Wow the kids with photos made into coloring pages

When child and family portrait photographer Melissa Klein hand delivers albums and prints to a client’s home, she adds a little something extra to the package: coloring pages and a box of crayons. She makes the coloring pages in Photoshop using photos from the session.

The process is simple, she explains: Open the black-and-white or color photo in Photoshop; under Filter, go to Sketch; and under Sketch, click Photocopy. Adjust the detail and the dark and light areas a bit, and you’ll have a line drawing worthy of sharing with clients’ little ones.

“For kids that are able to appreciate it—that like to color—they love it,” Klein says. She points out to the parents that the pages are her gift to the children, made as a thank you for them doing a good job at the session. That’s customer service delivered and an extra little surprise to boot.   

Amanda Arnold is associate editor of Professional Photographer.