How to illustrate a children's book with AI
5 stepsAbout 10 minutesUpdated Nov 1, 2026
Getting one good picture from AI is easy. Getting 24 that belong together is the hard part: the same child, the same style and the same colors on every page. This guide shows how papergarden solves that: fix the style first, draw each character once, plan every picture and check every page. The finished book prints as a hardcover.
1. Fix the style first
Every book gets one painting style and a palette of 4 to 5 colors taken from the story, used on every page and the cover. Gouache is the default: flat matte paint, soft brush edges, a little paper grain, no black outlines. Want another style, like watercolor, colored pencil or paper cut-out? Ask for it in ChatGPT or Claude at the start.
2. Draw each character once
Each character is drawn once on a character sheet, from a photo or a description, and every page is painted from that sheet. Faces, hair and clothes stay the same from page 1 to the end.
3. Plan every picture
Before painting, the AI writes a plan for each page: the text, what the picture shows, the camera, and what the story so far requires, like the light, the weather or who holds the toy.
4. Text left, picture right
The text goes on the left page and the picture on the right. papergarden sets the text itself, so the words are always sharp and spelled right; the picture never contains text.
Every Tuesday the big green truck came rumbling down Sem's street. Sem was always at the window first.
5. Check every page
papergarden renders each spread so the AI can compare it with its neighbors, and the print check flags text in the fold or outside the safe area. You see every page before anything prints.
What it costs
- Pictures in ChatGPT
- Included in your ChatGPT plan
- Pictures in Claude or another assistant
- 1 credit each (40 for €6)
- papergarden makes the whole book
- €9.95 once
- Printed hardcover (optional)
- €39 + shipping
Questions
Can I choose a different style?
Yes, in ChatGPT or Claude: ask for another style when you start, like watercolor, colored pencil or paper cut-out. Gouache is the default. The style sample shows the look before any page is painted.
Can the pictures look like photos?
No. papergarden makes picture-book illustrations only, never photographs or photorealistic pictures.
What is the best AI for making a children's book?
ChatGPT can write the story and paint the pictures; Claude writes the story and papergarden paints the pictures. Neither can print a book. Connect either one to papergarden and the book becomes a hardcover. In ChatGPT making the book is free; in Claude you pay only for the pictures. Without either, papergarden makes the whole book itself.
No ChatGPT or Claude? papergarden can write and illustrate the whole book for you.
Start your book