Create your own coloring book pages

My daughter loves to color, well actually she loves to scribble. She displays her artistry in coloring books, on blank paper, with special crayons in the bathtub, or on our rug (which would be a real issue if I actually liked the one we have.) So, I thought I'd make her special coloring book pages featuring her favorite person in the world, her! She was not as thrilled as I expected, but her Aunt DeeDee LOVED the idea and colored the pages to perfection.

Finished Coloring Book Page

And this is how I did it...

  

Step 1. Pick out a picture and open it in Photoshop

Step 2. Duplicate the original layer - 

right click the background layer and click on the duplicate layer option

Step 3. Desaturate the photo

Image - Adjustments - Desaturate

The image will be converted to black and white

Step 4. Duplicate the desaturated layer 

Step 5. Invert the new layer

Image - Adjustments - Invert

Your image will now look Craaaazy

Step 6. Add a color dodge to your Craaaazy layer

Layers- scroll to color dodge

Your Image will now vanish - Ta Dah! Don't be scared, though, we'll get it back

Step 7. Add a Filter: Gaussian Blur

Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur

Your image is really starting to look like a coloring book page!

Step 8. Pick your favorite coloring book filter level

Using the Gaussian Filter Tool pick the best look for your page, here I chose 28 

Step 9. Flatten Your Image
Or you can call it a day here and just print your coloring book page

If you are a perfectionist - Flatten the Image

Step 10. If you are anal and the little dots bother you, use the eraser tool to clean up the image

All done and Colored in by Aunt DeeDee

And just for comparison: This is Baby T's artwork. 

Maybe she'll appreciate this more when she is older!