Printable planners are great for creating a custom planner tailored to your specific needs. But if you’ve never printed a printable planner before, the process can seem a bit daunting. Not to worry – as a professional custom planner printing manufacturer, I’m going to walk you through exactly how to print a printable planner properly so you end up with a functional planner you’ll love using.
Why Printable Planners?
Before we get into the nitty gritty of printing, let’s first talk about why you may want to use a printable planner instead of a store-bought one. Here are some of the benefits of printable planners:
Customization
The main appeal of printable planners is the ability to fully customize your planner. You can choose planner pages that suit your needs and style. For example, if you want to track fitness goals, you can add fitness log pages. If you’re into journaling, add some journal prompts or dot grid pages.
Affordability
Premade planners can get very expensive. High-quality printable planner pages are usually available for free or at a very low cost. Then you just pay for printing. This allows you to create a planner equal in quality to a store-bought one for a fraction of the price.
Convenience
Don’t feel like heading to the store but need a new planner ASAP? Printable planners can be downloaded and printed in just minutes right from your home. No waiting around for shipping.
Flexibility
Did the layout you chose turn out not to work as expected? Simply print something new! Tired of dated planners that quickly become obsolete? Print undated pages that can be used year after year. Printable planners allow much more flexibility.
How to Print Printable Planners
Now let’s get into the step-by-step process for successfully printing your own planner pages.
Step 1: Choose Your Planner Size
First, decide what planner size you want to use. Some common sizes include:
- Letter size – 8.5 x 11 inches
- A4 size – 210 x 297mm
- Half letter – 5.5 x 8.5 inches
- A5 – 148 x 210mm
Keep in mind printable pages are usually designed for specific planner sizes. So if a printable says it’s formatted for A5, you’ll need to print it on A5 paper to avoid issues.
Step 2: Select Your Printer & Paper
You can print planner pages at home or using a professional printing service. If printing yourself, make sure your home printer and paper meet a few requirements:
- Inkjet or Laser Printer – Inkjets allow printing borderless full bleeds. Lasers have higher print quality. Either works well.
- Correct Paper Size – Use paper that matches your planner size to avoid cropping or excess margins.
- Heavy Paper – At least 20lb paper will hold up better over time. Cardstock is ideal for covers and dividers.
Step 3: Set Page Setup
The page setup options on your printer dialog box allows proper formatting of printable PDFs. Refer to your printer’s user manual if you can’t find these options. Key settings:
- Size: Letter, A4, etc.
- Orientation: Auto portrait/landscape
- Scale: Actual size, 100%
Leaving scale on “fit to page” or other defaults often resizes printables incorrectly.
Step 4: Print Your Planner!
You’re all ready to start printing your planner pages! Here are some final tips:
- Print only the pages you need rather than whole packs to save ink and paper.
- Enable duplex/double-sided printing to reduce paper use.
- Print a test page first before printing all your final pages.
- Allow pages to dry fully before stacking to avoid ink transfer.
And that’s it – you now know how to easily and successfully print your own printable planner pages! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Additional Planner Printing Tips
Here are some bonus tips to take your printable planner to the next level:
Create Visual Interest
Add graphics like checkboxes, icons, borders, or colors to make your planner pages more visually interesting and fun to use.
Reinforce Pages
Run printed pages through a laminator or use clear contact paper to give them a protective coating for added durability.
Enhance Dividers
Spice up section dividers by printing designs, photos, or text on cardstock before inserting into your planner.
Customize Your Cover
Make your planner cover stand out by printing your own design or label onto cardstock or using a printable planner cover template.
Improve Organization
Use sticky tabs, colored paperclips, or bookmarks to easily flip to important sections in your printable planner.
I hope these printing tips help you create an amazing custom planner using printable pages. Let me know if you have any other planner printing questions!