How to Create a Printable Photo Calendar in Canva | Step-by-Step Tutorial
Learn how to design a beautiful printable photo calendar in Canva from scratch. This beginner-friendly tutorial walks you through creating a clean, minimalist calendar that you can personalize with your own photos, drawings, paintings, or quotes.
If you prefer learning by watching, I’ve also recorded a detailed YouTube video tutorial where I show the exact process on screen. You’ll find it embedded at the end of this post.
What You'll Learn
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to:
- Create a printable photo calendar in Canva
- Set up your document for printing
- Build a reusable monthly calendar table
- Copy calendar dates quickly using an online calendar
- Customize the design with your own fonts and photos
- Export your calendar as a high-quality PDF ready for printing
Although I'm using an A4 document, you can easily adapt the design to US Letter or any custom print size.
Step 1: Create a New Canva Document
Create a new design in Canva and choose your preferred print format.
For this tutorial, I'm using Document A4 Portrait, but if you're in the United States, or creating calendars for the US market, you may prefer US Letter.
You can also create a custom-sized document by entering your own dimensions in inches or centimeters.
Step 2: Enable Margins
Go to:
File → Settings → Show margins
Margins make it much easier to align all of the design elements consistently.
For this particular design, Show print bleed isn't necessary because everything stays inside the margins.
Step 3: Add a Photo Placeholder
Go to Elements and search for “grid”.
Choose the first grid and resize it so it fills the upper portion of the page while leaving enough space underneath for the month name and calendar.
Later, you'll simply drag your own photos into this grid.
Step 4: Create the Calendar Table
Go to:
Elements → Tables
(or Tools → Tables)
Start with the default table and expand it to:
- 7 columns
- 7 rows
You can do this by selecting any table cell, clicking the three dots above or beside it, and choosing Add Column or Add Row.
The first row will contain the names of the days.
The remaining rows are used for the dates.
Most months need five or six weeks, so it's easiest to begin with the maximum number of rows and remove any extras later.
Move the table to the bottom-right corner of the page and align it with the margins.
Extend it toward the center of the page.
Finally, select the entire table, click the three dots again, and choose Size rows equally and Size columns equally.
Step 5: Style the Calendar
Choose your preferred font and font size.
For this design I used:
- Nunito Sans Condensed Light
- Font size: 10
- Spacing → Cell Spacing: 2
At this stage I leave the table borders visible because they make it easier to work with the cells.
They'll be removed later for a cleaner final design.
Step 6: Add Weekday Names
Enter the names of the days in the first row.
I'm using:
M T W T F S S
with a Monday start.
If your region uses Sunday as the first day of the week, simply adjust the order accordingly.
Step 7: Copy the Dates
Instead of typing every date manually, use:
Choose:
- the year
- your preferred country
The calendar will automatically use that country's standard week format.
Copy the entire month, including any empty cells at the beginning.
Including those empty cells ensures that every date aligns correctly.
Return to Canva, click on the first empty cell in the calendar table, and paste the dates.
Step 8: Add the Month Name
Create a new text box by pressing T.
Place it underneath the photo on the left side.
For this tutorial I used:
- Abril Fatface
- Font size: 80
- Three-letter uppercase month abbreviations
Step 9: Finalize the Layout
Before duplicating the page:
- Remove the table borders.
Select the entire table, go to Border > Border Style, and choose None.
- Make the weekday names slightly bolder.
To select only the first row, click the first cell, hold Shift and click the last cell in the row.
You can then simply click Bold.
Since I'm using Nunito Sans Condensed Light, I'll change it to Medium instead. - Clear the January dates so you have a clean template.
Select the first cell in the second row, then hold Shift and select the last date of the month.
Press Delete on your keyboard.
Now that you have a clean calendar layout, duplicate the page until you have all twelve months.
Then simply change the month names.
Step 10: Fill in Every Month
Return to timeanddate.com and repeat the copy-and-paste process for each month.
Some months will leave one or even two empty rows.
When that happens:
1. Copy the table height.
2. Delete the unnecessary row.
3. Restore the original table height.
This keeps every calendar page perfectly aligned.
Step 11: Add Your Photos
Now comes the fun part.
Upload your own:
- family photos
- travel photos
- landscapes
- drawings
- illustrations
- paintings
- inspirational quotes
Simply drag each image into the grid.
Because Canva's Grid element automatically crops images, you can reposition each photo by double-clicking inside the frame and moving it right/left or up/down.
Step 12: Export Your Calendar
When you're finished:
Share → Download → PDF Print
Your calendar is now ready for printing.
Make it Your Own
One of my favorite things about this project is how easy it is to personalize. Whether you're creating a family photo calendar, showcasing your travel photography, displaying your artwork, or making a thoughtful handmade gift, once you understand the basic structure, it's easy to create calendars in almost any style. Better yet, you'll have a fully customizable template that you can adapt and reuse for future years by updating the dates and making small adjustments when needed.
Watch the Full Video Tutorial
If you'd like to follow along visually, you can watch the complete step-by-step video tutorial on YouTube.
