Children’s Book Illustration Prints: A Complete Guide

Illustrations bring children’s stories to life. Vivid images ignite young imaginations, transporting readers into magical worlds. But before these artistic visions reach published pages, illustrations undergo meticulous design and printing processes.

As an authority in children’s book printing and publishing, I’m devoted to helping authors, illustrators, and printers create exceptional children’s books. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover best practices for preparing printable artwork that results in vivid, accurate reproductions that enchant budding bookworms.

Essential Illustration Software

Children’s book illustrations span many genres from realistic portraits to fanciful cartoons. Some mimic crayon while others emulate watercolor. And selections run the gamut from full-page landscapes to thumbnail sketches spotting chapter openings.

No matter your personal style, artistic medium, or envisioned layout, begin by choosing capable design software. Leading options include:

Adobe Photoshop – The industry standard for digital image creation and editing. Built-in features like layers, masks, and filters provide extensive control over illustrations from concept to final polish.

Adobe Illustrator – Vector-based drawing app tailored to graphic design. Smooth curves, scalability without quality loss, and logo creation capabilities make it ideal for stylized artwork like cartoons.

Procreate – Intuitive iPad app with realistic brush types, textures, canvas effects, and simplicity that mimics physical painting. A top choice for teaching young illustrators or crafting fine art prints.

Clip Studio Paint – Desktop software with animation-ready features. Built-in 3D figure posing references, perspective guides, and sequencing functionality equip illustrators to bring dynamic movement into their work through frames and transitions.

I suggest evaluating free trials across multiple platforms first. Sample features using personal illustration styles to identify limitations in core tools or missing capabilities. Price, availability across devices, and comparable quality relative to physical mediums like acrylic or pencil also weigh heavily.

Choose thoughtfully — this software becomes creative conduit and constant companion throughout entire book projects.

Picture Source: Illustrate a Children’s Book for Printing

Standard Print Dimensions

Before illustrating individual drawings, determine standard trim sizes for interior pages and covers by consulting printers.

Common options like 5 by 8 inches or 8 by 10 inches ensure economical production using press sheet sizes designed for high-volume publishing. Custom dimensions often increase per unit expenses and limit binding selections.

Standard trim sizes also streamline collaboration with publishing partners supplying typography and graphic page elements like decorative frames or character portraits spanning two-page interior spreads.

Key Specifications

With size and medium finalized, next address three pivotal technical considerations:

Image Resolution

Print production requires meeting precise image resolution thresholds measured in pixels-per-inch (PPI). This measurement indicates pixel density:

• Higher PPI = More pixels packed into each inch = Sharper details
• Lower PPI = Fewer pixels per inch = Blurry or pixelated results

Most printers mandate 300 PPI illustrations to guarantee pages emerge crisp rather than distorted or blurry.

Submitting lower resolution files risks rejection or pixelation. Supplying higher resolution wastes storage and taxes processor capabilities without significantly improving printed outcomes at small book scales.

Color Format

Unlike screen displays emitting their own colored light, printed materials rely on inks reflecting light selectively across the visual spectrum.

This key difference means that RGB computer images using additive light blending require conversion to CMYK subtractive color for accurate print reproduction.

Otherwise, hues shift unattractively or disappear altogether during translation to layered cyan, magenta, yellow and black separations applied during offset printing.

Bleed Area

Just as panoramic landscape photos feel confined by thin picture frames, illustrations can suffer a similar fate on book pages.

Margins create inescapable edges beyond which images cannot print without cutting content mid-scene.

Bleed specifications describe extra image bits extending past the trim boundary. During production, oversized pages containing bleed areas get precisely sliced to final dimensions, eliminating borders through or around compositions.

Add 0.125 to 0.25 inches bleed margins when exporting print-ready files to grant flexibility while preventing unappealing white margins from creeping inward.

By honoring resolution, colorspace and margin requirements, illustrations transfer seamlessly from original digital concepts through final bound books without compromising creative visions.

Optimizing Raster Images

Raster or bitmap imaging represents digital illustrations as microscopic colored square pixels rather than mathematical vector outlines.

This pixel-based medium mimics physical substance — not just shape — enabling nuanced textures and effects from smudgy charcoal dust to radiant watercolor washes.

However, enlarging low resolution raster images inevitably exposes jagged stairstep edges and boxy agglomerations rather than smooth lines.

Avoid carving childlike whimsy or majestic landscapes from clumsy blocks by incorporating ample detail from the start when working in Photoshop or Procreate using the following best practices:

• Set dimensions matching book trim size or add bleed
• Begin artwork in native 300 PPI resolution
• Convert color to CMYK profile early
• Save editable master files like PSD or PSB in case changes needed
• Export high quality JPG, PNG or TIFF before submission
• Share editable files along with print-ready images

These careful habits embed flexibility to finesse coloring, edit errant details or even entirely reimagine compositions up until the printing deadline.

Yet exported derivatives still satisfy technical specifications through final production without burdening printers or risking data corruption sidelining projects.

Enhancing Vector Drawings

In contrast to rasters’ rich visible surfaces, vector art employs geometric calculation to crisply render the same scene elements at any magnification without distortion or loss of accuracy through mathematical descriptions tracing lines, curve shapes and color fills.

Common vector formats include:

• SVG
• EPS
• AI

Where raster methods excel at organic textures, vector art’s computational precision suits technical illustration, logos, comic strips or cartoon scenes involving solid regions of color.

Consider a glowing lantern against an atmospheric night sky. Vector geometry easily calculates the lantern’s underlying wireframe. Yet imparting flickering light cast off into surrounding darkness falls within raster’s artistic domain. Know strengths and weaknesses when choosing approaches.

For vector illustrations, first determine if the publishing partner accepts native files like AI documents. Many designers incorporate layered Adobe Illustrator source files directly into multi-page layouts.

If printers mandate derivatives, export vector drawings as high resolution TIFFs after addressing key considerations:

• Embrace precise vector geometry
• Maintain layers when exporting
• Select “press ready” preset configurations
• Export in CMYK color space
• Add bleed areas before saving files
• Share originals alongside TIFF deliverables

Correct preparing complex vector files prevents scrambled elements or omitted layers downline. Yet editors still access source materials enabling late stage artwork changes if needed as pages evolve.

Printing Methods Matter

Whether rendering fantastical forests or portraiture conveying personality through strokes, digitally created artwork ultimately outputs via either offset lithography or digital inkjet technology. Understanding differences upfront directs image adjustments enhancing final reproduction.

Offset Lithography

Traditional offset printing transfers fixed aluminum plate impression inks onto rollers before fixing hues onto paper corresponding with the illustration’s measured color separations. Modern sheet-fed offset devices allow high volume runs exceeding 1000+ copies with excellent consistency across mass production.

However, offset’s layered process sometimes introduces subtle hue deviations or intonation shifts compared to original RGB presentations depending on selected paper stocks. Illustrators counteract tendencies towards contrast or saturation loss by slightly overemphasizing brightness, shadows and color balance digitally before submitting content for lithographic replication.

Digital Inkjet

Inkjet methods drive liquid pigments directly onto select pages as needed allowing print-on-demand flexibility with minimized waste. Although fine art and photography editions utilize similar jets spraying ink microscopically, commercial book printing instead employs faster page-wide Piezo electric heads projecting droplets rapidly yet accurately.

Sheer printing horsepower reaches speeds exceeding 1000 finished books per hour. Such velocity comes at an accuracy cost — image quality inherently falls short of slower, commercial-grade devices with resolutions exceeding2400 dots per inch. Instead economical machines embed content at between 600 to 1200 DPI — sufficient sharpness retaining integrity across most colorful children’s book illustrations.

Just ensure original digital files meet baseline 300 PPI standards with proper color handling and bleed areas to guarantee precision holdings, accurate hues and immersive graphics free of unnatural borders. Doing so ensures high quality outputs regardless of selected printing methodology.

Preflight Checks Prevent Problems

With illustration software selected, technical considerations addressed, and standard print requirements satisfied, conduct preflight verification before submitting artwork to publication partners:

• Visual Consistency – Do colors, proportions, styles match across images?
• Print Size – Do pixel dimensions match book trim sizes including bleed margins?
• Tagged Layers – Are elements logically named and layered?
• Color Mode – Do files use CMYK or include RGB/Pantone elements needing conversion?
• File Format – Are printer-ready images exported properly for production?
• Resolution – Do photographs and raster imagery meet 300 PPI minimums?
• Text – Has all text converted to vector outlines or high resolution raster pixels?
• Accuracy – Is depicted information clear and factually correct?
• Functional Form – Do data visualizations follow best practices for quick comprehension?

Catching technical deficiencies or creative inconsistencies early maximizes revision opportunities without derailing printing timelines.

Second sets of eyes also contribute constructively during preflight. Request candid impressions from editors, authors and third-party validators highlighting noticeable enhancements. Implement reasonable changes before forwarding publication this carefully polishing creative gems destined to spark reader curiosity for years enjoyable years ahead.

Youthful Layout Considerations

Beyond singular drawings, complete manuscripts incorporate illustrations into holistic page designs engaging young minds. Publishers weigh visual motifs, text integration and pedagogical interactions when laying out imaginative imagery.

As age groups possess limited comprehension, literacy and motor skills, artwork placement targeting specific brackets requires thoughtful positioning accommodating potential limitations. Compositional decisions account for smaller hands, shorter arms, weaker dexterity, lower coordination and impaired vision compared to adults when determining locations.

For example, a sidebar teaching basic color theory may position higher on the page so children learning elementary art concepts view content more easily despite needing to reach higher lifting book spines up from the table. Such a small change amplifies accessibility for intended audiences.

When providing illustrations or page templates, communicate target age bands clearly so collaborators make informed layout judgments allowing artwork greatness to shine while assisting precious little learners loving literature.

Final Publishable Formats

With source files refined, technically sound and thoroughly proofed, finalize artwork for printing by exporting versions meeting production criteria:

Raster Images

• Format: TIFF
• Color Mode: CMYK
• Resolution: 300 PPI
• Size: Book trim + 0.25 inch bleed margin
• Optionally share PSD master copies for backup

Vector Graphics

• Format: Press Quality PDF
• Color Mode: CMYK
• Bleed Area: 0.25 inches
• Line/Font Thickness: At least 0.3-0.5 pt
• Embed Images: Yes
• Outline Text: Yes

Following professional digital publishing guidelines makes you an illustrator that industry insiders seek out again and again thanks exceptional technical practices granting flexibility without sacrificing quality across subsequent books nourishing young minds season after season.

Let’s start your custom book printing journey today! Thanks for reading! For all your printing needs, trust GoBookPrinting to bring your stories to life. Happy creating!