Product Design
Best Way To Make a Digital Planner: All You Need To Know
Vladislav Gavriluk
A digital planner makes it easy to keep track of everything that needs attention, especially if you customize it to your requirements. But how do you make a digital planner? Read this article to find out.
Arounda’s team takes on complex design and development projects that require careful organization. Thus, we are no strangers to making a digital planner. We know that it can take some time and effort, but eventually, you get a great tool to stay productive and hold the right course. In this article, we'll share some tips from our experience.
Table of Contents
What Is a Digital Planner?
A digital planner is a digital version of a conventional paper planner. It is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a more efficient and convenient way to organize their life and work. Here are the advantages of a digital planner:
1. Portability. You can quickly transfer digital planners between devices, which makes them more portable than paper ones. You can access them from any device: a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
2. Customizability. You can easily customize digital planners to meet your needs: add or remove pages, change the layout, and modify the design.
3. Ease-of-use. Unlike a paper planner, in which it's difficult to correct a mistake, you can make changes in a virtual planner as many times as you like.
4. Durability. Digital planners are less susceptible to damage or loss than paper ones.
5. Cost-effectiveness. Digital planners are often less expensive than their paper predecessors. Especially if you know how to design a digital planner yourself. Also, you can save money on ink and paper.
6. Eco-friendly. Using a digital planner can help reduce paper waste.
How to Use It in Your Business?
A digital planner can be a valuable tool for businesses, helping to increase productivity and keep all important details at hand. For example, you can track marketing campaigns, control expenses, forecast revenues, and make budget adjustments as needed.
But beyond that, they are also helpful for developing creativity. If you know the best way to make a digital planner, you can create not just another boring scheduler but a work of art that will be a pleasure to work with. Design an innovative personal planner, a team planner, a project-specific planner, etc.
You may give each team member a task to come up with the most creative planner. Then discuss the results at a joint meeting, highlighting unusual solutions and bold ideas. It helps to boost the team's creativity.
How To Make a Digital Planner: Key Steps
1. Design
The best way to make a digital planner is to use a tried and tested digital tool. Here are a few options you should consider.
Google Slides
Google Slides offers basic design tools. For more advanced features and design options, you can use other programs, such as Adobe InDesign or Canva. However, Google Slides is a free, cloud-based software that you can use to create your own digital planner with little effort.
Useful features:
-Different templates available
-Customization: choosing the color scheme and font styles, adding images.
-Real-time collaboration, an excellent feature for a team planner.
PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a widely used presentation software developed by Microsoft. In addition, it's also a simple tool for making a digital planner.
Useful features:
-Slide masters with information about the theme and slide layouts.
-Grouping objects makes working with complex slide layouts easier.
Keynote
Apple developed Keynote as a presentation software that enables users to create engaging and visually appealing presentations. You can use it for digital planners as well.
Useful features:
-Various templates you can use as a starting point.
-Slide masters’ creation.
-Charts and graphs to progress.
-Grouping objects together makes moving, resizing, and editing them easier.
Affinity Publisher
Affinity Publisher is a desktop publishing software for magazines, brochures, flyers, etc.
Useful features:
-Creating master pages that make it easy to maintain a consistent layout throughout your document.
-Creating Text Styles.
-Saving commonly used elements such as images, logos, and graphics for quick access.
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a professional publishing and page layout designing program, so you should be ready to spend some time mastering it. However, your efforts will pay off.
Useful features:
-Various layout and design tools, including grids and guides, master pages, character and paragraph styles.
-Integration with other Adobe products such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
-Multiple typography options, including advanced kerning and tracking, OpenType font support, and more.
Canva
Canva offers a variety of design elements, such as backgrounds, fonts, and illustrations, that you can use to create a unique digital planner. Experiment with different layouts and styles to find what works best for your needs.
Useful features:
-Wide range of templates to start with.
-Template customization via changing the text, font, color, and images. You can also add photos or graphics.
-Grid that allows you to align your design elements.
2. Linking
Here are some general tips for linking when creating a digital planner:
-Plan your page links. Having a clear idea of how you want to link your pages together is essential.
-Use consistent link formatting throughout your digital planner: the same color, font, and style.
-After creating your links, test them thoroughly to ensure they are accessible and work correctly.
-Create bookmarks for each planner section, and link them to the corresponding pages. It can help you quickly jump to the area you need.
3. Exporting
When you design your own digital planner, you should consider exporting your document as a PDF file. Ensure you export as a multi-page PDF to include all planner sections.
Review the final version of your planner and make any necessary edits or adjustments before sharing or printing it.
Summary
A planner designed specifically for your needs will make your work smoother. We hope that the list of tools and other information from this article will make the task of creating your own digital planner easier for you.
When we start working on a project, we always plan it as thoroughly as possible. Our team keeps its processes clear and transparent. As a client, you can track our progress and see the time spent on every task and what will be done next.
Careful planning and profound expertise allow us to offer high-quality design and development services. Therefore, if you need help with your digital product, don't hesitate to contact us.
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Frequently asked questions
- How can I make a digital planner?
Select a software or app you're comfortable with to create a digital planner. Next, decide on the layout and structure of your planner before beginning to design each page. Use the same colors, fonts, and styles throughout your planner to ensure a consistent look.
- Can you use Canva to create a planner?
Yes. To make a digital planner in Canva, choose a template or create a new design. Then, you can add different elements, such as text, shapes, images, and lines, to make your desired layout. Canva also provides various icons, stickers, and illustrations that you can use to decorate your planner.
- Can you make money designing digital planners?
The question “How do you create a digital planner?” comes hand-in-hand with another: “How do you make money of it?” You can create and sell digital planers on online marketplaces like Etsy, Gumroad, or Shopify. In particular, you can offer custom planners for specific purposes.
- What is the best program to create a planner?
The choice of a program for creating a digital planner depends on your preferences, design skills, and the required functionality. We recommend Google Slides if you're going to make it quick, Adobe InDesign for advanced-level designing, and Canva or Keynote if you're looking for multiple design templates.
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