Year in pixels

One cell a day for a whole year, drawn for the year you name — so February is the right length and the months stop where they actually stop.

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Start from a challenge

A year in pixels is a cell for every day, coloured in daily against a legend you write yourself, so that twelve months of mood or habit fit on one sheet you can read at a glance. Every free version of it is a static PDF, which means it is a 12 by 31 grid with 372 cells and no opinion about which seven of them are not real days.

Naming the year fixes that for free. April stops at 30, February is 28 or 29 depending on the year you actually asked for, and the calendar layout can start each month on its true weekday. The circular layout — one wedge a day around a ring, with the year in the middle — is the variant people buy on Etsy and that no generator offers.

The legend is what decides whether the sheet still makes sense next January, so it gets real room: one to twelve entries, each with a swatch to colour and either the label you typed or a ruled line long enough to write on. A5 and A6 are on the paper list, because a planner insert is the format this is actually used in.

Questions

Why does the year matter?

Because a printed grid cannot know it. Naming the year is what lets the sheet give February 29 days in a leap year and 28 otherwise, stop April at 30, and start each month of the calendar layout on the weekday it really starts on. The cells that are not days are simply absent rather than left as traps.

What do I put in the legend?

Whatever the colours mean. Five moods is the usual, ten habits is the other common one. Type the labels and they are printed; leave them empty and you get a swatch and a ruled line to fill in by hand.

Will it fit my planner?

A5 and A6 are both on the paper list and both print at true size, so an A6 insert really is 105 by 148 mm. A5 is the default here for that reason.

What is the circular one?

The same year as a ring: one wedge per day, the months ticked and named around the outside, and the year itself in the hole in the middle. It is the version sold as a print, and it is the same data as the grid.

Can I use it for something other than mood?

Yes — it is a cell a day and a legend, so habits, sleep, exercise, migraines, weather or reading all work the same way. Set the title and the legend to suit.

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