Making Coloring Book Images

[scryer52]

Recently, I've been made aware that Adult (Not dirty porn) Coloring Books are a fad. I was told that I should try this. I want to use some of my work for this but I have no idea how I can go about doing it. Can anyone tell me how to turn a color image into a decent looking coloring book page? Thanks in advance.

[AndrewDavid]

Hi @scryer52

Your request seems simple to accomplish. It's the artistry of the drawing that is the challenge.

If you just need to reverse engineer your art - converting it to black and white would be the first step. Then run Pencil Sketch to clearly define the outline of your image.

Coloring books seems to me to have very intricate designs to make the coloring part as difficult as possible for the adult.

Many small sections to make an intricate design is what makes the appeal (and challenge) to the non artist. I enjoy painting the starship enterprise quite a bit so I took the time to make a shape for it in "shapemaker". You can see it in my gallery. 

If you have an image you can post - a few members will let you know their opinions on the best way to accomplish your goal. 

These are my thoughts after googling "Adult coloring books".

Hope this helps 

[scryer52]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

[lynxster4]

Hi @scryer52

 

Here's my 2 cents.   Go to this website and follow the instructions:  http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Coloring-Book/

 

Instead of using Pixlr, use paint.net.  You can use any of the edge-detect plugins. I don't have links handy for them, so do a search if you don't have them.  All the steps can be done in PDN because I've used this before.  If done properly, it comes out pretty decent-looking.

 

The edge-detect plugins appear in the Stylize Menu:

   

 

Hope this helps.  

Edited April 1, 2018 by lynxster4

[BoltBait]

How about using the built-in Ink Sketch?

 

Load your image, Effects > Artistic > Ink Sketch, slide the coloring slider all the way to the left.

 

Follow that with Effects > Stylize > Outline, tinker with sliders until you see something you like.

[lynxster4]

Hah!  That, too!     (Way easier than my suggestion)

[scryer52]

On 3/31/2018 at 9:24 PM, BoltBait said:

How about using the built-in Ink Sketch?

 

Load your image, Effects > Artistic > Ink Sketch, slide the coloring slider all the way to the left.

 

Follow that with Effects > Stylize > Outline, tinker with sliders until you see something you like.

I tried that, but it's not doing what I need. I figured out how to get what I wanted though. Thanks all!

[BoltBait]

8 minutes ago, scryer52 said:

I tried that, but it's not doing what I need. I figured out how to get what I wanted though. Thanks all!

 

So, let us know what you did!

[scryer52]

I used the Cyanotype and turned everything into that blue-ish color. Then I play with the darken / brighten. Then I run it through Pencil. THEN I ink it. Whatever doesn't turn black, I slide the color back and forth to get the effect I want. It doesn't always work for some of the art I do, because I'm turning fully painted color art over to this format. But, I have managed to transfer many and I have two books done and up for sale.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.