How to choose the best photos for a personalised colouring book

A colouring page is a photo boiled down to its outlines, so anything that hides those outlines (blur, darkness, distance, clutter) makes a weaker page. The good news is that most families already have plenty of suitable photos on their phones. It’s just a case of knowing which ones to pick.

The ten checks

Run each photo you’re considering through these checks. A photo doesn’t need to pass all ten, but the more it passes, the better the page.

1. Is it sharp?

Zoom in on the faces. If the eyes are crisp, the photo is sharp enough. Motion blur, such as a child mid-jump or a wagging tail, turns into wobbly or doubled lines.

2. Is it well lit?

Daylight is best: outdoors on a bright but cloudy day, or indoors near a window. Very dark photos, night-time photos taken with the flash, and photos with the sun behind the person (so their face is in shadow) all lose detail in the face.

3. Are the faces big enough?

This is the most important check for a family book. As a rough guide, each face should be at least the size of a large coin when you look at the photo full screen on your phone. In a group photo taken from across the garden, faces are often just a few pixels wide, and there simply isn’t enough detail to draw them.

4. How many people are in it?

One to four people per photo usually works best. Bigger groups are possible if everyone is close to the camera, but the more people there are, the smaller each face becomes. If you want a big family group, include it, and add close-ups of smaller groups as well.

5. Is the background simple?

A plain wall, a lawn, a beach or a sofa makes a clean page. A busy market, a cluttered kitchen worktop or a pile of toys turns into a page full of tiny shapes that are frustrating to colour and pull attention away from the people.

6. Can you see their faces properly?

Faces looking towards the camera, or turned slightly, work best, and profiles can work too. Sunglasses, big hats, hands in front of faces and hair across eyes all hide the features that make a page recognisable.

7. Is it the original photo?

Use the original file from your phone or camera rather than a screenshot, a photo of a printed photo, or an image saved from social media or a messaging app, which are usually smaller and more compressed. We ask for photos at least 500 pixels on the shortest side, and originals are usually far bigger than that.

8. Has it been filtered?

Filters that add grain, glow, heavy colour casts or cartoon effects make clean outlines harder to find, and so do stickers or text on top of the photo. Use the unedited version if you still have it.

9. Does it suit a portrait page?

Pages are A4 portrait, so portrait photos fill them naturally. Landscape photos work too, but people in the middle of a wide shot end up smaller on the page, so crop in on them first if you can.

10. Does it mean something?

The technical checks matter, but the best books are full of photos that start a conversation: the first day at school, the beach holiday, Grandad’s birthday, the day the puppy came home. If you have two similar photos, choose the one with the better story.

Photos that often struggle

None of these is banned, and some come out beautifully, but they are the most common reasons a page disappoints.

Distant group photos from weddings and school events usually have faces that are too small to draw. Dark indoor and night-time photos lose features, and backlit photos (a sunset, or a bright window behind someone) leave faces in shadow. Action shots with blur give messy, doubled lines, and busy backgrounds produce too many tiny shapes.

Two subjects need a little extra care. Very young babies wrapped in blankets can end up as a small face in a large soft shape, so close-ups work better. Pets with dark or very fluffy fur are harder to turn into outlines than people; bright, close photos help.

If one of these is a must-have photo, include it and check the page closely in your preview.

Building a good mix

A book of near-identical portraits is less fun to colour than a mix. If you are using the full 20 photos, try to include:

• close-ups of each child, and of the people they love most
• small groups, such as siblings together or a child with each grandparent
• people doing things: baking, building sandcastles, riding a bike
• favourite places, like the beach, the garden or the park
• pets, if you have them
• one big family photo, as long as it is a good, close one

You need at least 8 photos, and each one becomes a full page of its own.

Privacy and permission

Before you upload, think about who is in each photo and what is in the background.

When you upload, you confirm that you are the parent or guardian of any child pictured, or have permission from everyone in the photos. If a friend’s child is in a photo, ask their parents first. It is also worth cropping out school logos, names on uniforms, house numbers and car number plates: they add nothing to a colouring page.

We don’t make pages from photos that aren’t right for a children’s book, and that includes any nudity, bath-time photos included. We use your photos only to make your book, and delete them 14 days after your book is posted. For more general advice, see our guide to keeping children’s photos safe online.

Check every page in your preview

Even with great photos, line art is an interpretation, and occasionally a page doesn’t capture someone the way you hoped. That’s why we show you every page free before you pay.

Look first at the faces and ask whether each person looks like themselves. Then check hands and pets, the trickiest parts to draw. Finally, look at the page as a whole: is there a clear subject, and plenty of space to colour?

If a page isn’t right, swap the photo (up to 10 replacements are included) and we’ll make a new one. After you order, a member of our team checks every page again before printing. You can see examples of both line styles on our custom colouring pages page.

Quick checklist

• Sharp, especially the eyes
• Good daylight, with the face out of shadow
• Faces large in the frame
• One to four people
• A simple background
• Faces visible, with no sunglasses or hands in the way
• The original file, not a screenshot
• No filters or stickers
• Portrait, or cropped close
• A photo with a story