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Guidelines for Children's Book Illustrations

If you are an artist who's illustrating a children's book and don't know where to start, I've got you covered! Here's what you'll need to know to make sure that your illustrations are the right size and won't cause any issues during the layout or publishing process.


↓ Download the PDF of guidelines & storyboard template! ↓


Artwork Resolution & Color Mode

You'll want to create your artwork at a DPI of at least 300, and you can use RGB color mode. Although books are printed in CMYK, I think it's better to start out with RGB illustrations so that you have nice bright images to post on social media and to use for any digital marketing or digital products. Plus, Amazon KDP actually accepts the RGB color mode. Then, the PDF for the cover and interior can be converted to CMYK when that color mode is needed (like when uploading to IngramSpark).


Artwork Dimensions for Children's Book Illustration

At a minimum, you'll want your artwork dimensions to be:

  • Single page artwork: Final page size + .125" add to the width, and .25" added to the height

  • Two-page spread artwork: Single page artwork width x 2 (height remains the same as single-page artwork)


For example, if your final book size is to be 8.5x8.5, you'll want to use the following dimensions:

  • Single page artwork: 8.625" wide by 8.75" high

  • Two-page spread artwork: 17.25" wide by 8.75" high


If your final book size is 8.5x11, you'll want to use the following dimensions:

  • Single page artwork: 8.625" wide by 11.25" high

  • Two-page spread artwork: 17.25" wide by 11.25" high


Artwork Details


Subject Placement

It's important that you keep subjects about .5" or more from the edge of the page. This will allow for the outer .125" of the page to get trimmed off without compromising the artwork itself. For more info on this, see What is Bleed?


Working with Two-Page Spreads

When you're designing a two-page spread, you'll need to make sure you are not placing an important subject right in the middle of the spread. Remember that the center line of your spread will be the gutter of the book. If you place something like a person's face right along that center line, then it's not going to look right when the paper is folded into the spine there. Instead, put the subject on the left page or the right page.


Plan for Text

When you create your artwork, remember to plan room for text! (Unless of course, the text will be on a separate page)


You'll want to make sure that you have some area of the artwork that does not have a busy background, so that text can be placed there. For example, leave some plain blue sky, or a blank part of a wall, for text to be placed. Having this plain background will ensure that the text will be easy to read and that whoever is formatting the layout doesn't need to cover up part of your image with a solid box, or manipulate your image to create that blank space.


Planning Your Illustrations

I find that the easiest way to follow all of these guidelines is to plan out all of the illustrations in a storyboard format. This way, you can plan where the text will go and also make sure that any important elements are not too close to the edge or right in the middle of a spread. Download my free storyboard template at the top of this page!


Saving Your Files

I recommend saving your files out as PNGs, especially if you're working with Procreate. This is because in Procreate, when you save out as a JPG, you are not offered any compression settings, so you just have to accept the Procreate default compression settings. I find that Procreate compresses the artwork too much, and it doesn't look as crisp as when saving out as a PNG.


Bonus Tip!

You can also save out pieces of your artwork separately in case the layout designer needs to move anything around. This way, if there ends up not being enough room for text, the designer can easily move a character a little bit over to accommodate without compromising your artwork.


I like to do this in Procreate by first saving out the entire design as a PNG, then hiding all layers but the background and saving that out, and then hiding the background and saving the subject out as a PNG with transparency.


Here's a link to download my free Illustration Guidelines document with a storyboard template included as well!

 
 
 

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