You Can Make Your Own Coloring Book With This Easy Tutorial

By Jessie Oleson Moore

drawing coloring book page Let’s be real: you don’t have to be a kid to love coloring. Adult coloring books are super popular for good reason — not only do you have a beautiful piece of art when you’re finished, but a 2017 study found that coloring reduces stress and anxiety while encouraging perseverance. So really, the question is: why aren’t you coloring? If it’s just that you haven’t found the right book, there’s great news: you can make your own! In fact, DIYing a coloring book is easier than you might think, not to mention it adds to the creative process. And with the tips and tutorial below, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a coloring book master.

Determine Size and Alignment

Before you start drawing your pages, you need to do a little planning. First and foremost: determine how big your coloring book will be. You can make it any size you want, but it’s easiest to keep it 8.5″x11″ so you can easily scan and print the pages from home. Make sure to think about alignment, too. It might be a bit jarring for someone to flip through your coloring book and have a mash of vertical and horizontal images, for example. So try to make each picture align either vertically or horizontally.

Choose a Theme

This is where you have all the artistic freedom. Find a theme that inspires you and start designing your pages. (Struggling to choose what to draw? There’s lots of inspo from the cool artists in Doodle Wars.) Pro Tip: For your first coloring book, keep it simple. Start by designing about five pages so you can practice putting a book together. You don’t have to immediately launch into a 50-page beast. Your book can showcase anything you want — from nature scenes to food to abstract mandalas. We decided to do a rainbow theme, with each page a different ROYGBIV color. Here are a few of the pages to get you inspired: coloring pages With the digital colors removed, the black and white outlines make great coloring book pages.

Plan for the Medium

If you know you’re going to use markers to color your pages, don’t make your pages double-sided — the heavy pigment of the marker will show through, ruining the image on the backside. It’s also not a bad idea to leave a white page in between each image, just in case. The coloring medium you plan to use also makes a difference for your designs. For example, using watercolors versus colored pencils will affect how you make your lines and how big or small you leave your spaces. For watercolor, you’ll want keep designs simple with room to breathe. Colored pencils or markers, on the other hand, can be much more precise for coloring in finer details.

It’s Go Time!

Once your designs are mapped out, here’s how to draw and build your coloring book.

1. Start Drawing

drawing coloring page yellow Coloring books feature bold black and white pages. Which is why, if you’re working by hand, a large-tip pen or a black marker is ideal for creating your images. The pages can also be drawn digitally, if that’s your preferred method. Pro Tip: If your coloring book has a certain order the pages should go in (like our rainbow book), make sure to include a page number to help keep the assembly straight. While confident artists can definitely draw pages freehand, many prefer to start with a pencil sketch to help establish the composition and layout before making it permanent. Once you’re satisfied with a sketch, add the ink on top, wait for it to dry and erase any pencil lines that show through. Work page-by-page until you have a handful of finished images.

2. Scan

Once the pages are finalized, it’s time to scan ’em. If you worked on 8.5″x11″ paper, your computer will easily format the scan to a printable page — other sizes may require a little photo editing.

3. Print

Print all of the pages in the same size. Trim the pages if there’s a lot of excess white space. Organize the pages in the order you want.

4. Make a Cover

rainbow coloring book This step is optional, but adding a cute cover ties your coloring book together. Design a page just like you did before, scan and print.

5. Bind the Pages

This doesn’t have to be high-tech. In fact, it’s easy to bind your book using only a needle and thread. For a detailed step-by-step, refer to our binding tutorial. Now your book is ready to go. Happy coloring!
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85 Responses to “You Can Make Your Own Coloring Book With This Easy Tutorial”

  2. Phillip Faulkner

    I have two problems: what kind of pens to use and what kind of paper. For my first page I used watercolor paper and a sharpie fine point. The combination bleed and did not make a sharp drawing, and at the end of a line it left a blob of ink. I think the problem is the paper. So I have to ask: what is the best paper? I wish to publish my color book, but it must look professional.

    Reply
    • Marissa

      That sounds amazing! I’d love to help with that project. I’m now about to create my own colouring books line. Been wanting to do it for years. Have so many ideas and themes.

      Reply
      • James

        If you’re diving into the design part, maybe give OpenAI, Bing, or Ideogram a look. They might have some nifty tools to create awesome coloring pages.

        I’ve been using Ideogram for random ideas but never for coloring pages … but it seems like a great fit.

        Bing also just added the ability to add copy to images so that might be a great solve as well.

        I’ve been thinking more about making a coloring book for kids versus doing on for a novel but still working through designs (you can see some at https://easycoloringpages.com).

        My challenge has been finding out what kids would like to color and how intricate to make the designs.

        How detailed do you plan on making the coloring pages from your novel?

        Reply
  12. coloringlib

    I really enjoyed reading this post. The writer has a great sense of humor that made the content both informative and entertaining. The use of visuals and examples also helped to illustrate the points being made. It’s clear that the writer put a lot of thought and effort into crafting this post, and it shows. Keep up the great work!
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    Reply
  13. coloringlib

    I really enjoyed reading this post. The writer has a great sense of humor that made the content both informative and entertaining. The use of visuals and examples also helped to illustrate the points being made. It’s clear that the writer put a lot of thought and effort into crafting this post, and it shows. Keep up the great work!
    Visit: <a href=https://coloringlib.com/ColoringLib

    Reply
  14. Coloriageenfant

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. The writer’s passion and enthusiasm for the subject matter really shines through. Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    • Digitalo

      It’s a very useful article for me. Thank you for letting me know. Digitalo Your blog has useful information; you are a skilled webmaster. Continue to post.

      Reply
  22. DHRUVIKA

    But the covers of a book are usually in cardboard and if we print it then the cover is a paper so how do you make a cardboard paper?

    Reply
  54. Gigi

    I’m going to LOVE this! I can go to the library and find beautiful printables, right?

    Reply
  57. Ismael

    Wth? Care to translate? I can’t beehive that message made it past the moderator.

    Reply
  60. Razvan Scurtu

    Hi,
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    Reply
  64. Samara Chetty

    I love to colour and now I want to make my own colouring book 😁

    Reply
      • justcoloringpages

        Coloring pages https://www.just-coloring-pages.com/ are a great way to keep children entertained and engaged while they learn. Not only are they fun and educational, but they also offer children an outlet to express themselves creatively. From intricate designs to simple shapes, coloring pages can be used to teach children about various aspects of the world around them. They can help children learn about colors, numbers, shapes, letters, animals, and much more. Additionally, coloring pages can help children develop their fine motor skills, as they practice coloring in the lines and around the edges of the page. Coloring pages can also offer children a way to practice mindfulness, as they take their time to carefully color in the shapes and stay focused on the task at hand. Ultimately, coloring pages are a great way to keep children entertained, engaged, and learning.

        Reply