Your photos spread month by month, from New Year to the festive season: a personalised photo calendar keeps your memories in sight, on the kitchen wall or a corner of your desk.
The first choice depends on where the calendar will live. Hung in the kitchen or hallway, a wall calendar becomes the whole family's planner. Placed next to the computer, a desk calendar keeps the year in view for whoever works there.
Our calendars come in two formats, both portrait: A4 and A3. A3, twice the size, gives the photos more impact and leaves more room to write; A4 fits more easily on a narrow wall.
Each design has its own layout. Some showcase a single large photo, others bring several pictures together on one page, and a few add a line for notes. Ask yourself before choosing: would you rather have more photos or more space to write?
For a coherent result, match the photos to the months. A snowy landscape in January, a picnic in June, back to school in September: the calendar then tells the story of the year season by season.
Gather your pictures in one folder before opening the online tool, and list the dates you want to include separately: birthdays, celebrations, holidays. Each photo slot is set in portrait or landscape: choose pictures whose orientation matches, rather than cropping them too much.
Go for high-resolution photos too. The tool cannot sharpen a blurred or overly compressed image, and paper reveals what a phone screen lets slip.
You replace all the photos in the design, change the font and text on the cover, add your own text in the boxes and change the colour of the text. The page layout and the month titles stay as designed. Your creation can be saved at any time, so you can come back to it later or finish it together.
A photo calendar makes a popular Christmas gift, especially for grandparents. Allow for printing time and then delivery, and order at least a few weeks before the holidays. For a coordinated set, the matching range carries the same design onto a greetings card, a mini photo album, an envelope liner or gift tags.
Among the new designs, Deauville, Vichy-Azur and Squared kraft widen the choice, alongside winter designs such as Sous le Givre or Let it Snow.
Both are portrait. A3, twice the size, leaves more room for photos and notes; A4 suits narrow walls or small spaces better.
No: the photo layout and month titles are specific to each design. You can, however, change the photos, the font and text on the cover and the colour of the text, and add your notes in the boxes.
The pages are joined by a spiral binding with a notch, designed to hang the calendar easily on the wall.
Content written by Lena Marker, Editorial Expert at the Cotton Bird workshops (view LinkedIn profile).