instead of typing in the
regular page layout.
You have total freedom with filling the textbox with color or deleting the outline so it looks
better integrated in your design.
Be creative and pick a font, consult your calendar and type the day and month according
to your layout.
For the purpose of this tutorial I am just starting October on a Monday but be sure to
check your calendar previously to make sure you don’t make any mistakes.
If you want to create an entire planner from scratch you can actually do it in Microsoft
Word.
I suggest you to create a file for each page individually instead of designing your planner
in just one document, to avoid any formatting mistakes that can ruin your entire planner
without you noticing.
You can export each individual file in PDF format and use a converter online to merge
the files together so you can batch print your planner in one go.
When designing your printables always remember to visualize the finalized layout of your
project.
If you want to create a planner, you need to remember to rearrange the layout for odd
and even pages so when printed the margins match both sides in the area where the coil
perforates the paper.
If all the pages are the same, then one of the sides will be printed wrongly.
In that sense, be careful when creating printables for binding or filing.
Leave a wide enough margin to allow the binder rings or coil to go through.
The good thing about creating your own printables is that you can go all out according to your
own planning needs.
Meal planning, budgets, fitness trackers, weather trackers, checklists and so on – you
can create the best spreads according to your lifestyle and organization methods and it’s
really easy to do so with this drag and drop interface.
You can also quickly color different sections with light hues to differentiate your layout.
If you need to change multiple shapes, always remember you can press shift and click all
the shapes and textboxes you would like to move and they will group so you can move them
around more easily.
As I mentioned earlier, to maintain the overall look of your layout before printing, make
sure to save as a PDF file to avoid any problems or incompatibilities between versions of Microsoft
Word.
Finally, test your printer and a couple of pages before you start batch printing your
creations.
Sometimes this a process of trial and error so make sure all the settings for page size
and margin printing are correct in your printer, try to see if you can get used to manual printing
on both sides and experiment with different sizes and layouts before printing the final
result.
I know this tutorial was pretty basic for many of you but there were so many requests
that I had to film this video.
For those of you who don’t like the hassle of designing calendars, I have provided a
free printable 12 months calendar that you can download right away with the link provided
in the downbar.
I hope you enjoyed today’s video and I will see you next week.
Bye!