We all love planners. But buying a new $30 digital planner every single year? Not so much. Plus, finding one that actually fits your exact workflow and aesthetic preferences can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
What if you could design your own reusable, hyperlinked digital planner once and use it forever?
Here is the good news: You do not need expensive professional software like Adobe InDesign to do this. You can make a gorgeous, fully functional, and reusable digital planner using Canva—completely for free. In this deep-dive guide, we will walk through the step-by-step process of designing a reusable planner, setting up clickable tabs, and getting it running smoothly on GoodNotes.
Why Canva and GoodNotes are the Ultimate Duo
Canva is incredibly beginner-friendly. If you can drag and drop, you can design a beautiful planner page. But the real magic happens when you bring it into GoodNotes on your iPad.
By creating an undated planner with hyperlinks, you construct a "reusable template." At the end of the year, or when you want a fresh start, you can simply erase the pages or import a clean copy of your PDF. No more buying new planners or wasting paper.
If you have ever experimented with designing an aesthetic digital reading log in Canva, you already know how easy it is to export PDFs that look incredibly professional. Creating a full planner uses those exact same design skills, just on a slightly larger scale.
Step 1: Set Up Your Canvas with the Perfect Dimensions
The first mistake people make is choosing a random template size in Canva. If your dimensions are off, your planner will look pixelated or have giant black borders when opened in GoodNotes on your tablet.
To keep it looking crisp and perfectly scaled:
- Go to Canva and click Create a design > Custom size.
- Set the units to inches or pixels.
- For landscape planning (best for iPad screens), use 11 x 8.5 inches (Standard US Letter Landscape) or 2048 x 1536 px.
- If you prefer portrait planning, swap those numbers to 8.5 x 11 inches.
Landscape layout is highly recommended. It gives you plenty of room for side-by-side tabs and feels more like a traditional open notebook.
Step 2: Build the Core Notebook Structure
Let's make this planner feel like a physical notebook lying on your desk. This visual trick makes digital planning feel much more cozy and intuitive.
First, search Canva's elements for "wood texture," "linen texture," or a simple aesthetic solid color to use as your background desk layer. Next, add a rounded square element to the center of your page. Make it a soft cream or off-white color—this will act as your "paper" pages.
To really sell the effect, search elements for "binder rings" or "spiral rings" and place them right down the center of your open notebook page. Add a subtle drop shadow to your paper elements to make them pop off the background screen.
Step 3: Design Your Navigation Tabs
This is where your planner becomes highly functional. Reusable digital planners need navigation tabs on the sides or top so you can jump to any section instantly.
Here is how to design and organize them:
- Add small rounded rectangles to the right-hand edge of your "paper" shape.
- Label them with text boxes: "Jan," "Feb," "Mar," or "Weekly," "Daily," "Trackers," "Notes."
- Group each shape and its text together (Cmd/Ctrl + G) so they move as one unit.
- Space them out evenly using Canva's Tidy Up tool (under Position > Space Evenly).
| Tab Position | Best For | Styling Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Right Side | Monthly Spreads (Jan-Dec) | Keep labels short (e.g., J, F, M, A) to fit small spaces. |
| Top Edge | Special Trackers & Lists | Use small, elegant icons instead of text for a clean look. |
| Left Side | Index, Goals, & Main Sections | Best for portrait-style planners. |
Step 4: Map Out Your Essential Pages (Keep Them Undated!)
To make this planner truly reusable, keep everything undated. Instead of writing "Monday, October 12," design a "Monday" block with a small blank circle next to it where you can easily write in the number later with your Apple Pencil.
Here are the core pages you will want to build:
- The Cover Page: Something clean and inspiring that makes you happy every time you open the app.
- The Undated Monthly Spread: A classic 5x7 grid. Keep the grid clean and add a small notes column on the side.
- The Weekly Overview: Design a horizontal weekly spread with clean blocks for Monday through Sunday.
- The Daily Planner: Perfect for busy days. Include sections for an hourly schedule, a to-do list, and a water intake tracker.
If you want to customize your system further, you could easily expand your pages by adding a customized section for building a digital fitness tracker directly behind one of your custom tabs.
Step 5: The Secret Sauce—Hyperlinking Your Tabs in Canva
Don't let the word "hyperlinking" scare you. Canva makes this process incredibly simple, but you must follow a specific workflow to avoid getting confused.
First, design all of your pages. Let's say you have 15 pages in total: Page 1 is the Cover, Page 2 is your Monthly layout, Page 3 is your Weekly layout, Page 4 is your Daily layout, and so on.
Once your pages are fully designed, go back to Page 2. Select your first tab (for example, the "Weekly" tab). Click the three dots on the floating menu and select Link (or press Cmd/Ctrl + K). Select Pages in this document and click on Page 3 (your Weekly page).
Repeat this linking process for every single tab on your page. Once all tabs on Page 2 are linked, select all of them, copy them (Cmd/Ctrl + C), and paste them (Cmd/Ctrl + V) onto your other pages. The links will copy over perfectly, saving you hours of manual linking!
Step 6: Export Your Planner for GoodNotes
Now that your layouts are finished and your links are hooked up, it is time to export. Click the Share button in the top right corner of Canva, then select Download.
Change the file type to PDF Standard. This is crucial because standard PDF format keeps your file size small and makes sure your hyperlinks remain clickable. Avoid exporting as PNG or JPEG, as those formats flat-pack your pages and destroy the links.
Step 7: Import and Use Your Planner in GoodNotes
Let's get your brand-new planner onto your iPad. Open the GoodNotes app, tap the + (New) icon, and select Import. Find your exported Canva PDF in your iCloud Drive or local files and click to open.
To make your links work, look at the top right corner of the GoodNotes screen. You will see a small icon that looks like a pen with a line through it (this is the Read-Only/Link Mode). Tap this icon. Now, you can tap any of your tabs, and the app will instantly jump to the correct page!
To write on your planner, simply tap that same icon to switch back to Editing Mode. Grab your Apple Pencil, write down your tasks, and watch your planning session come to life.
How to Clean and Reuse Your Planner Every Year
Because you skipped the specific dates and years back in Canva, you can reuse this file indefinitely. When a new month or year arrives, you have two great ways to start fresh:
- The Quick Wipe: Use the Lasso Tool in GoodNotes to select writing across your pages, tap, and hit "Delete." Your underlying template remains completely untouched.
- The Clean Slate: Simply import a fresh, unwritten copy of your exported PDF from your files. You can keep an archive folder in GoodNotes of your filled planners from previous years!
Designing your own planner gives you complete creative freedom. Have fun with colors, fonts, and layouts until you build the exact system that keeps you productive and organized week after week.