Coloring books have become incredibly popular in the past few years. Even adults are getting in on the fun. Everyone loves to color, especially kids! But buying coloring books at the store can get expensive. You can make your own coloring book that is customized just for you or a child in your life. It is an easy project that just about anyone can do. Making a coloring book can be fun for kids and adults of all ages. It is so much easier than trying to find a perfect gift. This post is going to walk you through how to make a coloring book.
We went on this article to help you make the perfect coloring book. The tips and tricks that we have provided in this article will help you put together the coloring book that you want. All you really need to make a coloring book is construction paper, paint, and markers. This article is going to walk you through everything that you will need to know. Don’t worry; it really isn’t as hard as some people may have to lead you to believe. Anyone who enjoys coloring can learn how to make a coloring book step by step. Take your time and have fun with it!
How to Make a Coloring Book: Things to Consider
This lesson will show you how to make a coloring book. Firstly, coloring books are not simply for children. Filling in the little spaces with color is a simple task for anyone.
Tip 1: Select a Theme
Each coloring book has a different theme, which is something that is consistent across all of them. The most common themes are:
- Book of Religious Activities for Children
- Showcase a specific state or city
- Book on body-positive coloring for adults
- Color books featuring Mandalas
- Coloring books for children in general
Whatever theme you choose, use a wide range of scenes/images to illustrate the theme. Choose images that you find appealing and that you think your audience might enjoy coloring. This will be your inspiration for illustration pages.
Tip 3: Creating Your Illustration Pages
Making a coloring book is definitely the most difficult part. There would be no problem turning a regular image into an outline and vectorized illustration if a magic wand could do it. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. These are some suggestions for creating excellent coloring book pages.
- Hire a Designer:
You should consult a designer to determine what you need. The designer should make it possible to turn your images into outlines if you provide them with the images you want changed. You can try freelancing sites to find a designer if you do not know anyone or you have a low budget for this project.
- Use an Illustration Tablet:
It is much easier if you can just trace your image to create a vectorized outline, whether you’re using an iPad Pro, a Surface Pro, or a Wacom tablet. Once you finish tracing the image, save the illustration as a PDF, and you are done! Your coloring page is ready.
- Take a Long Way:
Many of us do not have access to drawing tablets, but Adobe Illustrator might be available. If this is the case, here are some tips for you. Make sure you have some tracing paper and a pen or marker with black ink. After that, you can trace!
Take a photo or scan the illustration in front of a white background once you’ve got the drawing where you want it. In Illustrator, open the image, then select File > Image Trace > Make & Expand. Using the pen tool or direct select tool, you can edit the outline of your drawing. We know this will be worth all of that hard work when your profits start rolling in. A coloring book full of simply black and white images will not motivate anyone to buy it.
Tip 4: Attention-Grabbing Cover
Create a vibrant, colored image for the cover of your coloring book to keep it from appearing blasé. Coloring your favorite inside page is the best way to achieve this. In many design programs, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, you can colorize it or color it and scan it! Design software is recommended for the best outcome. If possible, you should provide examples of what the inside pages of your coloring book could be used for.
Tip 5: Select the Right Paper
The coloring pages in a coloring book must be printed on uncoated paper so that you can color them with more than just a sharpie. Additionally, it is important to think about whether single- or double-sided illustrations are appropriate. Most people who use markers in coloring books do so to increase the risk of bleeding through; it is, therefore, a good idea to place an illustration on the front of each page.
Tip 6: User-Friendly Binding Options
For this type of product, three kinds of stitches are best: saddle stitch, spiral, and wire-o. All three of these binding options can lay flat, making them the best choice for a coloring book. To keep the pages down in your coloring book, the person using it should not have to struggle. As a result of how the pages adhere together, Perfect Bound, our fourth binding option, cannot lay flat, making the process of coloring very difficult. And the color should be relaxing, after all!
In terms of binding style, saddle stitch is by far the most popular. This method is cost-effective and high-quality. Nevertheless, spiral binding and Wire-O binding provide the added convenience of allowing the pages to be turned in any direction. The coloring book could be somewhat more portable in exchange for a few more dollars.
How to Make a Coloring Book Step by Step
Coloring books have grown in popularity recently. However, if you are looking to start your own coloring book from scratch, it can be a little bit intimidating. The good news is that creating a coloring book is easy. It just takes a little bit of planning and an hour of your time. Have you ever wanted to create a coloring book or do you want to learn how to make one? Don’t worry, we will guide you through the steps on how to do it. So, let’s get started!
Planning and Designing Your Book
Step- 1: Decide the size of the book
8.5 x 11″, or standard copy paper size, is the best size for your book. Commercially-produced coloring books usually have those proportions, so children already know what those coloring books look like. If you don’t have any ideas for illustrations, you can print designs from the internet and add them to your book afterward.
Step- 2: Determine the number of pages
The number of pages you would need for a theme-like season would be four. Decide how many pages you will need early in the planning process since adding or removing pages could be more challenging once binding begins.
- Fewer pages may be a better option for young children’s shorter attention span. However, a book with more pages will benefit your child for a longer period of time.
Step- 3: Choose a binding
With a row of staples, you can bind your book together quickly and easily. However, if you want a more finished look, using liquid glue might work better. As an alternative, you could hole punch along the left margin of the book and create 3 holes in the area to be bound. After that, you could tie a bow or tie a knot with the twine or ribbon you passed through.
- After you’ve drawn your illustrations, you can bind the book. You’ll not have a problem fitting your drawings onto a prebound page that’s much smaller.
Step- 4: Draw it or use premade
Designing your own book adds a personal touch. However, not everyone is an artist. Take the time to choose images that truly reflect your children’s personalities if you are choosing prefabricated, printable designs.
- Free, printable kid’s coloring book illustrations are available on many websites through a quick web search.
- You do not need to worry about finding copyright-free images if you are not planning to sell the coloring book. Pre-made coloring templates are available and templates you can create using images from books or the Web.
Step- 5: Develop a theme.
What is your daughter’s favorite animal? Does she like spaceships better? There are endless possibilities for the theme of the book, but choosing one can narrow them down. Furthermore, keeping a consistent design theme can inspire different designs within the same category. You might be able to come up with various crazy characters if the theme is superheroes (cartoonish, realistic, etc.).
Creating Your Designs by Hand
Step- 1: Grab a permanent marker and paper.
This task requires the use of black permanent markers. Lines made by colored markers and crayons are always visible, even if the strokes are heavy. Moreover, no other permanent marker can withstand repeated erasures. The erasable nature of colored pencils means that this is important for your child.
- Cardboard or several sheets of thick scrap paper should be placed behind the drawing page in order to keep moisture out. Otherwise, the marker may bleed through onto the next page or onto whatever surface you are writing on.
Step- 2: Draw bold and simple designs.
Do not include small, delicate details in your outlines. Fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil or crayon and coloring, are not yet developed in children under the age of 6. Make your images fairly simple, with plenty of space for kids to color within the lines and broadly spaced, evenly-sized areas.
Step- 3: Fashion a front and back cover.
Adding special effects here is the way to go. Decide on the name of your book and draw out some designs. If you want to add color to the final product, you may add glitter or use colored markers.
- To make this book more stable, use heavier paper such as cardboard, cardstock, or construction paper to make this book more stable.
- Wrapping your cover in wallpaper samples or wrapping paper will give it a nice, decorative look.
- Give your book the name of your child when naming it. By doing so, you will make the project even more personal.
Assembling the Book
Step- 1: Bring together your designs.
Organize your book’s pages on a flat surface according to their order. Be sure to include both the front and the back cover pages. Make sure they are placed where they should be.
Step- 2: Start the binding process.
Start with the back cover if using glue. Along the left edge of the back cover, draw a thin line of liquid glue. Do the same thing on the next page, working in reverse. Keep doing this until all of the sheets have been glued, except for the front cover. Please avoid applying glue to the front cover.
Step- 3: Press the sheets together
Start with the front cover at the beginning of your book. Place it on top of the first page of your coloring book. Continue this process on each page. When joining the pages in this manner, align them as evenly as possible for a professional look.
Step- 4: Seal the booklet together by pressing firmly.
The left binding should be squeezed repeatedly across the bound left edge with your fingers. Several heavy books might be helpful in aiding the adhesion process. While the glue dries, place them on top of your coloring book.
Step- 5: Before using the glue, let it dry completely.
You should allow your little artist at least two hours to dry glue before letting him loose with the book. If not, wet glue will get everywhere, and the pages will start to fall apart.
Final Words
Making your own coloring book is a great way to save money. You can also use this as a way to create a special moment for your kids, family, and friends. Having a coloring book made by you makes it even more special than if you had purchased it in the store. Hopefully, this article helped you learn how to make a coloring book! You can use your coloring book in so many different ways, and they make great gifts. If you follow the steps we have laid out here, you can make a coloring book of your own.