Pigs flying, hell freezing over, cats and dogs sleeping together...
Those of you who have been praying for a personal size version of the D*I*Y Planner now have a glimmer of hope, thanks to one Sandra K. of Los Angeles. She sent me a personal size (6.75" by 4.25") Franklin-Covey planner, which had two effects.
First, I finally got to see FC forms (yes, I've never actually seen them before now), and I finally understand all the requests to replace them. Heh.
Second, I've taken a few minutes to run an experiment. Find below the first two D*I*Y Planner forms for a possible personal size edition. It's just the Combined Actions and timed Day Keeper forms, but --like I stress-- this is just an experiment, based upon the Hipster PDA Edition templates. At this stage, I'd like all the feedback you can give me, including the best ways to cut the darn thing.
Speaking of which, is there anybody out there with a decent personal-size six-hole punch (a real metal one, not a flat plastic clip) who would care to donate it to the D*I*Y Planner project to push this edition along? If so, please contact me at diyplanner [at] gmail [dot] com. Hey, it's still a whole lot cheaper than buying all those expensive FC forms, and you could be immortalised in the credits. ;-)
Download: Personal size experiment, PDF format.
This currently prints on letter size, but A4 users could probably tell Acrobat to center but not scale. However, I have absolutely no idea what constitutes personal size overseas. Please educate me.
Orientation of personal size pages
You can see the layout of personal-size pages on a sheet of 8.5 x 11 in. paper on the DayTimer site at this page: Link.
And if you go to the following page, you will see a comparison of the sizes: Link.
It looks like PandaPuff's forms on this page
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/762
are oriented correctly. The individual pages are half an inch too wide (4.25 vs 3.75) but they would fit in my personal size filofax binder. And they could also be trimmed a bit narrower with a paper cutter.
(Sorry, those links are so long--I need to learn to use Tiny URL)
Could I add a vote to go for
Could I add a vote to go for Filofax Personal size i.e. 3.75 wide.
Filofax Personal
I would like to add my vote for creating a good filofax personal set of templates.
Thanks for the link to pre-punched and perforated pages. That sounds like a god-send here in the UK.
I used to print out my outlook diary and then fold/tear it to A5 size to lug about in a A5 planner. But I found the personal size the right compromise between convenient and useful. Problem was, the standard filofax inserts are not useful.
These templates are fab! I'd love to be able to print/use them here in the UK.
"Personal" size mix-ups
I think this is one of the problems that made me initially forget about producing a personal size kit. So, I gather that the Franklin-Covey "compact" size is 4.25"x6.75", the DayTimer "portable" is 3.75"x6.75", and the Day Runner "Running Mate" is 3.75"x6.75". A generic one in the office supply store nearby is the same size as the FC compact.
What's the personal Filofax size?
And what are the sizes overseas?
Can anyone enlighten me?
all my best,
dj
Filofax personal size
...is 3.75 by 6.75 in.
According to the UK Filofax site, it's 95 x 171 mm.
A4...............210 x 297mm
A5...............148 x 210mm
Personal......95 x 171mm
Slimline.........95 x 171mm
Pocket........81 x 120mm
Mini.............67 x 105mm
M2...............103 x 64mm
Deskfax.......176 x 250mm
Overseas "personal" size
So --and this goes out especially to all our overseas readers-- just to be clear, are the overseas "personal" sizes the same as the North American 3.75"x6.75" size?
If so, that will save a lot of work. I don't mind creating two different sizes (4.25x6.75 and 3.75x6.75), but I don't like the idea of creating a half dozen configurations. :-(
all my best,
dj
About size
Yes, 3.75"x6.75 = Personalsize, at least in Sweden, but we are not inched here, it´s millimeters that counts...
In my case, I´m buying the calender-part. It´s the other templates (NA, Project etc.) that I´m keen of to put my hands on... so I wait and wait...
// Popeye
Either metric or Imperial
Hi Doug,
You are making me all excited when you say you would publish the personnal size format for the D*I*Y Planner. Are we gonna get it for Christmas ;-)
BTW, Being from Canada like you, I don't mind if you create them in inches or in millimiters ;-)
I am curious about this format's (3.75x6.75) origin. I guess it is not a standard. Anybody knows where it came from?
Yes Filofax Personal is 3.75
Yes Filofax Personal is 3.75 x 6.75 and is one of the more popular sizes here in UK.
3.75" width
I would like to add my vote - it's easier to put 3.75" wide forms into the wider FC binder than it is to put 4.25" wide forms into the other binders.
other systems; Timex, Time/System
I've got a few different planner systems. They seem to follow Filofax with slightly different paper size but sharing the hole positioning.
Filofax Personal matches Timex and may match Time/System Compact. Filofax Pocket matches Timex Handy and Time/System Partner and the Burde I have.
Personal/compact sizes
I'd prefer the 4.25"x6.75" size just because I have a Levenger binder which takes it and there's skoosh more room for writing. But, the dominant size seems to be the 3.75"x6.75", so that would make the most sense to target your effort. Would love to have a two-page per week calendar format. :-)
Mead makes prepunched note paper in the 3.75"x6.75" size and six ring binders in that size, for those wanting an economical source of binders. However, their note paper is not fountain pen friendly, unless you have a pen that writes fairly dry and a quick drying ink.
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Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
B. Banzai
Page size consideration
Doug,
I have been an avid user of Franklin Covey (nee "Quest") in both Classic and Compact formats. I have used DayTimer and DayRunner binders and refills over the years. I have finally retired my FC Classic binder in favor of a Dayrunner (3 3/4 X 6 3/4 format). This DR is just the right size to carry in my briefcase and not weigh the proverbial "ton". I found a DR, Leather binder, with inserts on closeout for $10.00 (US). I do hope that you can make templates for this size---I want to make my own forms now. Thank you,
CAMPYSR
Hole Punch
Way back in this thread, I eventually chased down a European punch -- It's called Rapesco Diary 66P -- Here is the manufacturer's page on the product.
I got one through an eBay.uk seller, id "iand2842", product referred to as a "Diary Punch". My final cost was around $us20
I checked eBay and found This seller
Go for it !!
I also use one of these
I also use one of these punches for Filofax Personal.
Franklin-Covey hole punch special offer today
I just ordered a Franklin-Covey Compact/Pocket metal hole punch for 20% off, special offer for today, 10/12/06. Regular price is $19.95 and you'd get 20% off if you order today. Pretty reasonable. www.franklincovey.com.
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Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
B. Banzai
Printing and cutting
4-up (2x2) on legal size (8.5 x 14 inch) paper? That would leave half an inch of slack in the long direction. I have no idea if there's anything like U.S. legal size that's commonly available anywhere else on Earth.
My wife has been waiting for something like this, ever since I showed her my classic-size planner.
--
flexiblefine
Do you procrastinate?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheNowHabit/
Another way of laying out the pages
If you go to this webpage:
http://www.filofaxusa.com/perac.html
and look for item 930200 --the laser paper, about a third of the way down the page, they have a different layout of the pages on the paper, getting three pages onto one sheet of paper.
HipsterWide
I'd like to see a format that fit onto 1/4 letter size paper (~A6). It could be called Hipster Wide! The main advantage is that full sized printed pages folded in quarters in fit nicely w/ the rest of the system and still fits in my purse. Letter size has to be folded to 1/8 size to fit with notecards, which is too bulky in my opinion.
I print my schedule out each week on letter size paper and fold it in quarters for portability. Since discovering diyplanner.com I started printing stuff on the back of the calendar (to do, etc). I've been using shortened versions of the hipster images. Which works well for something like the 2007 reference calendar (just chop off the notes section) and not so well for the GTD reference card. I cary all this around in a duct tape contraption.
1/4 letter idea
If you haven't already seen it, check out PocketMod at...
http://www.pocketmod.com/
It's a way to make a twice folded letter size piece of paper more handy for notes and schedules.
FC "compact" planner pages
I am a committed user of the "compact" size planner (4.25"x6.75") and would like to find a way to use the DIY templates. Currently, I print calender pages from Microsoft Outlook, four pages to a sheet of "legal" size paper (8.5"x14"), cut the sheet in half twice on a rotary paper cutter, and punch the holes with the FC brand six-hole punch. I am wondering if the current letter templates available here would be printable the same way. Has anyone tried this with any success? I would love to see a "compact" kit available!