How to order a custom coloring book (and which photos to send)

To order a custom coloring book, pick a maker, send one clear photo of each person who should be in it, answer a few questions about names and interests, approve a proof, and allow time for printing and shipping. The photos decide most of the result, so spend your effort there. For a gift, start three to four weeks ahead for a printed book, or about a week for a printable PDF.

Here is the whole process, with a photo checklist and the questions worth asking any maker before you pay.

Step 1: Decide what kind of book you want

"Custom coloring book" covers a few very different products, and each one needs different things from you.

• A name-only book needs a name and maybe a dedication. No photos.
• Pages converted from your photos need one good photo per page.
• A story starring your family needs one good photo of each person, plus details for the story: names, ages, pets, what your kids love.
• A book you make yourself needs photos, a free editor and a printer.

Our overview of personalized coloring books made from photos compares these in detail, and the cost guide shows what each one runs.

Step 2: Choose the photos (the checklist)

Line art keeps only the outlines of a photo, so a small, dark or blurry face turns into a few vague shapes. Go through your camera roll with this list:

• [ ] One photo per person, face large in the frame. A cropped group shot rarely works.
• [ ] Looking roughly toward the camera. Profiles and the back of a head are hard to recognize as line art.
• [ ] Good light. Daylight or a bright room, no deep shadow across half the face.
• [ ] Hair visible. Hairstyle does a lot of the work of making a drawing look like a specific kid. Skip hats and hoods.
• [ ] No sunglasses, filters or face stickers.
• [ ] Recent. Toddlers change fast. A photo from last season can look like a different child.
• [ ] The original file. Photos forwarded through messaging apps or screenshotted are often compressed. Send from your camera roll or email the full-size file.
• [ ] The extras. Pets, grandparents, a favorite stuffed animal, the car, the front porch. These are often the pages kids care about most.

Glasses that a child wears every day should stay in. A child who always wears them will look wrong without them.

When I made the first coloring storybook for my own kids, the photos that worked best were not the posed ones. They were ordinary, well-lit shots where each face filled the frame. A slightly messy everyday photo usually beats a blurry formal one.

Step 3: Gather the story details

If you are ordering a story rather than single pages, the maker will ask about your family. Have these ready:

• Everyone's name as the child says it ("Nana", not "Margaret")
• Ages, and pronouns if you want them used
• Pets' names and what kind of animal they are
• Two or three things each child loves right now
• An occasion, if there is one: a birthday, a new baby, a move, the first day of preschool
• Anything to avoid, such as a fear of dogs or a recent loss

A good maker will ask about things to avoid without being prompted. If they do not, tell them anyway.

Step 4: Ask these questions before you pay

Every reputable maker should answer these plainly:

1. Can I see a sample from my own photo? Polished samples on a website prove little. One page from your photo tells you about likeness.
2. Do I get a proof, and how many rounds of changes? Some sellers let you look before printing. Wonderbly, for example, lets you preview all 34 pages of its I Spy You! book before you buy. Ask for the equivalent from anyone making pages from your photos.
3. Who is included, and what does an extra person cost?
4. What paper, and is each page printed on one side? Print-on-demand printer Lulu advises printing coloring pages on one side only to prevent show-through, which is a useful standard to ask about.
5. What happens to my photos? Who sees them, whether they are used to train software, and when they are deleted. You are sending pictures of your children, so expect a straight answer.
6. What is the total with shipping to my address, and the arrival date?
7. What if we do not like it? Personalized items often cannot be returned, so read the refund policy.

For comparison, Colorkin includes one free round of changes, deletes photos 30 days after delivery and refunds within 30 days if you do not love the book.

Step 5: Work backward from the gift date

The usual stages for a printed book:

Stage	Typical time
Picking photos and writing details	1 to 3 days (it always takes longer than you think)
The maker drafts the pages	A few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the maker
You review the proof and ask for changes	1 to 3 days
Printing	Often a few business days
Shipping	Days to over a week, longer in December

Production times vary a lot between makers. Hooray Heroes' birthday book page says it is made to order and shipped within 3 business days, and Wonderbly's book page says printed and dispatched in 2 to 4 working days. Both are illustrated character books rather than pages drawn from your photos, which can take a maker longer. Colorkin, for example, delivers the PDF within 3 business days and the printed copy arrives about 7 to 12 days after that.

Add a week of slack for anything that has to arrive by a holiday, and check the USPS holiday shipping page for that year's recommended mailing dates if you are sending it on to grandparents. If you are short on time, a printable PDF is the safe fallback: print one copy at home for the day and order the bound version afterward. Our printing guide covers getting clean lines from a home printer.

If you would rather make it yourself

Everything above applies to a homemade book too, minus the waiting. Pick photos with the same checklist, convert them with the free photo-to-coloring-page guide, then follow the step-by-step guide to making a coloring book from photos. The personalized coloring books hub has the rest of the guides in this series.

Questions parents ask