How to make a
coloring page from a photo

Step by step, in the app

1

Snap or choose a photo

Open SketchBee and tap Snap a photo— or pick one from your camera roll. Anything with a clear subject works: kids, pets, a favorite toy, today's trip to the park.

2

Pick a theme (or don't)

Themes tuck a little magic into the outline — princess castles, dinosaurs, outer space. Skip it for a faithful line drawing of the photo as-is.

3

Let Buzzy draw the lines

Buzzy turns your photo into a clean, kid-friendly outline in about 30 seconds. Bold lines, big spaces to color, no fussy details.

Picking photos that convert well

The line drawing is only as good as the photo. A minute of choosing well beats a re-run:

• One clear subject. A kid on a slide beats a crowd shot. Faces and full bodies both work.
• Good light. Daylight photos convert best — dim or grainy shots make mushy lines.
• Simple background. Busy backgrounds become busy pages. Grass, sky, and walls stay clean.
• Get close. Fill the frame with the subject so the fun parts get big colorable spaces.
• Big shapes for little kids. For toddlers, choose photos with chunky subjects — pets, toys, one person — so the spaces are crayon-sized.

Family photos

Holiday snaps, birthdays and visits from grandparents make the pages kids ask for again. Pick shots where everyone's face is visible and nobody is cut off at the edge — two or three people work well; a whole-class photo doesn't. In the examples below, the page keeps the people and simplifies what's behind them.

Turning pet photos into coloring pages

Pets are some of the best subjects there are — kids already know every spot and whisker. A few things make the difference:

• Get down to their level. An eye-level shot gives a face kids recognize; a photo taken from above is mostly back and ears.
• Wait for a still moment. A sitting or sleeping pet beats a mid-zoomies blur — motion blur turns into messy lines.
• Keep the background plain. A wall, the floor or the lawn. Patterned blankets and cluttered couches compete with the pet.
• Shoot dark coats in daylight. Black or dark-brown fur hides eyes and ears in dim light; near a window or outside keeps the face readable.
• Leave the collar or bandana on. Accessories give kids extra details to color, as in the example below.

Once the page is printed, have kids color the pet with the photo beside them to match the real markings — or go wild and give the dog purple spots. A page of the family pet also makes a thank-you card for a pet-sitter or neighbor.

Making a personalized coloring book

A stack of pages from one trip, one birthday or one year with the dog turns into a coloring book that's about your family. Here's how to put one together:

1. Pick the story.A holiday, a party, "all about me", or the pet's greatest hits.
2. Choose the photos. Six to ten is plenty. Mix close-ups with a couple of wider scenes, and use the photo tips above for each one.
3. Make each page in SketchBee. Convert the photos one at a time, adding a theme to a page or two if you like.
4. Print them together. Print straight to an AirPrint printer, or save each page as a PDF and print the set in one go.
5. Bind it. Staple along the left edge, hole-punch and tie with ribbon, or slip the pages into a display folder. Let kids color the cover page last.

Printing tips

• Plain paper is perfect. Standard 20 lb copy paper takes crayon, pencil, and marker well. Cardstock if paint is coming out.
• Print in black & white. Pages are pure line art — grayscale mode saves your color ink.
• Use "Fit to page." Pages are sized for Letter and A4; fit-to-page keeps lines from clipping at the margins.
• No printer? Send the PDF to a pharmacy print counter, the library, or Grandma — or just color on screen.

Things to do with the pages

Or start with the free printable coloring pages.