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2014 has just barely arrived and many people are still scrambling to find that perfect 2014 calendar to get them through the coming twelve months. You can comb the stores or head to any number of photo-sharing services that allow you to create your own calendar – most will even print in high quality and drop in the mail to you.

You could also take the Office route – there are a number of Word templates that allow you to create and print your own. But, if you need just a bit more than what Microsoft can provide, then there is also dedicated software that can do a lot more. Pically is a free program that you can grab and use to create beautiful calendars using your own photos. The app works with Windows, Mac and Linux. It does require Java to be installed on your system, just so you know.

The interface is fairly simple – you’ll have access to all of the months of the year, along with the ability to add images to each one. A drop-down box at the bottom of the screen lets you select the year.

You will also want to add events – don’t forget mom’s birthday, you’ll need to put it on your calendar. To do this, there’s a box at the bottom of the screen with a number of options open to you.

To get started, click on the event type – the only option is “Holiday”, but you can enter text to cover no matter what it is – not just public holidays, but birthdays, anniversaries and more. You will need to choose the date of the event, both month and day, even enter the text you wish to appear, such as “John’s Birthday”. When you have everything just the way you want it then click “Add event” to enter it into your new calendar.

It’s not too terribly much works, just a matter of picking and choosing images and then some data entry to take care of the holidays. Once it’s all done, you can click on “Generate” at the bottom of the screen to view your finished creation. From there, you can print it out for mounting on the wall or refrigerator.

Conclusion

Pically is far from the only way of creating a calendar, but it makes things clean and simple, with few options (not always bad). You can get your images and special days added with no hassle. You’ll need a decent printer, as getting this out looking right is the final step, and it’s not as easy as it sounds. It’s also free, which is an enormous bonus when it comes to any computer program.

There are other options, if you so choose. Templates for Word can provide nice results, or can take the paid route with a service, which gives you good professional printing. But for home use, Pically is certainly my favorite option.