10 Reasons to Give Up Your Coloring Books and Buy Printables Instead

When it comes to finding new coloring books, most of us start looking in our local craft shop. We choose favorites like Johanna Basford or Millie Marotta, or find a compilation book of stock photos from a large coloring book publisher. But when it comes to supporting independent artists, it gets a little trickier to find good coloring books.

Many independent artists use self-publishing tools (like Createspace – owned by Amazon) to produce their books. Tools like this are a great way for independent artists to make beautiful coloring books for you – meaning the variety of coloring books available on Amazon is huge!

But this comes with a downside.

• books are sold for higher amounts than big competitors, but the artist only receives a small payment per book.
• customers purchase through Amazon, meaning the artist doesn’t have an opportunity to connect with them on a personal level.
• they can’t cater to customers who want better quality books (like spiral-bound coloring books or better paper quality).
• if the artist isn’t based in the U.S.A. (🙋), it’s expensive to even get a copy of their own book!

So what’s the alternative?

Buying printables! Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of buying your next coloring book as a printable – direct from the artist – instead of shopping on Amazon or in your local shop.

Here are 10 Reasons to buy Printable Coloring Books (instead of Printed Coloring Books):

1. Printable coloring books take up less space!

You’ll need all that desk space for your mega pencil collection, so why not keep your coloring books on your computer?

2. You can print them as many times as you like.

You no longer have to buy multiple copies of a book to experiment with different color choices, and you don’t have to stress if you accidentally spill your coffee on your coloring page – just print another one!

3. You can print them on any kind of paper.

You can take control of your paper quality and print on the PERFECT card stock. Or get creative and print them on watercolor paper!

4. You can create a beautiful, organized coloring catalog.

Love to stay organised? You can sort your digital coloring books into beautifully color-coded categories, add tags to make them searchable, set them up in your phone photo gallery or Pinterest board for a quick catalog reference.

(Quick note: Keep your Pinterest boards secret – otherwise other people can print the pages for free, and that’s a big no-no!)

5. You can build your own coloring book with your favorite pages.

Skip the pages that make you cringe and just print your favorites, then get them bound or put them in a folder – you could even get a custom coloring page made as a cover!

6. No more waiting for new books to arrive.

Printable coloring books can be downloaded instantly when you purchase them. No more waiting weeks for postage!

7. No paying for postage.

While we are on the topic of postage… you won’t have to pay for that either! You can spend that extra money on MORE coloring pages!

8. More money for the artist, and more money in your pocket.

Once you take out all the printing and postage costs, printable coloring books almost always work out cheaper than their printed versions. Not only that, but the artist doesn’t have to pay for manufacturing and distribution, so instead of getting a measly $2 royalty from your purchase, they’ll benefit from most of what you’ve spent. Win-win! And the artist will love you :)

9. No double-sided coloring books.

Aren’t they frustrating? You finally finish your beautiful artwork and decide to frame it… but you don’t want to lose the picture on the other side. So you either forfeit half the book or buy two copies… Not a problem when you are printing them yourself!

10. You can print them big or small!

Do you want to color a massive page to frame on your wall? No problems – just print it bigger or take the file into a print shop. Do you want to make a pretty birthday card for a friend using your artwork? Just print it smaller. You have so much more flexibility when you have the digital file. Here’s a look at one of my giant coloring posters I made! (Read the tutorial to see how to make your own coloring poster)

So let me put out the challenge… if you’ve never tried a printable coloring book or coloring page, start by grabbing some of the free coloring pages in my store, and see if you like them… a good place to start without spending a cent!

And if you’re converted, make sure to check out my full range of printables – from coloring books and single coloring pages to fun holiday crafts and coloring planners.

There’s a lot to love about printables. But if you’re still someone who loves to wait for the mail and hold a book in your hands, please stop by my Amazon store where you can get a printed book mailed to your door :)

What do you think? Which side are you on? Please tell me in the comments!