Coloring books are fun. Know the steps to create your own custom coloring book.
Coloring Books
Coloring books have always been a popular way for children to relax and have fun. Adult coloring books have also gained popularity in recent years. In the midst of the current epidemic, creating a colorful painting from a line drawing can promote relaxation. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University support the notion that coloring can reduce anxiety. The editors of Yoga Journal also suggest coloring as an alternative to meditation.
Stores and shops online offer a variety of coloring books. Toddlers and preschoolers can color books featuring shapes they can recognize. Kids who are older can color books based on space themes, animals, etc. Then there are those for adults, featuring geometric patterns, mandalas, nature, flowers, and more. In addition to being beautiful and intricate, adult coloring books can also be functional (doubling as a journal or calendar), instructional (teaching you calligraphy), or relaxing (helping you cope with anger or frustration).
Over the past few years, custom book printing has become increasingly popular. Coloring books have also caught on to this trend. Let’s look into what a custom coloring book is and how you can create one.
Creating a Custom Coloring Book
The coloring book can be a simple children’s book or a sophisticated and elaborate adult coloring book. You can create your own coloring book with a computer, printer, and other materials, or you can have someone else do it for you. The steps below will show you how to create one.
1. Purpose of Your Coloring Book
There are many reasons to want a custom coloring book. Let’s look at a few of them in order to determine why we need one.
As a Birthday Party Treat
Coloring books are a great way to keep kids occupied for a while. It can also be part of their goody bag or a prize at a game. By using kid-friendly designs and the party theme, you can show off your artistic side.
As Educational Material
Using coloring books, kids can learn about a variety of things (for example, math, nature, fire safety, diversity, etc.). Among children, coloring books are a great way to improve eye-hand coordination and boost creativity.
As Weddings Favors
Color books and coloring pages can be designed with wedding themes for adults and children. Think about a save-the-date card with creative opportunities, coloring pages for your bridal shower, or having guests color a picture instead of signing a guest book. For the kids at the wedding, you can also provide a wedding-themed, kid-friendly coloring book.
As Promotional Material
You can create coloring books or pages with fun designs, your logo, and your message as promotional material. For example, you can create a coloring station at a trade show with coloring books to promote your brand or insert them as a flyer in the Sunday paper as a marketing strategy.
To Raise Fund
Coloring books can raise funds for nonprofits as well as raise awareness (for example, ethnic diversity). Based on the activities and preferences of such organizations, color books could be designed. These drawings could be sold to raise funds.
For Selling
It is evident from the online presence of coloring book producers and their presence at bookstores that coloring books are in demand. Their simple format and low production cost make them highly desirable and economical as a home-based business.
2. Select a Theme
Choose a theme for your coloring book in order to focus on the designs. Do an online search to generate ideas on themes. Once you have chosen your theme, there is no correct or incorrect choice of images to go with it. Nothing could be more special than using your own photos for your wedding coloring book.
3. Know Your Audience
When you wish to sell your coloring book, you need to know what your target audience is looking for. Using a search engine optimization tool, you can find out what your audience prefers. Additionally, you can use this search to name your coloring book and create a marketing strategy for it.
4. Decide Size and Paper
Keep your audience in mind when selecting the size. The most popular size of the coloring book is the booklet (8.5″ x 11″). You can also decide how many pages you want in your coloring book. If you are having it professionally printed, consult your printer on the number of pages.
The pages of a coloring book should be strong enough to be marked on without damaging the pages below, as well as to accept pigment from colored pencils, markers, crayons, and ink pens. Also, think about whether you want your illustrations to be double-sided or single-sided.
5. Create Inside Pages
This is where you decide what to color or the images based on your theme. Here are some suggestions for designing a good inside page.
If you aren’t an artist or don’t want to draw your own coloring pages, you can hire a designer or find someone online to do the job for you. Depending on your requirements or your chosen images, they can create coloring pages for you.
You can use an illustration tablet (such as an iPad Pro or Surface Pro) to trace over the images and create outline images for your coloring book or page.
The Adobe Illustrator program is another option for creating coloring sheets. While you will have to put in a lot of work, it can generate more profit for you.
The internet is also a great place to find images. Several websites offer royalty-free coloring pages, and you can use most of them as long as you don’t try to sell them.
6. Create an Impressive Cover
You can create an impressive cover by coloring your favorite inside page. You can either color it yourself and scan it or use a designing program. The cover not only grabs attention but also helps avoid confusion as to whether this is a children’s book or an general coloring book.
7. Decide on Binding and Printing
In a coloring book, the best options for binding are those that help the pages lay flat (for example, saddle stitch and spiral). The saddle stitch is commonly used to bind coloring books. It is cost-effective and professional. With Spiral and Wire-O binding, however, you can flip the pages all the way around. Spending a little more on good binding can generate more profit.
The printing process is the last step in bringing the coloring book to life. You can print your own coloring book at home using ordinary bond paper or specialty paper that is safe for your printer. If you plan on selling them, you should have the coloring books professionally printed by a printing company. Many printers can not only print your book but also assist you in creating your own coloring book. Alternatively, you can also sell them online without having to spend time and money on binding and printing.
In Summary…
Coloring books are fun to create. People and organizations produce coloring books for a variety of reasons. A coloring book may be intended for sale in stores or on the internet, it may be used for marketing or fundraising, or it may be created to satisfy the creator’s own needs. When designing and planning your coloring book, take time to familiarize yourself with the suggested steps even if your coloring book is just for fun.
