🎨 Use AI to Develop Coloring Books

Let’s be honest—if you had to draw hundreds of pages by hand, this side hustle wouldn’t be here. But with AI?

You can create an entire coloring book in an afternoon and sell it as a print or digital product.

From kids' books about dinosaurs to mindful mandala pages for adults, coloring books continue to sell—because they’re equal parts entertainment, therapy, and nostalgia.

With the rise of AI art generation tools, creating line-art illustrations no longer requires artistic talent—just great prompts and smart packaging.

🤖 Best Tools to Generate Coloring Book Pages

These are the best platforms for creating clean, printable, black-and-white artwork in “coloring book” style:

• Midjourney: Run via Discord, this tool excels at detailed, consistent, line-art drawings. Try prompts like:
  “black and white line drawing, no shading, cartoon zoo animals, coloring book style”

• DALL·E 3 via ChatGPT: DALL·E 3 is built into ChatGPT Plus. You can ask for variations and refine results instantly. Example:
  “a cute sloth hanging from a tree in coloring book style, black and white, no grayscale”

• Kittl: Offers both pre-made templates and AI-generated artwork. Great for creating consistent book layouts.

• Canva: Perfect for building the final book. Upload AI-generated images and drag-and-drop them into professional layouts using Canva’s PDF templates.

Pro tip: Use tools like Vectorizer.ai if your images aren’t sharp enough for printing.

🛒 Where to Sell + Print Your Coloring Book

Once your pages are ready, you’ll need to decide how you want to sell: digital downloads, print-on-demand, or both?

🖥️ Digital

• Etsy – Sell PDFs that people can instantly download.

• Gumroad – Great for selling bundles directly without Etsy fees.

• Payhip – Another simple storefront for creators selling digital goods.

📚 Physical Books

• Amazon KDP – Upload your book and let Amazon handle printing, shipping, and customer service. Set your own royalty rates.

• Printify or Blurb – Print-on-demand options you can connect to a Shopify or Etsy store.

Pro tip: Combine both formats by offering a digital preview + optional print copy.

📦 Logistics & What You’ll Need

To launch your coloring book efficiently, here’s what you’ll need:

• A PDF version of your coloring book (created in Canva, Kittl, or Adobe)

• A compelling book cover (Canva has free book cover templates)

• An account on Amazon KDP, Etsy, or Gumroad

• A niche that performs well (see popular searches on Etsy or KDPspy)

• Optional: A mockup tool like MediaModifier to create polished listing photos

💡 Fun Fact: Over 15,000 coloring books are listed on Amazon under “Stress Relief” alone. But many of them have poor design, typos, and low-quality covers. You can absolutely stand out.

💰 Upfront Investment Breakdown

Most AI coloring book creators start with under $100 in tools and platforms.

Here's a typical breakdown:

If you go the fully digital route, the cost can stay under $30 total.

✅ Pros & Cons of the AI Coloring Book Side Hustle

🟢 Pros:

• Very low startup cost

• Great for passive income (especially if evergreen)

• No need for inventory or shipping

• Can niche down in infinite directions: cats, crystals, quotes, food, travel, etc.

🔴 Cons:

• Takes time to learn clean prompt engineering

• Competition exists on Etsy & KDP

• You need to test a few books before one hits

🚀 Tips to Stand Out in a Crowded Market

• Pick a theme with passion. Think "Mindful coloring for teens with anxiety" instead of just “adult mandalas.”

• Add bonus value: Include journaling prompts, positive affirmations, or color theory tips.

• Bundle multiple mini-books: Example—"3-in-1 Animal Bundle: Jungle, Farm, Ocean"

• Create a brand name so you can scale into related books (e.g., holiday editions, affirmation sets, gratitude journals)

We created a mockup and a book cover in under 5 minutes

Know someone who enjoys creativity and art + has a low budget to start?