How to make a photo calendar to print

To make a photo calendar to print, choose 13 photos: one for each month and one for the cover. Crop each to the page size with bleed, build 28 pages in order, and export one PDF. Then upload it and check your proof before anything prints.

Pick 12 photos and a cover

Choose landscape photos that suit their month and have enough pixels to fill a page.

• Landscape orientation: photo pages are wider than they are tall, so a portrait photo loses its top and bottom.
• Seasonal fit: snow or a fresh start for January, blossoms in spring, the beach in July, leaves in October.
• No tiny text: small words on signs, shirts or screenshots are hard to read from across a room. They may also land in the trim.
• A cover with room: pick an image with open sky or space for the year and your name.
• One more for 13 months: a December 2026 to December 2027 calendar needs 14 photos.

Photo size for printing

Use at least 240 pixels per inch at the printed size; 300 is ideal.

To check a photo, open its info or properties panel and read the pixel dimensions. Send the original file. Copies saved from text messages or social media are often much smaller.

Crop each photo to the page with bleed

Crop every photo to 11.25 x 8.75 in for the 11 x 8.5 calendar, or 8.75 x 5.75 in for the mini.

That size includes 0.125 in of bleed on each side, which we trim off. Run every photo to the outer edge so no white line shows after trimming. Keep text, and anything you can't lose, at least 0.375 in inside the trim.

The 11 x 8.5 page is close to the 4:3 shape of most phone photos, so you lose only a thin strip from the sides. The mini page is wider, nearer 3:2, so a phone photo loses more from its top and bottom.

Keep the hole zone clear

We drill one 1/4 in hanging hole at the centre of the outer edge, so keep a 1 in circle there clear on every page.

• Photo pages (even pages) hang above the fold, with the hole at the top centre. Keep faces and key details out of that spot.
• The cover and month grids (odd pages) have the hole at the bottom centre. Split your footer left and right around it, as our template does.

Calendar design guide, 11 x 8.5 in (PDF) shows the hole zone, bleed and safe area on full-size guide pages.

Build it in Canva

Set the page size and bleed first, then add your 28 pages in order.

1. Create a design with a custom size of 11 x 8.5 in, or 8.5 x 5.5 in for the mini.
2. Open the File menu, choose Settings and turn on Show print bleed. A dashed line marks the trim.
3. Add pages until you have 28. Put them in this order: front cover, January photo, January grid, and so on to the December grid. Then add the 2027 and 2028 year-at-a-glance pages and the back cover.
4. Stretch every photo past the dashed line to the outer edge of the bleed.
5. Put a month grid on each grid page. Our 2027 grids include all 12 months and both year-at-a-glance pages, or you can build your own.
6. Add your footer to each grid page: logo, name, phone and website, clear of the hole zone.
7. Download with Share, then Download. Choose PDF Print and tick Crop marks and bleed.
8. Open the PDF and check that it has 28 pages in the right order before you upload.

Add your own dates

Birthdays, events and service days can print right in the grid at no charge.

Upload a list with your order, giving each date a short label, such as "March 14: Grandpa's birthday". Keep labels short, because each day's box is small. Check every name and date twice; the proof is your last chance to catch a typo.

Designing your own grid pages? Type the dates into your file before you export it.

Check your proof

Your digital proof shows your exact file, so read every page before you approve it.

• Spell every name: people, the business and any streets.
• Check each date you added, and the holidays you chose.
• Read the phone number digit by digit, and type the website into a browser.
• Look at every photo crop, and check that nothing important sits in the hole zone.

The proof confirms content and layout, not exact color. You get it the same business day we receive a complete file. Approve it or ask for one round of changes; nothing prints until you approve.

Or skip the design work

Send your photos and logo, and we lay out the calendar on our template for $39 per order.

• One photo per month, plus a cover photo.
• Your logo, with the name, phone and website for the footer.
• Your holiday choice and any dates to print.

You still approve a proof before we print. Order the 11 x 8.5 wall calendar or the mini wall calendar and choose the layout option.

Templates

• 2027 wall calendar template, 11 x 8.5 in (28 pages) (PDF)
• 2027 month grids with US holidays, 11 x 8.5 in (PDF)
• Calendar design guide, 11 x 8.5 in (PDF)

The church-year grids and the mini templates are on the 2027 wall calendars page.

Questions

Printed and shipped by Charlotte Print in Charlotte, North Carolina.