Most people might assume that coloring books are only meant for kids. However, you might be surprised to learn that a lot of the coloring books we produce are meant for adults. Coloring books are loads of fun and a great way to express your creativity and relieve stress, regardless of your age.
You might be wondering what the process is to print your own coloring book. With the right skills and a printer you can rely on, creating a coloring book is a fairly straightforward process. Here’s a look behind the scenes to learn how to get a coloring book printed professionally.
How to Get a Coloring Book Printed
1. Create Your Design
Have a professional designer create your coloring book’s design, though you can also try your hand at illustrating if you know the basic skills. You can use the software under the Adobe Creative Suite, especially Illustrator or Photoshop, to create your own graphics.
When creating your designs, keep in mind your target audience. Coloring books designed for younger children tend to have thicker lines in their illustrations and have simple patterns with larger coloring areas. Adult coloring books, on the other hand, have more complex and intricate illustrations that allow adults the flexibility to choose the colors they use.
2. Create Your Page Layout
Next, you’ll have to create the final touches on your illustration and how it will look on your page. You can do this on your own with Adobe’s InDesign software, or you can either hire a professional to create your book layout or find a printer that can design the layout for you. Your layout can include the following:
- Cover design
- Page number
- Icons and graphics
- Texts and descriptions
- Additional coloring book features (for example, some children’s coloring books have numbered areas to instruct children what color to use for certain illustrations)
3. Find a Printer
You can find reliable printers to print and bind your design into a coloring book online or within your area. We recommend shopping around and browsing potential printers to work with to compare quality prints and available packages as well as finding the features you need to create your coloring book.
For the next steps, you should find a printer that offers your ideal paper size, paper type, and binding.
4. Choose Your Paper Size and Type
Standard coloring books come in two sizes. Ideally, you should choose a size that doesn’t warp your illustrations or scale your illustration to a size that’s too small to color.
- Portrait: 8.5” x 11” (Letter-sized)
- Square: 10” x 10”
The standard paper type for coloring books is uncoated and porous. This makes it easy to transfer coloring materials like crayons, pens, or colored pencils. One added feature that many coloring books have is perforated edges along the spine of the book, which allows the user to tear out the page and display their art.
The cover, on the other hand, should be more durable and heavyweight. This can be a gloss laminated paper or a soft board paper with a finish of your choice.
5. Choose Your Binding Type
After your pages have been printed, these are then bound together to form the final product. For soft-cover books like coloring books, there are typically two options for binding: coil-bound Wire-O or saddle-stitched binding.
Wire-O is a durable plastic wire that combs through a punched hole on the pages. This results in a durable but cost-effective solution. One of the benefits of using coil-bound binding is that you can open your coloring books completely flat when working. You can also choose the color of your metal wire to complement the cover design of your coloring book.
Saddle stitching, on the other hand, is a popular type of binding used for booklets and magazines with less than 64 pages. If you choose this method, you’ll need a final page count that’s divisible by four, as the process involves printing four pages on a larger sheet and then trimming and folding the pages.
How Much Does It Cost to Print a Coloring Book?
There are many factors that go into the costs of how to get a coloring book printed. Some of these include:
- The printer you’re working with.
- Additional services like illustrations, editing, layout, etc.
- Paper quality, type, and size.
- Binding type.
- Labor costs.
- Quantity of coloring books being produced.
Custom coloring books can start at $180 for 50 copies, though the price can vary depending on these factors.
Print Your Own Coloring Book with Advanced Print and Finishing
Bring your images and illustrations to life with quality coloring books that your target audience will enjoy. Coloring books are a simple and stress-free way of exploring your creativity and offer plenty of fun and entertainment for both children and adults.
Get a quote from Advanced Print and Finishing today to find competitive prices for coloring book printing.
