Tools for children's picture books
Picture books are built differently from novels. The text sits on the artwork, so the ebook has to keep each page's layout fixed, and the print edition needs color ink. This page covers the free tools Amazon offers for that, what they can't do, and where design and AI tools fit in.
1. The ebook: a fixed-layout Kindle book
KDP explains that "children's picture books have full-page images with text set precisely in relation to the background art", so they use a fixed layout rather than reflowable text. It adds that books "can't be partially reflowable or partially fixed-layout".
- Kindle Create (free, Amazon): imports your PDF, PNG or JPEG pages and turns them into an illustrated, comic or kids' ebook. You can set facing pages and add Guided View panels, which show parts of a page in order. KDP says masks for kids' books "should be partially transparent". Kindle Create runs on Windows 10 or later, or macOS 10.15 or later (macOS 11 or later on Apple M1 Macs).
- Text has to be on the art first: KDP says "Kindle Create doesn't offer text formatting features" and that kids' books "should have text already formatted and positioned on the source image before importing it to Kindle Create."
- Text you can enlarge separately: if you want readers to be able to enlarge the story text apart from the artwork (text pop-ups), KDP recommends building an EPUB fixed-layout file instead.
- Back cover: for children's fixed-layout ebooks, KDP suggests including a back cover, and says to remove barcodes, prices and promotional content from it.
2. Putting text on the artwork
KDP's own help page lists example tools for adding text to images: Canva, PicsArt, GIMP and Krita (each marked free) and Adobe Photoshop (marked paid). It also says: "Amazon does not endorse specific third-party software for image editing." In our directory:
- Canva: a browser design tool with templates and text tools.
- Book Brush: a design tool for authors' covers and promo images.
3. The print edition: color ink and trim
- Ink: KDP says to choose a color ink option "if any images in your book are supposed to print in color". Paperbacks offer premium or standard color; hardcovers offer premium color only. Color books print on white paper.
- Page counts: KDP's print options table lists different minimums by ink. For a 5" x 8" paperback, for example, premium color starts at 24 pages and standard color at 72 pages.
- Locked after publishing: KDP says you can't change the ink type after publication. If you want both a black-and-white and a color edition, set them up as separate books.
- Cover finish: KDP describes glossy as "typical for textbooks, children's books, and nonfiction".
- Art to the edge: if your pictures run to the edge of the page, set up the interior file with bleed. See our paperback trim, bleed and spine guide. KDP also says Kindle Create "isn't supported for paperbacks with tables, footnotes, or images that bleed".
- KDP says: "Remember that the cost for books printed in color is higher."
4. AI illustration and drafting tools
Image generators such as Midjourney and Ideogram, and book builders such as KDP Builder (which lists a children's books workflow), can produce picture-book art or text. Before you publish:
- KDP's content guidelines say: "We require you to inform us of AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book through KDP." They add: "AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork."
- KDP also says you are responsible for checking that AI-generated and AI-assisted content follows its guidelines, including intellectual property rights.
- KDP's content guidelines also say: "We’ll reject or remove content that does not adhere to these guidelines".
- Each image tool has its own terms on who owns the images and how you can use them commercially; read them before you publish. We make no claim about who owns AI-generated art or whether it can be protected by copyright.
Related
- KDP ebook cover requirements
- KDP hardcover setup
- All cover and graphics tools
- Tools for low-content books