Planning a Day Planner

March 15, 2017 9:13 AM

I have created a modified Bullet Journal/Day Planner for myself. A few friends have commented that it's really great, and I'd like to make some for them. And maybe a few other people. How does one do this?

I tried to find a Day Planner that fit my unique layout and content requirements, and couldn't. So I bought a sketchbook (8"x6", eco-friendly cardboard-ish cover, about 60 pages of thick recycled paper) and painstakingly got out my felt-tip pen and drew in all of the day layouts, indexes, month layouts, etc. It works great. Huzzah!

I shared it with some friends and they raved about it. I also shared it with a group online and they also said that it was fantastic and that I should sell them. So I'd like to at least make some for my friends, maybe make some for selling.

Now that that's been decided, I have no idea where to go next. I need to

1) get journals - blank, hardcover, perfect bound (so that it opens easily and lays flat), nothing on the pages, pages are of thick enough paper to use a felt-tip pen and it will not bleed through

2) have the pages printed to very exacting specifications (at least three different kind of pages, so the same thing on each page)

3) have something on the cover: either it comes with a picture of my choosing, or at least the ability to decorate it afterward.

I'm stumped. Am I doomed to painstakingly hand-draw each page as I did with my own? Or is there a kind of business that would do this? I'm embarrassed that I can't seem to figure this out.

posted by Elly Vortex to Work & Money (13 answers total)

Maybe an online photo book maker? Not sure about the paper quality.... I always used a binder type planner, and printed my pages out when I did diy planners. Also, I'd love to see yours!
posted by Valancy Rachel at 9:17 AM on March 15, 2017

Response by poster: Edit:

2) have the pages printed to very exacting specifications (at least three different kind of pages, so **NOT** the same thing on each page)


see why I am afraid of hand-drawing in each page? I'd make an error on the penultimate page and be horrified.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:22 AM on March 15, 2017

Could they live with a 3/6-ring style planner or discbound planner so you could have your art printed into pages they could punch and put in the planner themselves? I design my own planners and pages using Tul/m by Staples/etc discbound sets and good 28lb printer paper, but could easily send it off to Kinkos or an online place to print. The discbound punchers are a little pricey ($30, and only do about 8 sheets at a time) so you might prefer the 3-ring type (but those covers tend to be meaty vinyl/leather things and I like the Tul/m covers for being thinner).

That'd be so much less expensive than paying to have an entire book printed and bound.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Go to a local printshop! This is literally what they do, and they can help you with specific options and details.
posted by brainmouse at 9:25 AM on March 15, 2017 [7 favorites]

Instead of starting with a journal you like and trying to get things printed into the pages of a bound book, I'd look at custom book printers, where you upload files of your content and they print, bind, and "publish" the book. Your files would be simpler than most in that you'd submit 100 pages many of which are identical, as opposed to 100 pages which are all different. The trick would be to find a vendor who has a nice array of papers to choose from instead of just standard thin pulp paper. I can recommend the process, based on friends who have self-published (comic books - image files, not just text!) - but I can't recommend a specific vendor, I haven't done this myself. Google for "print-on-demand", average price is $5 or so per book for 50 of them, less if you sacrifice paper quality or color...
posted by aimedwander at 9:31 AM on March 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

First thing: for making the layouts, I'd suggest tinkering around with Excel. I made this daily check-off page to help manage my ADHD in Excel, and it was very easy to make to my exact specifications. You can set the print size ahead of time, in order to make everything fit into the space you want it to fit. (I personally keep these in a three-ring binder.)

I don't think a perfect bound book would lay flat when open, unless I'm misunderstanding the type of binding you mean.

If you wanted to produce these things to sell, and if spiral binding was ok, you could invest in a machine that makes spiral-bound books.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2017

Response by poster: Showbiz_liz, I think you're right. I'm thinking of a book that has the signatures (sections of folded paper) held with string and glued together, but the signatures are not glued directly to the cover itself. That way the pages will fall flat when the book is open, unlike the example that you showed in which the pages are glued to the binding and will not fall open nicely.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2017

I did this by:

- Making a spreadsheet file with a few macros that would create a 2-page spread for every week of the year; the macro would also look at a list of holidays I made and include those on relevant days

- Printed out the pages (this took a few trial runs of just two pages to make sure the layout was right)

- Used cut _matte board_ (not card stock - it was too thin) for the covers

- Had the whole thing spiral bound at a print shop

I think I bought a pretty sticker and put it on the front cover.



If I were doing several, I might look at getting it custom printed at Lulu.com
posted by amtho at 9:54 AM on March 15, 2017

You can get things bound with a plastic comb binding, probably pretty affordable. If there's a layout you want on many pages, you could get a rubber stamp made.

This might use many of the same resources people use for scrapbooking, so that might be a useful thing to look for on the web/ locally.
posted by theora55 at 9:56 AM on March 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

Seconding that a printer will give you all the information you need and discuss options you might not even know about. But another idea would be to offer downloadable, printable templates. There are tons of free templates but also many for sale on Etsy. You could even offer them in different sizes and formats which you could print on demand.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:56 AM on March 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you are going with etsy or something eventually I can't recommend this enough for long term:

But another idea would be to offer downloadable, printable templates.

Making stuff is awesome! I love doing it! I even love shipping! But let me tell you: Just designing something and then having money appear in my bank account when people purchase and download it without any effort from me is AHHHHHMAZING!
posted by magnetsphere at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2017 [8 favorites]

Sounds like you're heading to a printer.

Does it have to be bound as such? Could you print them on your home printer & keep them in a Filofax type binder? Also you may want to look into disc binding. You can buy a set of discs for a few bucks and a special punch for like $20. Laminate the front & back cover if you wanted or you can buy clear covers & discs from Staples for a few bucks or go fancy with the Levenger Circa system.

I'm a planner junky & I have online friends that make their own planners using both methods.
posted by wwax at 11:20 AM on March 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

There are bookbinding tools you can buy to make your own custom books.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:28 PM on March 15, 2017