How to turn a photo into a printable coloring page

Step by step

1. Get Penna

   Install Penna from the App Store or Google Play. There is no account to create.

2. Take or choose a photo

   Tap the camera to take a new photo, or pick one from your photo library.

3. Pick a style

   Choose cartoon, classic coloring book or anime, and how much detail you want.

4. Get your page

   Penna draws the photo as clean black-and-white line art and saves it in your Library.

5. Print it

   Tap Print and choose A4 or US Letter, or save the page to your photos or share it as a PDF.

Which photos make the best coloring pages

• Good light and a sharp photo. Daylight from a window works better than a dark room.
• A face that is easy to see. Close-ups and half-body shots give the clearest lines.
• A simple background. A busy background turns into many small shapes to color.
• Pets, groups and places work too. A dog on the sofa, the whole family, a favorite playground.

Pick the right style for the child

Cartoon has bold outlines and big shapes, easy for small hands and chunky crayons.

Classic coloring book comes in three levels of detail, from simple to finely drawn, for older children and adults.

Anime has two styles, Mini Chibi and Kodomo, with big eyes and round faces.

Or put them into a scene

Instead of drawing the photo as it is, Penna can draw the person in it into one of 24 adventure scenes: a dragon or unicorn ride, outer space, under the sea, pirates, a race car, a fire truck and more. Scenes need a photo with one person in it.

Printing your page

Pages print on A4 or US Letter from your phone's print menu, at print quality (300 dpi). Everyday printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils; for markers, heavier paper keeps the ink from soaking through. More tips are in the FAQ.

Made several pages? Put them together as a custom coloring book and print them as one PDF.

Questions