I'd like to see what a real physical book looks like before I buy it though. Do you have real pictures of a printed one?
I think our kids would appreciate seeing the original (even if a small thumbnail) along side it. You can't always tell from these AI drawings that it was originally you and your family.
Also, it's REALLY expensive. $30 for a book that my kids will draw on in one or two nights and then never touch again is probably too much.
> Please only upload photos that are in line with OpenAI's Usage Policy.
> We are not able to include any photos that do not follow their policy in the final printed book.
from openai.com/policies
> Editing uploaded images or videos that contain real people under the age of 18 is not permitted.
The first two sample pictures on the page contain of adolescent children. Are you concerned about this apparent contradiction?
The comics look pretty Miyazaki-inspired, like all of the comics I've seen lately. I've kinda started to dislike this look because it's _everywhere_ that low-effort comics are these days.
Maybe worth trying to train a better style for this. This is probably something where you could put a little effort in up-front (ie: using a model that's for segmentation to get outlines, using some classic image-processing for boundary detection) and then have AI touch it up a little more lightly and a less of the "default" style.
Also, do you have AI images for the "real world" samples on the left? They have a certain "I don't exactly know what, but it's creeping me out" vibe.
Everyone and their mother are trying to hop on the band wagon of AI and make a half assed service just because it may sell just due to the "ai" tag attached to it - this is different!
Chapeau bas!
It's simple but brilliant. It's a great example of what a good idea is - with minimal effort he made an epic product focusing not an AI, but what AI can bring to the table and executing it flawlessly. Hats off!
For what it’s worth (and it’s probably not much), it doesn’t cost that much to commission comic book-style art from an actual artist online. When you do that, the proceeds go to an artist, not to an AI company that stole from them and a software developer who wrote a wrapper around their API.
Not sure if you're aware, but if you're interested in SEO/AEO marketing, there's very healthy monthly traffic for long-tail searches in this area. Some searches getting towards 100K per month.
Maybe I am thinking a bit meta here. But who is supposed to colorize these pages? Kids that are in the progress of learning to instead use AI for everything? It can surely deliver better results quicker, after all.
Same question would be relevant if you wouldn't have used AI to generate these outlines, of course.
I just want to point out there is a certain irony of the "cut the branch you are sitting on"-kind here.
This is an awesome. I had a similar one: Convert the dense non-fiction books into something more readable. eg. SAPIENS vs UNSTOPPABLE US.
But this makes me wonder: What is the barrier to entry for these apps now? Anyone can do it. There is going to be a barrage of apps/websites like this?
Your step 2 is wrong :-)
> Step 2: We convert them into a high-quality physical coloring book with OpenAI’s brand-new Sora model, then send it out for printing.
You don't convert it into a physical book /before/ sending it for printing.
I'm from India. I was looking for a service like this but without sending me a physical book part.
I'd use this at @ $10 price point if I'm able get downloadable a4 coloring pages from a picture. It would be great. Also this way your customer base becomes international.
$10 for 20 pictures is a good price point for me. Pretty expensive but I'd still go for it.
I've been using (mostly) the OpenAI image generator for quite some time generating coloring pages, it's pretty decent at it and can generate just about anything my kids want as long as you word it a bit neutral to avoid it generating (something it recognizes as) copyrighted content.
Great idea to turn your own photos into a coloring book generator!
Edit: I wonder how you prevent it from generating copyrighted content when people upload e.g. 'photos' of Disney content? Or has that not been a problem yet?
You'll want to really drive home the niche (through your feature set) that it's for family photos, because the generic photo to AI vectorized coloring book service has been done to death.
Pricing is quite high - 24 pages maximum for $23.99. There are 100-page coloring books on Amazon for $5.00, and the age group that really would be using this is not going to remember what was on the page a week from the day they did it.
Maybe it can work in the nice of "adult coloring books" - I've seen some social media content where people really go crazy on coloring books, and being able to get nice physical copy to work off could appeal there.
I tried copying the one of the photos into ChatGPT and asked it to make me a coloring book style image out of it. It is definitely not as good as this site (i.e. I don't think kids would recognize themselves). Good prompting!
Wow a lot of criticism. I'm considering a similar business. I think this is too expensive when printing this is so easy these days. But charging some small about per printable coloring book would be very attractive.
Seems like this cat (and various variants in similar settings) was a top rated image in Sora's explore/images a week ago. Was it yours, should it be credited, or did you hit edit prompt<enter> to get a variant?
Show HN: I used OpenAI's new image API for a personalized coloring book service
(clevercoloringbook.com)263 points by darajava 25 April 2025 | 142 comments
Comments
I don’t understand how you can do this and not feel horrible about it. But I guess not everyone cares as long as it might earn you a few dollars…
I'd like to see what a real physical book looks like before I buy it though. Do you have real pictures of a printed one?
I think our kids would appreciate seeing the original (even if a small thumbnail) along side it. You can't always tell from these AI drawings that it was originally you and your family.
Also, it's REALLY expensive. $30 for a book that my kids will draw on in one or two nights and then never touch again is probably too much.
Maybe worth trying to train a better style for this. This is probably something where you could put a little effort in up-front (ie: using a model that's for segmentation to get outlines, using some classic image-processing for boundary detection) and then have AI touch it up a little more lightly and a less of the "default" style.
Also, do you have AI images for the "real world" samples on the left? They have a certain "I don't exactly know what, but it's creeping me out" vibe.
> Generate a version of this photo that can be used as a coloring sheet
Everyone and their mother are trying to hop on the band wagon of AI and make a half assed service just because it may sell just due to the "ai" tag attached to it - this is different!
Chapeau bas! It's simple but brilliant. It's a great example of what a good idea is - with minimal effort he made an epic product focusing not an AI, but what AI can bring to the table and executing it flawlessly. Hats off!
I would like to know the cost of the tokens you are paying for an image. How many pages coloring book will be created against $24 book?
Love the idea! Good luck.
Same question would be relevant if you wouldn't have used AI to generate these outlines, of course.
I just want to point out there is a certain irony of the "cut the branch you are sitting on"-kind here.
Edit: typo
But this makes me wonder: What is the barrier to entry for these apps now? Anyone can do it. There is going to be a barrage of apps/websites like this?
Your step 2 is wrong :-) > Step 2: We convert them into a high-quality physical coloring book with OpenAI’s brand-new Sora model, then send it out for printing.
You don't convert it into a physical book /before/ sending it for printing.
I'd use this at @ $10 price point if I'm able get downloadable a4 coloring pages from a picture. It would be great. Also this way your customer base becomes international.
$10 for 20 pictures is a good price point for me. Pretty expensive but I'd still go for it.
Great idea to turn your own photos into a coloring book generator!
Edit: I wonder how you prevent it from generating copyrighted content when people upload e.g. 'photos' of Disney content? Or has that not been a problem yet?
I have some kids that still color, and it would be great to keep something in my pocket to give them quick with a crayon or pen.
* one full PDF (including cover) of an example book.
* don't use AI images as examples - it's not obvious if the outline version will look as good on real images.
We recently created one too, where you get a printable version: dibulo.com/editor - the next step will be to bring the templates to life again.
Pricing is quite high - 24 pages maximum for $23.99. There are 100-page coloring books on Amazon for $5.00, and the age group that really would be using this is not going to remember what was on the page a week from the day they did it.
Maybe it can work in the nice of "adult coloring books" - I've seen some social media content where people really go crazy on coloring books, and being able to get nice physical copy to work off could appeal there.
No worries, just wondering how that should work.
Things like your coloring book, instant sticker/tshirt/swag creation, video game assets, etc.
Also love the "tap 5 times for a discount" feature.
I wonder if printing services (Lulu?) have a automatic API or if it requires some manual intervention? (And the shipping part?)
Demo: https://v0-story-maker.vercel.app/
The chat: https://v0.dev/chat/ai-story-book-creator-zw7TrmkN2Eb