The Best Digital Planner: Pre-Made Templates vs Creating A Digital Planner

Whether you are selling Digital Planners or just looking for a personal planner to make you more productive this guide will help you decide if pre-made digital planner templates or creating your own digital planner is best for you. Learn the pro’s and cons of pre-made templates vs creating a Digital Planner.

No idea if creating your own digital planner or using pre-made templates is the way to go for you?

If you are diving into the world of Digital Planning for the first time it can be extremely overwhelming knowing what digital planner is going to work best for you.

There are just so many options!

From pre-made templates, and editable templates to creating your own planner completely from scratch.

The bad news is that there is never going to be a one fits all kind of solution. We all have very different planner needs, depending on our lifestyles, whether the digital planner is for personal use or to create a passive income and lots of other variables.

The good news is that we have created this post that will explain all the pro’s and con’s of pre-made templates vs creating a Digital Planner. Hopefully this will help make it much easier to decide which style of Digital Planner is going to work best for YOU.

Please note this is not a post on how to create a digital planner. If you want to learn to how to make a digital planner we will share some posts you are going to love and our favorite course further along in this post.

We may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more information go to Disclaimer & Disclosure.

What is a digital planner?

Before we take a deeper look at what type of digital planner is best for you lets quickly go through what a digital planner is.

A digital planner is a hyperlinked PDF file designed similarly to a traditional paper planner. They will usually contain calendar pages, monthly planner days, weekly, daily, and notes. They also include hyperlinks that ensure that you can easily navigate through the most important pages in the PDF file without having to scroll through the entire document. You add your personal notes to a digital planner by using a note-taking app on your device.

pre-made templates vs creating a digital planner

Now it’s clear what a Digital Planner is let’s find out the pro’s and cons of pre-made templates vs creating a Digital Planner .

What are Pre-Made Digital Planner Templates?

Pre-made Digital Planner templates are where a digital planner is already designed and includes the pages of the planner formatted and set out. It may also include hyperlinks.

You can find Pre-made templates that are ready to go as is, as well as templates that can be edited to add personalization and customization. These are edits such as fonts and colors or even business branding.

You will often find that pre-made digital planner templates will be licensed so it is important to check this before making any edits or if you are planning on selling the planner.

SHOULD YOU USE A PRE-MADE DIGITAL PLANNER TEMPLATE?

The great thing about pre-made templates is that all the hard work has been done for you. Whether you are using them for personal use or as part of your Digital Planner side-hustle, they only take a few tweaks ( if any) and they are ready to be used.

If you are using your Digital Planner for personal use there really isn’t much more to think about except which template includes all the pages and features you need to help organize your life ( Although this can be more difficult than it sounds as there are so many choices!).

You can find lots of templates over on Etsy or check out our popular Digital Journal Kit below.

If you are wanting a super easy to customize option then be sure to check out our Canva Digital Planner System.

Its great not just for personal use but also for selling digital planners too… even for beginners!

If you are looking for Pre-made digital planner templates as part of your Digital Planner business then they can save you a lot of time and effort, especially if you have no to little graphic design skills or are just starting out. We know it can be pretty overwhelming staring at those blank pages before a Digital planner is created.

You will have to do a little more research though.

The first thing you will need to check is that the template comes with a commercial license. This will allow you to customize the template to fit your branding and audience ( just remember that this does not allow you to sell the template as a template to your customers). Want to make it easy?…both our Canva Digital Planner System and Gorgeous Planner Bundle come with a commerical licence.

Then you will need to find the right template that suits your targeted audience and their needs. Check out some great tips on how to deciding your ideal customer HERE.

For both personal and business use you also have the option of combining pre-made templates to take a planner from okay to Wow!

You can find out more about how you can do this to create a realistic looking planner HERE

Here’s a quick recap on the pro’s and cons of pre-made templates vs creating a Digital Planner .

We think that Pre-made digital templates are perfect for beginners, individuals who want a simple Digital Planner and those short on time.

What Is Self- Created Digital planner?

A Digital Planner created from scratch means that you are starting with blank pages and creating all the features, links and elements yourself. There are a variety of different design programs to create digital planners depending on your knowledge and graphic design skill.

SHOULD YOU CREATE A DIGITAL PLANNER FROM SCRATCH?

Although it can seem daunting to create your own digital planner there is nothing quite as magical as using the pages and features that are perfect for you in your own planner, or receiving feedback from your customers about how much they love a planner you have made to sell.

Creating your own Digital planner will take a lot more time then using pre-made templates, especially if you are learning to use a new design program. Luckily, there are lots of programs to use so you can often find one to suit your skills and make it less of a learning curve.

You can find out how to create a digital planner with Canva HERE or check out some of the other best apps for creating digital planners HERE

But it’s not just the creating that takes time and effort. You will need to set aside time to plan your planner too. From the page layouts to what elements to include and what aesthetic features you want the planner to have.

Want some help on creating your own personal Digital Planner? Check out the course our readers LOVE by click the button below. It’s a very affordable mini-course that walks you through all the steps of creating a digital planner. It’s such a simple way to learn and perfect for Digital planner beginners.

If you are selling the digital planner you are creating then there is even more planning involved. What is your ideal customer? What are they looking for in a planner? and lots more.

You will also have to put aside time to test your planner ( making sure pages work as needed and hyperlinks work correctly) as well as correct mistakes that you make along the way.

Although all this sounds like a lot of work, in the end you will have a totally unique and personalized digital planner.

We think that creating your own planner is ideal for people that are creative, love learning new skills and have the time to create. It is also perfect for those looking for unique features in their personal planner or for those wanting to stand out from the crowd when selling digital planners.

Which Digital Planner is Right for You?

As you have probably worked out by now, the best style of Digital Planner for you is dependent on what you want and need from a planner.

If you want a convienant and affordable digital planner then a pre-made template could be a great choice for you. If you want a more personalized and flexible planner however, then creating your own digital planner with probably meet your specific needs better.

Need a little more help making a choice?

Here are some more things to think about before you make your decision:

• What are your needs? What are your specific needs and goals for the digital planner. If it is for personal use, what features do you need to keep you organized and help you be more productive. If you are selling the planner, what is it your customer needs?
• What is your budget? How much funds do you have to put towards your planner?
• How much time do you have? Do you have spare time to put into learning how to create your planner as well as make it?

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Ready to create your own digital planner?

When it comes to creating beautiful and unique digital planners, you should not only consider the design part of the planner but the functionality, marketing, and promotion of your planner too!

That’s why I recommend investing in the Passive Income Planner Girl course.

This online course isn’t just about using the programs to create your planner (although they do have tutorials for a range of programs) but more about creating your heart-centered business with fans that love your products.

Ready to start your own online business you love? Want a passive income that you enjoy creating products for? Click below to find out more about the Planner Girls.

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Pre-Made Templates vs Creating A Digital Planner