Why Use Planner Printables?
Planner printables are digital designs formatted for various planner sizes like A5, personal, A6, etc. You can buy printables of both functional and decorative planner inserts as well as designs for deco items like journal cards. Since these designs are digital, you receive a file like a PDF instead of a physical product and need to print out the designs at home or at your local print shop.
If you’re used to traditional printed planner inserts, printables may seem like a lot of unnecessary work. And to be fair, printables aren’t always a great fit for every planner. If you only use a few tried and true inserts and you don’t want to fuss with printer settings or trim lines, then pre-printed inserts are definitely where it’s at! But if you’re a planner who likes a lot of options - both in terms of designs and in details like paper and print settings - printables might be a great fit for your routine.
So, what are the benefits of printable planner inserts? In my experience, one of the greatest benefits of printables is how economical they are. When you purchase pre-printed planner inserts, you’re paying for manufacturing, packaging, and shipping costs on top of the price of paper and ink. You also need to re-order traditional inserts whenever you run out. Printable designs are inexpensive and reusable. Pay for the digital file once and you can re-print the design as often as you want. And there are no shipping and packaging costs for printable inserts - typically, the pdf file is emailed straight to your inbox.
Because printables are delivered as digital files, they’re great for planners who like to experiment and test out new types of inserts and planner deco. If you typically like to plan your week in vertical columns but want to try a new horizontal layout, you can purchase one of dozens or even hundreds of different designs with the click of a button, download the file, and have a printed copy ready in minutes. No more waiting for packages to ship!
Plus, because planner shops don’t have to worry about potential waste and manufacturing costs when creating digital designs, they often have more freedom to develop a larger variety of designs or more niche styles. In fact, the wide array of planning printables that are currently available (and growing all the time) can be almost dizzying. From functional inserts like weekly pages or to-do lists to decorative dashboards and organizational essentials like section dividers, you can find printables for every possible planner type under the sun.
And, because the planner community is full of kind, generous people, a lot of these designs can be found for free! There are many planners who create and share their own customized planner printables and there are even professional planner shops that offer regular freebies so you can test out their designs without having to make a big investment up front. I create monthly planner freebies, which you can explore on the Freebies page of my website, or receive monthly by signing up for my email newsletter.
If the vast number of options available in printable designs wasn’t enough, printing your own inserts also allows you to further customize the physical details of your planner pages. You can select your paper weight, color, and technical specifications (for example, you might pick a paper that works well for your favorite specialty inks if you’re a fountain pen enthusiast). You can experiment with printing on special paper types like vellum. And you can print out your favorite designs on different sizes of paper based on your needs. This flexibility allows you to take a more creative, customized approach to your planning routine.
What about you? Are you a fan of pre-printed inserts, or do you prefer printable designs? Maybe you like a mix of both! Let me know what you think in the comments!