How do I Make an Empty Calendar?

Printing a blank calendar with word processing software is fairly simple.

Making a blank calendar is relatively simple. If you think of a calendar as a table in a word processing program, all you need to do is format the table so that the blocks are the correct size to fill the page. A blank calendar can be formatted for either a portrait or landscape layout. Remember that you will need a header row for the days of the week.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Word processing software
• Paper

1. Decide whether you want to create a portrait- or landscape-style calendar. To decide which layout would be best, think about where you will store the calendar pages. Portrait style works best if the calendar will be stored in a binder or letter-sized portfolio. Landscape style calendars will give you a bit more horizontal writing space to jot down appointments and notes.

2. Set the margins for the page to 0.5 inches on the top, bottom and right sides of the page, and 0.75 inches on the left side of the page for a portrait-style calendar. For a landscape calendar, make the larger margin at the top of the page. This additional space gives you room to punch holes in the pages and put them in a binder.

3. Create a table with seven columns and six rows. The top row should be a standard row height; you will not need to adjust this row since it is your header row that will have the days of the week written in the cells. For portrait orientation, set the row height for the remaining rows to 1.8 inches. The columns should all be 1 inch wide for portrait-style pages. Landscape calendars will have a row height of 1.3 inches and column width of 1.45 inches.

4. Print the calendar page and fill in as needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Print a test page after you lay out your calendar to make sure it will work for your project.

• Consider leaving a little extra room at the top of the page so that you have room to write the name of the month. If you do this, make the calendar cells a little smaller.

• Experiment with different cell sizes if you want to leave room on the page for notes and other information.

• Microsoft has several templates online that can be downloaded.

• Table formatting can be frustrating if you've never worked with it before. Be patient and give yourself some time to figure it out.

References

• Microsoft Office: Templates - 7 Day Calendar Grid
• Microsoft Office: Templates - Blank Monthly Calendar