InkSpace / Guides / Planner Templates
GuideDesign your own planner template.
This step-by-step guide walks you through the Template Lab: choose the pages, lay out each one block by block, set the look, then make a dated, linked planner for any year from it.
The guide takes about 10 minutes to read. Making templates is part of InkSpace Pro; opening a template someone shares with you is free.
Design once. Use it every year.
Planners in InkSpace come in three steps, and only the first one is about design.
Design a template
In the Template Lab, choose which kinds of page there are and lay out what each kind holds.
Make a planner
Pick the template and the dates it covers. InkSpace builds every page and links them all together.
Write in it
Tap any date, tab or link with your finger to jump straight to it. Apple Pencil keeps writing.
A template is the design
It decides which pages there are and what goes on each one. It has no dates in it, so one template can make as many planners as you like, for any year.
A planner is the notebook
It's a real notebook made from a template for particular dates, ready to write in. Classic, Hourly, Minimal and Wellness are built in, so you only need your own template when you want pages laid out differently.
Make a planner template
Open the Template Lab
From your library, open the Custom Template Lab. On iPad it has its own button along the top of the library. On iPhone, tap the Templates button (the book and wrench) and choose Custom Template Lab.
The Template Lab has three tabs: page templates, covers and planners. Choose Planners, then tap +.
Start from one of the built-in templates if one is close to what you want, or from scratch to get every kind of page with nothing on it yet, ready to build up block by block.
The Template Lab is part of InkSpace Pro, a one-time $9.99 purchase. The four built-in planners, and any planner design someone shares with you, can be used without it.
Choose which pages it has
Tap Pages at the bottom of the editor. Turn on the kinds of dated page you want:
Then add any extra pages:
- Goals sits right after the year overview, with a short list for the year and room to plan.
- Habits follows every month, with a habit tracker and a mood tracker.
- Monthly Notes follows every month with a full page of lined notes.
Last, pick the paper the planner is printed on: A4, A5, B5 or US Letter, in Portrait or Landscape.
Decide on the pages now. Once you've made a planner from a template, you can change its layouts but not add or remove kinds of page. For that, change the template and make a new planner.
Pick a kind of page to lay out
The names along the top of the editor switch between the kinds of page: Year, Month, Week, Day and any extra pages you turned on.
Each kind has one layout, used on every page of that kind. Lay out one day page and you've laid out all 365 of them. Every page also gets its own header and links automatically, so you only design the space below the header.
That space is a grid 12 columns wide and 16 rows tall. Everything you add snaps to it, which keeps pages tidy and lets a layout fit portrait or landscape paper.
Add, move and resize blocks
Tap Add Block to put a calendar, schedule, to-do list, notes or tracker on the page. It drops into the first free space, reading the page top to bottom, left to right. All 16 kinds of block are listed below.
- Move a block by dragging it.
- Resize it by dragging the round knob at its corner.
- Blocks snap to the grid and can't overlap. If a block turns red, it won't fit there; let go somewhere else.
- Each block has a smallest size it can draw at, so it stops shrinking there.
If the page is full, you'll be asked to remove or shrink a block first. To start a page over, use Reset Page.
Rename or time a block
Tap a block to select it. The bar at the bottom changes to:
- Heading renames it. A To Do list could become "Assignments", or Priorities could become "Top 3". Leave it empty for no heading at all.
- Hours (schedules only) sets when the day starts and ends, for example from 7 AM until 9 PM.
- Remove takes it off the page.
Tap Deselect when you're done with it.
Set the look
Tap Look to style every page at once:
- Font can be Rounded, Serif or Standard.
- Accent sets the color of headers, lines and links.
- Paper can be white, one of four soft tints, a light gray or a dark page.
- Month Row adds a row of month tabs under each page's header.
Accent colors
Paper colors
The colors and font are part of the template, so a template you share arrives looking the way you made it. Whoever makes a planner from it picks only the cover color.
Try it out with Preview
Tap Preview, then tap a date or a link on the page to follow it, the way the finished planner works. It's the quickest way to check that a day page leads back to its week, or that a mini calendar gets you around. Tap Edit to go back to laying it out.
Name it and save
Tap the name at the top of the editor to rename the template, then tap Done to save it. It's kept on the Planners tab of the Template Lab, where each template's menu lets you edit, copy, share or delete it, or make a planner straight from it.
Every block, explained.
Sizes are in grid cells, columns × rows. A new block starts at its default size, and can't shrink below its minimum.
Build a student planner from scratch
Put the steps together: a week page for deadlines and a day page built around class times. Start from scratch in the Template Lab and follow along.
The week page
Open Week, then add these blocks. Position is the column and row of the top-left corner, counting from 0.
| Block | Heading | Position | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week in Columns | (default) | 0, 0 | 12 × 10 |
| To Do | Assignments | 0, 10 | 6 × 6 |
| Priorities | Exams & Deadlines | 6, 10 | 6 × 6 |
The day page
Open Day. The Week Strip goes first so every day leads to the others. Select the schedule and use Hours to set it from 8 AM until 6 PM.
| Block | Heading | Position | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week Strip | (default) | 0, 0 | 12 × 1 |
| Schedule | Classes | 0, 1 | 7 × 15 |
| Priorities | Top 3 | 7, 1 | 5 × 4 |
| To Do | (default) | 7, 5 | 5 × 6 |
| Lined Notes | (default) | 7, 11 | 5 × 5 |
Finish with Look: Standard font, the blue accent and a white page. In Pages, turn on Monthly Notes and choose US Letter or A4. Then Preview, name it "Student Planner" and tap Done.
Make a planner from your template
Create the planner
Tap + in your library and choose Create Planner, or choose Make a Planner from a template's menu in the Template Lab. Then set:
- Template: pick your own, or Classic, Hourly, Minimal or Wellness.
- Dates: choose a Calendar Year, a School Year (August to July), or Custom to start on any month. Pick the year with the arrows.
- Length: choose 12 Months or 18 Months.
- Weeks: start on Sunday or Monday.
- Calendar Events: print your events on their days. They're read from Calendar once, when the planner is made, and never leave your device.
- Cover Color: pick a cover color and name the planner.
Tap Create. InkSpace builds every page, with each month as its own section so the tabs down the edge take you to any month.
Use it, and keep it going
- Jump around: tap any date, tab or link with your finger. A Back button takes you back to where you were, or tap the calendar button at the top to pick any month, week or day.
- Today: tap the planner's name and choose Go to Today, or ask Siri to open today in InkSpace.
- Change the layout later: choose Edit Page Layouts from the planner's menu. Every page is redrawn, and anything you've written stays exactly where it is.
- Next year: choose Make Next Planner for a new planner covering the months after it, with the same design.
Templates to start from.
The four planners built into InkSpace, shown by their week pages. Downloadable .inkplanner templates you can open straight in the app are on the way.
Classic
Classic has a month calendar, a week in columns, and days split between a to-do list and notes.
Hourly
Hourly is built around time, with weeks as rows and days as an hour-by-hour schedule.
Minimal
Minimal keeps pages quiet, with the month, the week in columns, and a day that's mostly dotted space.
Wellness
Wellness adds a habit and mood tracker every month, and gratitude every week and day.
Community templates are coming
Soon you'll be able to download ready-made .inkplanner designs and open them in InkSpace for free. Made a planner template you love? Send it our way and it could be featured here.
Share your templatePlanner template questions
Do I need InkSpace Pro?
Making and sharing your own templates in the Template Lab is part of InkSpace Pro, a one-time $9.99 purchase with no subscription. Opening a planner design someone shares with you, making a planner from it and carrying it into next year are free.
Can I change the layout after I've started writing?
Yes, you can. Choose Edit Page Layouts from the planner's menu. Every page is redrawn with the new layout, and anything you've written stays exactly where it is, so it won't move with a block you move.
Can I add a kind of page to a planner I've already made?
You can't add one to that planner. Change which pages the template has in the Template Lab, then make a new planner from it.
Why did my block turn red?
It's overlapping another block or hanging off the grid. Blocks can't overlap, so drop it somewhere free, or shrink a neighbor first.
Can Apple Pencil follow links?
By default only your finger follows links, so Apple Pencil can write right over the dates. Settings has switches to turn links off, or to let Apple Pencil follow them too.
Will a planner PDF I bought somewhere else work?
Yes, it will. Bring it in with Import PDF or EPUB. Its links work the same way: tap one with your finger to jump to its page.
Make your first planner today.
InkSpace is free to download, and InkSpace Pro unlocks the Template Lab for a one-time $9.99.