Making a Funeral Program in Word, Google Docs or Canva

When someone in the family says "I'll do the program," they usually reach for whatever software they already know. For many people that is Microsoft Word. For others it is Google Docs, because the family can all see the same file. Younger relatives often go straight to Canva. All three can produce a perfectly good funeral program. All three also have particular ways of eating up an evening when you have very few evenings to spare.

This article is an honest comparison. We make a funeral program maker, so we obviously have a view, but the goal here is to help you choose the tool that suits you and to save you time whichever you choose. You will find step-by-step setup for each, the specific pitfalls to watch for, and a section at the end on when a dedicated maker is worth it and when it is not.

What a funeral program actually needs from software

Before comparing tools, it helps to be clear about what the job involves. A standard funeral program is a four-page booklet made from one sheet folded in half. To produce one, software needs to let you:

1. Set up a landscape sheet with two portrait pages side by side, or four portrait pages that print as a booklet
2. Place a photo and crop it attractively
3. Set the name in a large, perhaps decorative, font
4. Lay out an order of service neatly, often with items on the left and names on the right
5. Keep the life story readable, at a sensible size, without overflowing
6. Print double-sided with the pages in the right order
7. Optionally produce a PDF for a print shop, with bleed and crop marks

Different tools are strong at different items on that list.

Microsoft Word

Strengths

• Familiar to many people, especially older family members who may want to edit
• Excellent for text: spelling checks, consistent styles, easy editing of a long life story
• A built-in Book fold layout that handles four-page booklets
• Many free funeral program templates available online in .docx format

Setting up a booklet in Word

1. Open a new blank document.
2. Go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins.
3. Under "Multiple pages," choose Book fold. Word switches the orientation to landscape and treats each half of the sheet as a page.
4. Set "Sheets per booklet" to 4 (for one folded sheet) or All.
5. Set modest margins – around half an inch – and a small gutter.
6. Type your pages in reading order: cover, inside left, inside right, back. Insert a page break between each.
7. When printing, choose double-sided and flip on short edge.

Word's Book fold handles the imposition for you, which removes one of the biggest sources of error.

Common pitfalls in Word

• Photos jump around. By default, Word places images "in line with text," so they move as you type. Set the cover photo to a fixed position (Layout Options > Fix position on page), or place it inside a table cell.
• Text boxes drift. Templates downloaded from the internet often use many floating text boxes. Editing one can shift the others. If a template becomes unmanageable, it can be quicker to rebuild with simple paragraphs.
• Columns for the order of service. The cleanest way to align items on the left and names on the right is a right-aligned tab stop with a dot leader, or a two-column table with invisible borders. Avoid lining things up with the space bar.
• Fonts change on another computer. If you send the .docx to a relative or a print shop, they may not have your fonts and the layout will reflow. Always export a PDF (File > Save As > PDF) for printing and sharing.
• No true bleed. Word does not natively produce print-shop bleed and crop marks. For full-bleed designs, you either need to hand the shop a design with a white border, or use different software.

Who Word suits

Word is a sound choice if you are comfortable with it, your design is simple, and you plan to print at home or give a print shop a bordered PDF.

Google Docs

Strengths

• Free, works in a browser, nothing to install
• Real-time collaboration: several family members can read and comment at the same time
• Comment and suggestion mode is excellent for proofreading names and dates
• Easy to share a read-only link with relatives

Limitations

• No booklet or book-fold mode. Google Docs prints pages in order, one per sheet. To make a folded booklet, you need to arrange the pages yourself, or export a PDF and print it with a booklet setting in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Limited layout control. Precise positioning of photos and text is harder than in Word or Canva.
• Limited fonts and decorative elements. There is a reasonable font library, but fewer design elements.

Making it work in Google Docs

1. Set File > Page setup to Letter or A4, portrait, with modest margins. You will design each page of the booklet as a half-size page and scale it when printing – or, simpler, design four full-size pages and let Acrobat's booklet mode scale them to half size.
2. Use one page per booklet page: cover, life story, order of service, back.
3. For the order of service, insert a two-column table and remove the borders.
4. Export with File > Download > PDF.
5. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and print with Booklet mode and both sides.

Because the pages are scaled down by half when printed as a booklet, set your body text larger than usual – around 18–20 point on the full-size page – so it ends up a comfortable 9–10 point in the printed booklet.

Who Google Docs suits

Google Docs shines as a place to collect and proof the words, even if the final layout happens elsewhere. Many families draft the life story and order of service in a shared Doc, get every name and date confirmed with comments, then paste the final text into a design tool.

Canva

Strengths

• Attractive templates and design elements, including many memorial designs
• Easy photo placement and cropping, with background removal on paid plans
• Exports a PDF Print file with options for crop marks and bleed
• Works in a browser and on phones

Common pitfalls in Canva

• Page order for printing. Canva exports pages in the order you design them. For a folded booklet, you either design two landscape "spreads" in imposition order (page 4 and page 1 on the first, pages 2 and 3 on the second), or design four portrait pages and use a booklet print setting. Families often design four portrait pages and are then surprised when the print shop asks for imposed spreads.
• Elements near the edge. Canva makes it very easy to place text right up to the edge. Use the "show margins" and "show print bleed" options so you can see the safe area.
• Template text sizes. Many templates use small, elegant type that looks fine on screen and is too small for older guests in a dim chapel. Check the size of body text before printing.
• Fonts and elements tied to a paid plan. Some template elements require a subscription. Usually you will be warned at export, but it is frustrating late at night.
• Group editing. Canva supports sharing, but having several people edit a design at once can lead to accidental changes. Share as "view" or "comment" for proofreading.

Who Canva suits

Canva suits someone with a design eye who wants creative freedom: custom photo collages, unusual layouts, a particular look. It also handles bleed and crop marks properly, which Word and Google Docs do not.

A dedicated funeral program maker

The other route is a tool built specifically for funeral programs, such as ours. The trade-off is less creative freedom in exchange for not having to think about layout, imposition or print specs at all.

How it works in our funeral program maker:

• You choose one of fourteen themes, including religious and non-religious designs
• You fill in a guided form – name, dates, service details, order of service, life story, poem, pallbearers, acknowledgement – and the pages lay out automatically
• You choose US Letter booklet, A4 booklet or 5×7 card, and can switch without retyping
• The free watermarked preview lets you see and share the finished look before paying
• The print-ready download includes a print-shop PDF with bleed, crop and fold marks, imposed for folding; a home-printer PDF in reading order; and 300-dpi PNGs of each page

The honest limitation: it is template-based. If you want a completely free-form design – a hand-drawn layout, a collage in a particular arrangement – a general design tool will give you more freedom.

What about Apple Pages, Publisher or other tools?

A few other tools come up often enough to mention.

Apple Pages is free on Macs, iPads and iPhones and is closer to a layout tool than Word is. It handles photos and text boxes gracefully and exports clean PDFs. Pages does not have a dedicated book-fold mode, so the usual approach is to design four portrait pages, export a PDF, and print with Acrobat Reader's booklet setting – or design two landscape spreads in imposition order.

Microsoft Publisher was long the office favourite for programs and bulletins, with booklet layouts and print-shop options built in. Microsoft has announced that Publisher is being retired, so if you have an old Publisher template, it is sensible to export it to PDF now rather than rely on it later.

Professional layout software such as Adobe InDesign or Affinity Publisher handles everything – bleed, imposition, styles – but has a learning curve that is hard to justify in a week like this unless you already use it.

Funeral home templates are another option. Many funeral homes use dedicated software and will produce a program from your words and photo. The design choice is usually narrower, but the work is done for you.

Readability rules that apply in every tool

Whichever software you choose, the same few rules make a program easy to read for everyone in the room, including older guests and anyone with low vision:

• Body text at 10–12 point in the printed booklet, and larger for the order of service if space allows. Remember that booklet printing from full-size pages halves the size.
• Strong contrast. Dark text on a light background is easiest. Light grey text, or text placed directly over a busy photo, is hard to read in a dim chapel.
• Decorative scripts for the name only. Flowing script fonts are lovely for a name or a heading but tiring to read in a paragraph.
• Generous line spacing. Slightly more space between lines than the default makes a long life story feel calmer and easier to follow.
• Left-aligned text for long passages. Centered text works for short poems and headings; long centered paragraphs are hard to read because each line starts in a different place.
• Consistent alignment in the order of service, so people can find their place quickly while standing for a hymn.

These matter more than any choice of software. A plain program that is easy to read serves everyone better than a beautiful one nobody can follow.

Side-by-side summary

• Easiest for editing text: Word and Google Docs
• Best for collaborating on wording: Google Docs
• Most design freedom: Canva
• Built-in booklet printing: Word (Book fold); Acrobat Reader's booklet mode for any PDF
• Print-shop bleed and crop marks: Canva (PDF Print) and dedicated makers
• Fastest from information to finished file: a dedicated maker, because layout is automatic

Where the time actually goes

Whatever tool you use, most of the time is spent on the same things:

1. Waiting for confirmed information. The officiant's order of service, the correct spelling of a name, the decision on a photo. No software speeds this up, but starting early does. See our funeral program timeline.
2. Fitting the life story. In free-form tools, a long life story overflows and pushes everything else around. Decide a word limit early – roughly 300 to 450 words for one page of a Letter booklet.
3. Fixing the layout after edits. Every late change in Word or Canva can mean nudging boxes on several pages. Tools that separate content from layout avoid this.
4. Getting the print settings right. Booklet mode, short-edge flip, actual size. A single test print catches most problems.

A hybrid workflow that works well

Many families end up with a hybrid:

1. Draft and proofread the words in Google Docs. Share with the family, use comments for corrections, and agree the final text.
2. Lay out the program in your chosen design tool. Paste in the approved text rather than retyping it.
3. Export a PDF and send it to one or two people for a final check of names and dates.
4. Print at home or at a shop, using the right PDF for each.

This keeps the discussion about words separate from the design work, which reduces the number of versions flying around.

Specific tips for each tool

Word

• Use Styles (Heading 1, Normal) rather than formatting text manually; changing the style updates the whole document
• Keep a copy of the file before major edits
• Turn on "Show formatting marks" to see stray page breaks
• Export to PDF and check the PDF, not the Word file, before printing

Google Docs

• Use Suggesting mode for proofreading so the editor can accept or reject changes
• Use version history to recover anything accidentally deleted
• Download the final text as a PDF only after everyone has confirmed it

Canva

• Switch on rulers, margins and bleed display before you start
• Check the font size of body text against a printed test copy
• Download "PDF Print" with crop marks and bleed for a print shop; download "PDF Standard" or use your printer's booklet mode for home printing

Common mistakes regardless of tool

• Designing at the wrong page size (Letter vs A4), which leads to cropping or shrinking at print time
• Typing the order of service before the officiant confirms it
• Body text too small to read comfortably
• Photo too low-resolution for the size it is printed
• Sending an editable file rather than a PDF to the print shop
• Forgetting to proofread the dates once more after the last edit

Our full list is in common funeral program mistakes and how to proofread.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a funeral program template for Word?

Many free Word templates exist online. Look for one that uses Book fold or a simple table-based layout rather than dozens of floating text boxes, and check the page size matches your paper.

Can I make a funeral program on my phone?

Canva and our maker both work on phones. For longer text, many people find it easier to write on a computer and finish on a phone.

Can a print shop print a Word document?

Usually yes, but fonts and layout can change on their computer. Export a PDF first.

Can I start in one tool and finish in another?

Yes. Writing in Google Docs and designing elsewhere is a common and sensible workflow.

Choosing quickly

If you know Word well and want a simple design printed at home, use Word with Book fold. If the family needs to agree on wording, use Google Docs for the text. If you want creative control and are comfortable with design, use Canva. If you want the program done quickly with print specs handled for you, try our funeral program template – the preview is free and you only pay ($4.99, see pricing) if you want the print-ready files.