DIY Coloring Books with Paint Shop Pro 9 or X

Whether you want to help relieve summer boredom for your kids or you're looking for some unique gifts for little ones, making your own coloring books is a fun and easy project. These steps are adaptable to Paint Shop Pro 9 and X, as well as some earlier versions.

Open Paint Shop Pro, then open any image (that you own, have permission to use, or is in the public domain) that you would like to make into a page for a coloring book. It's a good idea to use a large image.

You may need to adjust the size and resolution so that your picture will look right as a full page. A good resolution for printing is between 200 - 300 pixels per inch.

Clean up your image by using the Digital Camera Noise Removal Tool. This prevents a grainy looking background on your image. Click on Adjust, go to Photo Fix, and then click on Digital Camera Noise Removal. Make sure there is not a check in the Camera preset box, and the Noise Correction settings to a minimum of 70. Changing the Small setting will automatically change the Medium and Large ones. Put a check in the Link detail sizes box, and set the Correction Blend to 70 as well. The Sharpening should be 0. Once you have adjusted the settings, click OK.

Make the image appear to be a pencil sketch by going to Effects, scrolling down to Edge Effects, and clicking on Find All. If the background looks grainy you may want to undo this step by clicking on Edit, then clicking on the first option (Undo Find All Edges), and undo the Digital Camera Noise Removal by repeating Edit and Undo, and then do the noise removal with higher settings. Try the Edge Effects again to see if the image looks better.

Once you are satisfied with the image as a sketch, enhance the lines to make it appear more like a picture in a coloring book. Click on Adjust, go down to Brightness and Contrast, and clicking on Levels. Make sure the Channel is RGB, and change the Input levels to 0, 0.15, and 235. You can play with the levels until you are happy with the preview of the image. Leave the Output levels as 0 and 255. Click OK, and your coloring book page is finished.

Follow these steps to make multiple pages for your coloring book, then print them out and put them together with staples or other fasteners. Add decorated front and back covers made from construction or printer paper. You can make custom coloring books for special occasions or anytime, or turn it into a project for kids by making the pages and allowing them to put the coloring book together. Have fun!