How to Create Landscape Digital Planners in Canva
After creating your digital planner document and cover page, you'll need to format your landscape digital planner pages in Canva. When we are referring to a “Landscape Digital Planner” these are two-page digital planner layouts. This means that the end user would use the planner in a landscape orientation on their tablet of choice, and the digital planner would function as a two-page digital planner.
I'll walk you through the steps, click-by-click, to create your landscape digital planner in Canva.
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Prior to starting the following steps, please make sure you have created a new document inside of Canva, and already created your cover page. Once that is completed, you will want to select the “Add Page” button to start your landscape digital planner layout.
On the new page, add the same background that was originally used on the cover page. Our instructions will start at this point. If you need additional help, join our Facebook group, and I'll be there to help you.
Alternative Method:
You can also use the “Duplicate” button on your cover page, and then delete the cover page elements until you have a blank state. Either way works!
Create the Landscape (Two-Page) Layout in Canva
- Use the left-side menu and select “Elements.”
- Select “Lines and Shapes”
- Select the Square Element to add it to the page
- With the Square selected, select the “Position” button on the top toolbar
- Under Advanced, adjust the height and width to 4.85″x8″, or a similar size.
- Select the “Duplicate” button with the rectangle selected.
- Adjust the position of both rectangles to look like a planner lying on a table with two pages. Using the guides within Canva will help.
Alternative Method
When adding your pages, you can also use a square/rectangle frame element from Canva. A frame allows you to drag and drop your images into the planner pages. The adding and adjusting process is the same, you won't need to adjust any colors.
Change the Element Color
- Select the rectangle
- Use the Color button at the top
- Select White FFFFFF
- You can select “Change All” at the bottom of the left-hand menu or select the next rectangle and repeat the process.
Adding Coils
- Use the same coil element from the cover page
- Select the coil from your uploaded files in the Canva dashboard to add it to your project, and resize it using the white tabs on the element
- Center the coil between the two rectangles
Design your page 2
I am creating a monthly digital planner template. So, I will have 12 tabs that link to the monthly calendar. You can use the steps that I outline for any planner that you want. Just keep in mind:
- The tabs will take your end user to whatever page you link to. I recommend an index page for most applications. An index page is a page with links to specific pages, like a table of contents for the section. For instance, the end user would click on tab 1 and go to index page 1. Index page 1 would have all of the pages available in that section, and all of them would be hyperlinked to their assigned pages.
- Think about the user experience. Whatever tab they click on should take them to a page on which they can navigate throughout the planner without having to “turn the pages” to find what they want.
- The process for creating tabs and linking is the same for all of the options—just make a note of where you want each link to go.
Add Planner Pages
When it comes to creating your digital planner, you need to decide what planner pages you will include. You can either make your own from scratch or use PLR with Commercial Use Rights as I offer in The MDP Advantage-PLUS Membership. Another great option is Creative Fabrica, since most of the items come with commercial use rights. I’ll create a monthly calendar layout and use premade calendar pages.
Upload Planner Pages to Canva
You will need to upload premade planner pages to your Canva dashboard to use premade planner pages. Here is the process:
- Use the left-side menu, and select “Uploads“
- Select the purple “Upload Files” button
- Navigate the files on your computer to locate the files you want to upload. TIP: Hold down “CTRL” on your keyboard while selecting the files to upload multiple images at once, or select the first image you want and hold down “Shift” on your keyboard and select the last one.
- Canva will show you the download progress, and once the images are uploaded you can continue on!
Alternative Method:
If you have Canva Pro, and the planner pages you want to use are available in your Canva Dashboard, you can use the Design to Image app to use your projects as images in another design. Here is a great YouTube video discussing how to use the Design to Image app in Canva. To use this feature, simply:
- With the Canva project open that you want to upload to your new landscape digital planner, use the left-side menu, and select “Apps“
- Type “Design” into the search bar, and select the “Design to Image” app
- Select the “Design to Image” app
- Select “Open“
- Use the “Select Pages” drop-down menu to select the page you want to use, and select “Done“
- Select “Export“
- Canva will now notify you that your image has been uploaded to your “Uploads Folder” and can now be used in another project.
Insert Planner Pages
Now that you can access the planner pages you need for your new design, let's get them added to the digital planner:
- Using the “Uploads” section of the left-side menu, locate the upload you want to insert into your planner.
- Select the image to add it to your project.
- Select the “Position” button at the top
- Change the Width to 4.85″ and the Height to 8″. If this distorts your image, you will need to use the white adjustment buttons to fit the page to your digital planner spot. If needed, adjust the white rectangle size to get them to work. I recommend writing down the dimensions that work for you, so you can easily make the adjustments as described previously. My ideal size was 5.19″x8″.
- Position your planner page, and repeat the process for the right-hand page.
- Once placed, you will need to select the coil element and then the “Position” button on the top menu
- Select “To Front” to bring the coils to the front of the project.
It's also a good practice to make sure that your coils aren't impeding on any other elements within your planner. If they are, you may need to adjust the other elements on the page. Once the page is formatted how you want it, I suggest renaming the page so it is easier to identify when you go to hyperlink your planner. Simply select the text that says “Add page title” and type the new name for the page.
Don't get frustrated if you have to make several adjustments to your digital planner pages. It is worth it to put the work in on the first page so that the next pages will be quick and easy to add and edit.
Continue Creating the Digital Planner
Once your first page is formatted, you can use the following steps to create the rest of your planner quickly.
- Use the “Duplicate page” button to duplicate Page 2
- Use the same process to add your next planner pages, adjusting the sizes as needed per the notes you took from Page 2.
- Rename Page 3 so it is easily identifiable
- Continue duplicating the pages and adding the planner pages until your planner is complete.
Next Steps
There you have it! Following these steps will ensure you have created a landscape (two-page) digital planner in Canva. Now is the time to add any additional index pages and calendar pages, and then create and hyperlink the tabs and any other navigational elements. If you need any more help with your digital planner creation process feel free to post in our Facebook group.
