Free vision board maker and templates

What a vision board template is

A vision board template is a ready-made layout, sized for where the board will live, that you fill with photos and words of the life you want. The template does the boring part (canvas size, spacing, margins) so you only choose the pictures. This one comes in four sizes and three layouts, and it works as a digital vision board or a printable one.

The point of a template is to make the board quick enough that you actually finish it. A board you make in ten minutes tonight and see every day beats a perfect one you never get round to.

How to use each vision board template

Pick the template for the screen or wall where you will see it most, because a vision board only works if you look at it.

Phone wallpaper (1080 x 1920)

The best choice for most people, because you see your lock screen dozens of times a day. Use six photos in the 2 x 3 grid so each one is big enough to read at a glance. The template leaves the top quarter empty for the clock and keeps the bottom clear of the flashlight and camera buttons.

Desktop (1920 x 1080)

For a laptop or monitor wallpaper. The wide format suits the 3 x 3 grid or scattered polaroids, and a title in the middle of your screen is a nice nudge when you sit down to work. Keep desktop icons to one side so they don't sit on top of your photos.

Printable A4 or US Letter (300 dpi)

For the fridge, a mirror or the wall above your desk. Pick A4 outside the US and Letter inside it, then print at "actual size" or "100%". If you'd rather cut and glue, download the blank printable vision board template: eight labelled frames you fill with magazine cut-outs, drawings or printed photos.

Phone wallpaper tip: set it as your lock screen

Setting your vision board as your lock screen is the easiest way to see it every day without trying. On an iPhone, save the PNG to Photos, then touch and hold the lock screen, tap the plus button, choose Photos and pick your board. On Android, save it, open the image in your gallery and choose "Set as wallpaper", then "Lock screen".

Two small things help. Use a plain title or none at all, since the clock already sits at the top. And change the board every season or two, because your brain stops noticing a picture it has seen a thousand times.

8 vision board categories, with prompts

Choose one photo for each area that matters to you this year. These are the same eight categories on the blank template, with a prompt to help you pick the image.

• Love: what does love look like on an ordinary Wednesday? A shared breakfast, a hand to hold on the walk home.
• Money: what would you buy, save or stop worrying about? Pick a picture of the feeling, like a calm morning or a paid-off card, not just a pile of cash.
• Home: which room do you want to wake up in? Find the window, the light, the city outside it.
• Career: where are you working, and what does your desk look like? A studio, a shop with your name on it, a stage.
• Body: how do you want to feel in your body, not just look? Strong on a hike, rested after nine hours of sleep.
• Travel: one place you want to see with your own eyes in the next year. Be exact: a street in Kyoto beats "Asia".
• Friendships: who is at the table? A long dinner, a group trip, someone you can call at midnight.
• Self: who are you becoming? A woman reading in a café without her phone, a first painting, a quiet morning routine.

How to choose photos that work

Choose photos you could step into, with light, a place and ideally a person who could be you. Close-up, specific images work better than generic stock: your actual dream street over "a nice city", the dog breed you want over "a dog". Leave out anything you feel you should want.

If your board is mostly words, try the manifestation generator first and use a line from it as your title. For the method behind it, read how to manifest something. And if you want a board that lives in an app, Vera's vision board is built from your own photos, with paintings made from your own words.

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