How to Make Your Own Coloring Pages

What You’ll Need to Create Your Own Coloring Pages

Before you get started designing coloring pages, gather the materials you’ll be using. You can make your own coloring pages using a computer or tablet, or you can manually design them. If you want to manually design coloring pages, you should gather:

• • White sheets of paper. Standard print paper works well because it’s thin enough to color on but sturdy enough that it won’t easily rip while you’re coloring.
  • A pencil. You’ll use the pencil for the initial sketch on your coloring page.
  • An eraser. If your pencil doesn’t have an eraser, you’ll want something that can erase any mistakes you make and any pencil marks that are left once you’re done designing your color page.

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• A black permanent marker. Use a fine-point tip to prevent bleeding outside of your pencil lines.
• A scanner and printer (optional). If you want to preserve the design of your coloring page or be able to make copies of it, you’ll need a scanner and a printer.
• An object that you want to trace (optional). If you’re not the best free-hand artist, tracing objects can help you when making your own coloring pages.

How to Design Coloring Pages by Hand

Once you have all your materials, you can begin designing your coloring pages.

1. Pick what you want to color. Some popular coloring pages include flowers, geometrical shapes, and cartoon characters. If you’re confident in your freehand work, use the pencil to sketch the image you’ll want to color. If you’re tracing a physical object, place it on the sheet of paper and trace the outer and inner linings of the object. This initial sketch might be a general outline of your coloring page.
2. Add details. After you complete the rough sketch, you can take your time to tidy up your work and add the smaller, more specific details to the page.
3. Trace over the pencil lines using the permanent marker. Make sure you trace the lines of the smaller details too. The marker lines will help distinguish where you should and shouldn’t color.
4. Erase the outlying marks. After you’ve finished the drawing on your coloring page, erase any remaining pencil marks. This will help make your coloring page clear.
5. Preserve your coloring page. Scan your coloring page to your computer or tablet to save its design. You can also print copies of it if you want to share your coloring page design with others.
6. Or start coloring immediately. You can skip step 5 if you don’t want to save your coloring page design or make copies for others to use. Grab your favorite coloring tools, like crayons or colored pencils, and color away!

How to Digitally Design Your Own Coloring Pages

Don’t be discouraged if you’re not the best artist because you can make your own coloring pages using software on your computer or tablet. Before you can digitally create coloring pages, you’ll need the proper materials and software.

• A computer or tablet. Use a large-screened device that you’re comfortable operating. The device should also have your preferred software on it.
• A printer. After you digitally design your coloring page, you can print it to begin coloring. Or you can color on your tablet if you have a smart pencil or digital stylus.
• Design software. You don’t need fancy computer software to design coloring pages. Even easy-to-use, affordable programs can provide the tools you’ll need for fun coloring pages.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is packed with tons of icons, shapes, and illustrations that you can use for your coloring page design. You can also find free-use photos online and insert them into your Word document. If you like the design on your computer screen, you can print the page and start coloring from here. If you think the design still needs some work, or if you just want to use it for inspiration, print the design and trace it by hand on a blank sheet of paper.

Microsoft OneNote

Not only does Microsoft OneNote have similar image capabilities as Word, but it also has drawing features. These drawing features are easy to use on your tablet and can help you avoid the multi-step process of designing coloring pages by hand. Draw your coloring page design in digital ink and print it so that you can color it. Or if you want to save paper, you can save the OneNote document as a PDF or picture and color it directly on your tablet’s screen.

Other Third-Party Apps and Websites

There are a host of websites that offer free design features to help you make your own coloring pages. If you own a smart device or computer, the app store should have a variety of design apps that you can download for free as well. In the age of the internet and smart technology, there are an abundant amount of software and tools you can find online to design coloring pages.

Coloring is a fun, affordable activity that you can do anywhere. You can do it on your own to relax, or you can enjoy it with friends or family. Learning how to make your own coloring pages puts a personal touch on this classic favorite.