How To Make Your Own Calendar: A Step-By-Step Guide

Smartphone cameras make it easy to snap pictures on the go, but unfortunately, many of us never get around to printing them. They sit in our photo libraries collecting dust; we're here to change that!

Optimalprint is in the business of empowering people to print and showcase their special memories through the art of printing.

Creating a custom photo calendar is one of the most popular ways to display photos. Created by uploading photos and arranging them on pre-designed calendar templates, photo calendars are easy to create and fun to personalise for everyone.

This post shares the simple process of creating a photo calendar using Optimalprint's editor. It provides bonus inspiration for the types of calendars you can create for yourself or as gifts for loved ones.

Main Takeaways From This Article:

• Custom calendars make thoughtful, unique gift ideas for loved ones using the photos you've taken throughout the year.

• Using various calendar templates makes it simple and efficient to upload and then drag and drop photos in the order you want.

• Optimalprint offers an impressive variety of templates, design elements, backgrounds, and themes to create the perfect personalised calendar for yourself or as a gift.

• Photo calendars look best when printed on high-quality paper and using premium ink; Optimalprint uses the highest quality printing supplies to ensure the end product surpasses your expectations.

How To Make Your Own Calendar: Step-By-Step

Creating a customised calendar is a fun way to use your favourite photos of family members, friends, travel, pets, and any other important memories you've created during the year. Rather than storing these memories on your phone or computer, a photo calendar creates a physical space to celebrate and enjoy these moments any time you want.

Here is the step-by-step process of creating your own photo calendar with Optimalprint.

Step 1: Choose Size, Style, and Colour

As you start designing a personalised calendar, the first step is to select the size, style, and colour scheme you want. At Optimalprint, we have a wide variety of options, so you can create the perfect calendar template to match the vibe of your home or office.

Size Options

Determine the space where you will display your photo calendar to select the appropriate size. We offer various size options because some prefer to lay calendars on a flat surface while others hang them on the wall. Whether adding a photo calendar to your kitchen wall or displaying it on your desk, measure the space and know what dimensions will work best before choosing a size.

Choose the desired size for your custom photo calendar from the following options:

• 21 x 21 cm - square format

• 15 x 40 cm - slim

• 21 x 30 cm - medium landscape/ portrait

• 30 x 42 cm - large landscape/ portrait

Once you know the dimensions you want, select a landscape or a portrait-style photo calendar, depending on the images you're using. The landscape style is ideal for nature photography, travel pictures, and far-away shots encompassing a sizable outdoor area, like scenic shots.

Portrait-style photo calendars are best suited for photos of people and up-close detail shots. Most people take photos in portrait orientation on their smartphones, so it may be easier to select this layout for your photo calendar.

Depending on the calendar size you select, you can toggle between print formats to find the layout you like the best. Choose from large-format printing or a collage of your favourite photos to create the perfect wall calendar for your space.

Style Options

Once you've chosen the size of your calendar template, you can browse different styles and colour schemes to make it your own.

You can add more than one photo to each page if you like, add design elements like banners and borders, or keep it simple with just one photo per page. The beauty of customisation is you can create the exact product you want and adjust templates as necessary.

Choose from endless font styles, graphics, backgrounds, and much more to customise your calendar with a personal touch that feels special and authentic to your style.

Colour Options

From neutral backgrounds to rich colours and splashy prints, there's a calendar style for every unique individual at Optimalprint. You can choose from pre-designed templates or create your colour scheme as a fun way to express your creativity and personal style.

If you're creating personalised calendars as gifts, you can add pre-designed templates in bright colours to match seasonal holidays or choose from many other themes. These features allow you to customise each page as you create the calendar, but you can always go back and swap out or modify some aspects if you change your mind.

Step 2: Start Customising

Personalised calendars are a fun, unique way to keep track of important dates and events for your household. At Optimalprint, we offer many customisation options so our customers can create their own custom photo calendars to display proudly in their homes or offices.

A wide assortment of features and customisation options make creating photo calendars for birthdays, Christmas gifts, Mother's Day, and many other special holidays easy.

When browsing available templates, you can customise everything from the calendar's starting month to page layouts, different colour backgrounds and textures, and many other design assets to make the calendar unique to your style.

You can also select which important dates you want to appear on your photo calendar, depending on what you celebrate, bank holidays, and other national or international holidays.

Step 3: Add Your Photos

It's time to add your photos! Upload your favourite photos to the editor from your phone or computer, Instagram, Google Photos, or Facebook. Once you've added your pictures, drag and drop them to the specific month you want them displayed. If you change your mind, swapping pictures out and adjusting the layout to fit your style is easy.

Step 4: Get Your Calendar

Once you're satisfied, add the completed calendar to your basket and navigate through the simple checkout process. Select your shipping method and note the estimated delivery dates. We print in the UK to offer affordable shipping fees and fast delivery times. By printing locally, your custom photo calendar will be on your doorstep in no time!

Custom Calendars Inspiration and Ideas

Creating a custom calendar online is a special way to add some personalisation to your home, and it also makes a fantastic gift for birthdays, holidays, and other important events. Are you searching for inspiration? Keep reading for fun and creative ideas to make your wall calendar pop.

Art Calendar

Whether you're an artist or an art lover (or both!), collecting your favourite art prints and photos can make a visually stunning wall or desk calendar to display all year round. Use one of our minimalist calendar templates to let the artwork speak for itself. From landscape photos to watercolour paintings, art makes a beautiful custom photo calendar or desk calendar for yourself, a family member, or a friend.

Business Calendar

A personalised calendar is a genius marketing strategy if you're ordering gifts for customers and partners from your business. Regardless of your business or industry, everyone needs a wall calendar and will appreciate a free product from your company. You can include photos of your products and team or keep them generic with relevant stock images, compelling quotes, and other meaningful content.

Gardening Calendar

Got a green thumb that you want to show off in your photos? There's no better way to highlight your hard work in the garden than with a beautiful photo calendar. Snap photos of your plant babies on your phone or camera, add some whimsical fonts describing each plant and pop them onto a simple template to let them shine on their own. You can customise each photo with unique design elements to help your plants pop or keep it simple.

Nature Photography Calendar

Upload your favourite photos of nature and the great outdoors, whether your personal photos or ones you admire, for a stunning photo calendar to hang on your wall or display on your desk. Choose a calendar template with calming colours and minimal design elements so you can draw inspiration from the scene itself.

Newborn Calendar

Like photo books, everyone loves looking at calendars and wall art that includes photos of a new baby. Optimalprint makes it easy to memorialise every milestone of your baby's life. These images can include your baby's first bath, the first bite of food, their first steps, and all the special dates along the way. New baby photo calendars also make wonderful gift ideas for grandparents and other family members, near or far.

Pet Calendar

Furry friends are important family members, and they deserve to be celebrated! Collect your photos of your pup or cat over the years and create a sweet photo calendar that gives you all the warm, fuzzy feelings. Personalised calendars with pets are great to take into the office, so you can think about your best buddy even when you're apart.

Recipe Calendar

Organise your go-to recipes on a desk calendar that you can easily access when you need inspiration for dinner or any other meal. Choose a customisable template where you can select cute fonts and write out each recipe to reference quickly. If you have family recipes that are special to you, take photos of each recipe card, choose a simple theme, and create a custom photo calendar that honours your loved ones and keeps their legacy alive.

Travel Memories Calendar

If you're a travel lover, wall calendars are a great way to showcase all the adventures you've been on. Use your own photos from previous trips and highlight all the amazing places you visited. With Optimalprint's calendar maker, you can add text in your favourite fonts to each calendar page, including the city name or any other important details you want to remember. Travel wall calendars make creative gift ideas for the family members or friends who joined you on your adventures.

Wedding Day Calendar

Celebrate the most important day of your life by organising your wedding photos into a wall calendar! Tell the story of your wedding using pictures from the big day, from getting ready to the walk down the aisle, celebrating with your wedding party and family, the first dance, and all the other sweet details you want to remember forever. Organising your wedding photos in a year-long wall calendar is an easy way to commemorate one of the most special dates for everyone to see.

Year in Review Calendar

Create a year-long review wall calendar or desk calendar by selecting your favourite photos and memories from the previous year. This chronicle-style calendar will remind you of all the good times you had in the previous year and make you look forward to new adventures to come in the new year. When creating a calendar online with Optimalprint, it's easy to organise your photos by date so you can efficiently upload and drag and drop your images to the appropriate page.

Design and Print Dazzling Personalised Calendars With Optimalprint

Photo calendars are visually pleasing, easy to make, and can make great gifts for family members, friends, and colleagues or to keep for yourself.

Using a calendar maker like Optimalprint makes it easy to organise and print your favourite photos in a meaningful way. We make it easy to customise your calendar in any way you can imagine through a variety of layouts, styles, and vibrant colours.

Creating a photo calendar is simple – choose a template, upload your photos, and arrange them on the pages as you wish. Not to mention this process can be done from a computer or a smartphone using the Optimalprint app. Choose from countless designs, backgrounds, and themes to create beautiful calendars for your home or to give as gifts for your loved ones.

With high-quality paper and printing, local production, and quick shipping, creating and sharing your special memories with Optimalprint has never been easier. Create your own calendar today!