Printed Coloring Book or Printable Pages: Which Suits the Occasion?
It's a rainy Saturday, your kid wants something to color right now, and the book you ordered arrives Tuesday. That's the moment printable pages shine, and a wrapped birthday present is the moment a printed book does. Here's how the two compare, using our own books and printable collections as examples.
At a glance
| Printed book | Printable pages | |
|---|---|---|
| As a gift | Easy to wrap and give | Needs a little extra to feel like a gift |
| Portability | One book, everything together | Print only the pages you need |
| Coloring a page twice | No | Yes, print as many copies as you like |
| Start today | Wait for delivery | Download and print right away |
| Paper | Chosen by the printer | Your choice: printer paper to cardstock |
| Setup | None | A printer, paper, and a test print |
As a gift
A printed book is the easier gift. You can wrap it, it looks like a present, and they can start right away with no printer.
Printable pages can still make a good gift, especially at the last minute, or for someone who colors on a tablet. Print a few pages on nice paper and tie them with ribbon next to a set of pencils, and you've made something to open. How to choose a coloring book gift someone will use has more ideas.
Portability
A printed book keeps all the pages together, and you can tear out one-sided pages for a trip.
Printables travel as light as you want: print three pages for a waiting room and leave the rest at home. The PNG files also work in coloring apps on a tablet.
Printing again
This is where printables stand apart. Once you have the files, you can print a page as many times as you like: to try a different color scheme, to color it in marker after coloring it in pencil, or to print copies for a class. Our license covers personal and classroom use.
A printed book gives you each page once.
Starting right away
Printables download immediately after checkout. On a rainy afternoon, you can have a page on the table within minutes.
A printed book takes a few days to arrive.
Paper choice
A printed book comes on the paper the printer chose. We print our books one-sided, so marker show-through lands on a blank back.
With printables, you pick the paper: anything your printer takes. Everyday printer paper works for pencils and crayons; 65 lb cardstock handles markers much better.
Setup time
A printed book needs no setup.
Printables need a printer with ink, paper, and one quick test print to check the scale. How to print a coloring page at home without clipping the art walks through it.
Our books and printables: different drawings in each
For our titles, the book and the printables aren't the same pages in two formats. Each scene lives in just one of them, so the printed book, the printable collection, and the free pages all open onto something new. Owning the book and buying the printable set gives you more pages, not copies.
The Art of Doing Nothing:
- The printed book: 8.25 x 8.25 inches, printed one-sided.
- The printable collection: 16 pages, US Letter PDF plus PNG files.
- Three free pages to try.
My Little Halloween (ages 4 to 8):
- The printed book: 8.5 x 11 inches, printed one-sided.
- The printable collection: 16 new pages, US Letter PDF plus PNG files.
- Three free pages to try.
Which should you pick?
- Giving it as a present, or coloring away from a printer: the printed book.
- Wanting to start tonight, or color a page more than once: printables.
- A teacher or parent printing for several kids: printables.
- Already own the book and want more: the printable collection, since its pages are all new.