Hi y’all! We are all super busy with work, sport schedules, and daily routines (just to name a few). It can get a little overwhelming to keep track of multiple schedules at once. So today I am going to show you step-by-step how to make a daily planner in Canva!
Canva is an incredible online tool! You can use it to make flyers, birthday cards, social media posts, and much more. They offer gorgeous graphics, beautiful fonts, and hundreds of templates to make your vision come to life!
Tip: You can easily tweak these steps to personalize the daily planner to fit your needs.
What you need:
- Canva account
- Computer or Laptop (Canva also has an app for your phone)
- Internet connection
- Access to a Printer
How to make a daily planner
Step 1:
First you will need to either create an account in Canva or sign into your existing account.
Canva offers a few different plans. I personally have the Pro plan (so my screen may look a little different). But you can easily make this daily planner on the Free plan!
Step 2:
Secondly, you will need to search for the US Letter Document template. This is your typical 8.5″ x 11″ paper size.
Then choose the blank template.
Step 3:
Next, give your design a title (this makes it easier to find later).
Then click on Text, add a Heading and type in “Daily Planner”. You can change the font and size as well.
How to create Prioritized/ To-do list sections
Step 4:
Now, we are going to add a box to help separate the different sections on our planner. So, click on Elements, then click on the Square. To Resize, simply click on the corner and drag.
Step 5:
If you want to change the color of the Square, simply click on the colored square in the tool bar, then choose your desired color. I also like to change the Transparency of the square. This will make the colors lighter so you can see the text better. As well as, keep the printables pretty while saving printer ink.
Step 6:
In this step we are going to turn this Square into a “Top Priorities” section.
Start by adding another Heading (found under “Text” in the sidebar). Next click on Elements, click on Lines and Shapes, then click on a Line. You can change the Line Weight (thickness) in the top tool bar. You can also Resize the Line by clicking on the end and Dragging/Sliding.
Then drag the line into the square.
Step 7:
Now we are going to add a check box (circle) beside the line. You may still be in Elements but if not, click on Elements then click on Lines and Shapes. Now select the Circle Outline. We are going to want this circle much smaller so Click on the corner and Drag. You can also change the color by clicking on the colored square in the top tool bar.
Now place the circle to the left of the line inside of the square.
how to group elements
Step 8:
In this step we are going to Group elements; it looks intimidating but it’s really not!
You will start by clicking on the Line. Then hold Shift and click on the Circle. (They should both be highlighted in blue.) Now click Group in the top tool bar. This will weld the 2 elements together as 1.
Once the 2 elements are grouped you can Copy/Paste to create more (I have 5 total) or simply click the Duplicate button in the top tool bar.
Now we need to get the “Groups” perfectly lined up. To do that place your top and bottom groups where you want them. Then select all of the “groups” and click on Position, then Tidy Up. This takes the guess work out of having evenly spaced elements!
Step 9:
So, I have to admit I nearly forgot to add a section for the Date! Luckily it is super simple to add. First drag the “Daily Planner” text to the left. Then click on Text in the sidebar, add a Heading, and type in Date. Then add a Line (click Elements, Lines and Shapes, choose a Line, then Resize).
Now we are going to add a “To-Do List” section by simply selecting our Line/Circle combo and Duplicating (or Copy/Paste). Add as many as you need (I added 7) then Tidy Up. (You can find the instructions to Tidy Up in Step 8.)
how to make a daily planner with a “schedule” layout
Step 10:
First you will need to click on Elements, Lines and Shapes, then click on the Square Outline. We want the outline to be thinner so click on the corner and drag to make the entire square smaller. Then click on the end and drag to make the box longer. (See below photo.)
Step 11:
To add more boxes simply click on the box. Then click Duplicate.
Step 12:
Now we are going to add a Line to create a Divider. So click on Elements, Lines and Shapes, and choose a Line. You can adjust the Line Weight in the top tool bar. then turn the line vertically by clicking on the “curved arrows” and spinning the line.
You can then drag the line into the boxes and lengthen it by clicking on the ends and dragging.
Lastly, add text at the top of the section. (Mine says “Schedule”.)
*This is a great section to add work meetings or sporting events!
adding a meal plan section
Step 13:
Having a plan for meals is a good idea. It helps eliminate extra trips to the store for needed items. As well as, saves us the headache of figuring out what to make for supper every night.
To get started simply click on the preexisting Square under “Top Priorities”. Then click Duplicate. To shorten it, click on the bottom edge and drag upwards.
Next add 3 Lines and Text in front of each one to identify Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner (B, L, D.)
add a Mini “weekly planner” section
Step 14:
This last section is perfect for a mini “Weekly Planner” or even Notes.
Simply select 4 Line/Circle combos from a previous section, then Duplicate them. You can Resize them by clicking and dragging at the corner.
How to allign and download your daily planner
Step 15:
After I completed all of the sections I noticed they weren’t centered. In order to Center/Align all of your sections click outside of the Page and Drag your cursor over the parts you want to move. (They will be highlighted in blue.)
Once they are highlighted release the cursor and click on the entire section. Drag until they are centered.
Step 16:
You can also add more Pages to your daily planner by either clicking the Duplicate Page (this will give you an exact copy of your design) or Add Page (this will give you a blank sheet).
Step 17:
To Download your Daily Planner click on the downward facing arrow, select PDF Print, then click Download. You will find your design in your computer’s Download folder!
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I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I know there was a lot of information but I wanted to make sure that I added enough details to make it as simple as possible. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments section below!