How I make a coloring page (and why it’s free)

People email me two questions more than any other. The first is some version of “are these really free?” The second is “who’s actually behind this?” This is the page where I answer both. I’m Martin, I run coloring.photos, and I make the pages here. I also have three kids of my own who test everything, usually by ignoring the page I’m proud of and demanding the one I dashed off in ten minutes. Here’s how the whole thing came to be, and how a page actually gets made.

Why I started this

I started coloring.photos out of frustration. When I went looking for free coloring pages for my own kids, most of what I found was a mess. Bad-quality scans, pages in all sorts of random sizes, things that printed badly or came out half off the page. So I decided to do it properly. Every page on this site is drawn at one clean A4 size and built to print well, every time.

There was a second gap too. Most sites only had the general stuff, the cats and dogs everyone has. What they didn’t have were pages of the new animated movies and shows my kids were actually excited about. So I started drawing those myself, often before the film had even reached cinemas. That’s still what the site is really about. Good pages that kids actually want, drawn properly and free to print.

What makes a good coloring page

After making a lot of these, I’ve ended up with firm opinions about what separates a page kids love from one they give up on. A few things matter more than people expect:

• Clean, bold outlines. The lines need to be clear and confident, with no fuzzy edges, so a child can see exactly where the color goes.
• Closed shapes. Every area should be properly enclosed, with no little gaps, so the colors don’t run into each other and the page still works if you color it on a screen.
• The right line weight for the age. Thick, chunky lines for little hands, finer lines and smaller areas for older kids who want the detail.
• Room to be messy. On the easy pages especially, big open shapes that forgive a wobbly hand and still look great when they’re done.
• It has to print clean. A page is no good if it comes out tiny or cut off, so everything is drawn to one A4 size and built to print properly, which I cover in my guide to printing coloring pages.

Get those right and a page works for a four-year-old and a ten-year-old alike, just at different levels.

How a page comes together

Here’s roughly how one goes from idea to live on the site, and I’ll give you the honest version.

1. The idea. A page usually starts with a theme my kids keep asking for, or a new film or show that’s on the way. Some come straight from requests in my inbox.
2. Making the artwork. I draw on a tablet, a Wacom Cintiq. I’m not the most naturally gifted artist in the world, so I lean on technique, building each drawing up in layers and working from reference images to get it right. Lately I also use AI to throw up ideas or give me a starting point, but the bulk of the actual drawing is done by my own hand.
3. Checking it prints. I run a test print and make sure it fills a clean A4 page properly, with nothing important lost at the edges.
4. Rating the difficulty. Every page gets a level from 1 to 5, so you can match it to your child’s age without guessing. The whole system is on the difficulty guide.
5. Writing it up. Each page gets a title, a short description, and a coloring tip, so you know what you’re getting and have somewhere to start.
6. Publishing. It goes live in its collection, ready for you to print.

Where MoMo fits in

Somewhere along the way, MoMo turned up. He started as a plain outline, the same as every page on the site, and the idea that coloring brings him to life became the heart of the whole thing. He cheers kids on through the levels and has his own pages to color now. If you haven’t met him properly, his story is on the Meet MoMo page.

MoMo’s tip: “Every page here starts the way I did, as a plain outline waiting for color. Go on, pick one and give it some.”

Why it’s all free

People ask why it’s all free, and the honest answer is that I wanted it to be. I started this for my own kids, and it never sat right with me to put coloring pages, of all things, behind a paywall or a sign-up. So there isn’t one. There’s no account and no payment, and you can print as much as you like.

The site is kept running by a few ads, and that’s the trade. They cover the costs so the pages can stay free for everyone, and I work to keep them out of your way rather than plastered over everything. If you ever want to use the pages beyond your home or classroom, the licensing page spells out what’s fine.

That’s the whole thing, really. A dad who makes coloring pages and keeps them free. If there’s something your kids would love that I haven’t drawn yet, tell me through the contact page, because I read every request. Otherwise, go pick a page and make a happy mess with it.

Written by Martin, founder of Coloring.photos and dad of three.