Author | Jackie

When it comes to being a digital planner designer, you have a range of software to choose from.

Factors that influence your choice of software should include:

• how much the software costs and whether that is a one-off payment or an ongoing subscription
• the learning curve and the time you have available to commit to this
• ensuring the software can perform the key functions required for designing a hyperlinked digital planner

Below, we’ll look at the pros and cons of the different software packages you can use for your design. We’ll start by looking at the key functions you need to design a digital planner so we can consider these when looking at individual software packages.

Make Your Own Digital Planner | Download the Free Guide

Essentials for digital planner design

There are some key functions you need to have in a software package to be able to create, manage and edit a hyperlinked PDF digital planner.

Remember, digital planners are big documents. For many people, they are the biggest document they’ve ever had to work on. The simplest weekly page planner can run to 100 pages, with daily planners running to 400-500 pages.

When we look at the pros and cons of each software package, we will need to consider the following.

Master Page Layouts

The ability to create templates at a page level. Most importantly, the ability to edit a page template and have that edit ripple through an entire document, no matter how many pages it has.

You can find out more about how master pages work in this article.

Global Colours

The ability to apply a colour to text, tables, or shapes and that colour stay ‘connected’ to that item. If you then change the colour, any item it is connected to will also change. Again, no matter how big your document. 

You can find out more about working with colour in Affinity Publisher in this article.

Text Styles

The ability to apply multiple text settings in one click. A set of text styles not only ensures a consistent and professional look to your digital planner, it also saves you time.

Hyperlinking

The ability to create hundreds of hyperlinks. Yes, hundreds! Most dated daily planners, for example, have a Calendar page with each month, week and day hyperlinked to the individual page in the planner. That page alone has over 400 hyperlinks. That doesn’t even include links for: side tabs, a dashboard, sections, etc. 

Designer Tip | Hyperlinking is one of the most time-consuming aspects of creating a digital planner. Choose software that makes it as easy and pain free as possible!

Master Pages Panel in Affinity Publisher

Pros and Cons of Canva for digital planner design

Pros

• It was designed specifically for non-designers and so is quick to learn.
• With millions of users, it is easy to find online support and tutorials.
• It is easy to find Canva templates for sale online.

Cons

• They offer a Pro account but this is an ongoing subscription at £13 per month (as at Oct 24).
• Has text styles but lacks a global colour function.
• It has hyperlink functionality but this isn’t easy to manage or edit for a big document.
• Page limit of 350 (as at Oct 24). If you want a bigger document, you will need to use a PDF editing app to join multiple PDFs together.

Pros and Cons of Keynote or PowerPoint for digital planner design

Pros

• Most people have a Presentation software app on their computer.
• Both these presentation packages have been around for many years, so there is plenty of online support.
• Keynote on Macs and PowerPoint on Windows are easy to learn and use.
• Keynote is free for Mac users.
• Can use master slides to create a consistent design.

Cons

• PowerPoint is part of Microsoft 365 with ongoing costs for the business basic option of £7 per month (as at Oct 24). 
• Has hyperlinking functionality but basic and not easy to manage for a big or complex document.

Pros and Cons of Adobe Indesign for digital planner design

Pros

• Fantastic desktop publishing software that was designed for the job.
• Hyperlinking process is robust and perfect for big/complex document management.
• Has master pages, global colours, and text styles.
• Has been around for a long time, so plenty of tutorials online.
• Available for Mac and Windows.

Cons

• The most expensive of the options, this will cost £22 per month as an ongoing subscription (as at Oct 24).
• The program is so extensive it has become demanding to use on anything other than a high-spec computer
• There is a learning curve. Worth investing in a course specifically for digital planners.

Pros and Cons of Affinity Publisher for digital planner design

Pros

• Excellent desktop publishing software which has everything you need to design a digital planner.
• The best value of the options. A free trial followed by a one-off purchase of £68 (as at Oct 24).
• Hyperlinking process is robust and perfect for big/complex document management.
• Has master pages, global colours, and text styles.
• Available for Mac and Windows.

Cons

• There is a learning curve. Worth investing in a course specifically for digital planners.
• Has good online support but a smaller community than Adobe as it is younger.

Best Affinity Publisher tools for digital planner design | free Guide

Choosing the right design program for digital planners

As you can see, there is plenty of choice at different price points, each with its own pros and cons.

When choosing the right software for yourself, I would recommend you consider:

• The costs involved and how this fits with your own budget.
• How well you know the software or, whether or not you are prepared to invest time to learn.
• Does the software have the essentials of: master pages, global swatches, text styles (or their equivalent), and a good hyperlinking function. These are all important for managing and editing big documents.

If you would like to find out more about designing your own digital planner using Affinity Publisher, I offer a short course with all the templates you need to create your first digital planner in a matter of hours.

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