Create Mandala KDP Coloring Book Interiors - Affinity Designer Tutorial

[@eona]

Thanks for restoring my faith in humanity. I'm speechless.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Thank you for watching. 🙂

[@dmduffyfolmar1414]

This is absolutely brilliant! I finished watching your video, downloaded your mandala generator tool, and began creating mandalas within just a few minutes. Thank you so much - you are awesome, blossom!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you. Glad you found it helpful.

[@aiartgifts]

A super tool that's fun to use! I've had Affinity Designer for some time, but rarely use it as I tend to favor Canva for most things. Today I watched your video and opened up Affinity Designer. Picked up the Mandala Pattern Generator Tool in Gumroad and did a drag n' drop to open it in AD. It wasn't long until I got the hang of using it and exporting PNGs to Canva in record time. I've created a dozen or so patterns this afternoon and look forward to getting better at using it, and learning how to created shaped mandala patterns for coloring books. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful tool.

[@paulmarles]

That's great. Glad you found it helpful. 👍

[@historypositiveandnegative5167]

I don't frequently subscribe to channels, but you persuaded me to do so because I saw that you were responding to everyone. You are a wonderful person who merits success in everything. I've subscribed to your channel and I will like every video I watch on your channel.

[@paulmarles]

Thank you, that very much appreciated. 👍

[@peace.n.blessings5579]

Top G Paul, thank you for your support and effort.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Thank you for watching.

[@JustMamo]

Thank you so much for this tutorial Paul. This is very helpful. cheers.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. 👍

[@Helenjojoful]

so helpful andgenerous of you,thank you so much!

[@Spokenfan]

These are brilliant 👏 Thank you for sharing 👍👍 Stay safe healthy and happy 😃✝️🇺🇸

[@paulmarles]

You’re welcome and thank you. 👍

[@sarahk13peace]

perfect, thank you for sharing this

[@cadsen3d793]

Thanks Paul. Really appreciate it

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome.

[@montagnu]

This is stupendously, wonderfully, awesomely fantastic. I've been looking for a mandala creator that does a good job for a while, and this one fits the bill. I've already created a test animal mandala with it. Thank you very much, Captain Paul. 😃 Maureen

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Glad you found it useful.

[@vadenallen865]

So close to 150K! Continued success Paul! Thank you!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you. It amazes me how I got to this number but it's from all your support. 👍

[@deloreshillcreative]

Thank you Paul. This is AWESOME! Thank you for all your great teaching videos, it is very much appreciated.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. 👍

[@aryaprincess2479]

I am doing something similar in Illustrator. There are also some mandala makers for android apps that are 100% free and you can save your design, then you can upscale it and voila.

[@CCoburn3]

Book Bolt is also a good place to do interiors. Especially, if they use your discount code to get a discount on the software.

[@peace.n.blessings5579]

Well done Paul! Your a Diamond

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome.

[@awebbdigitals]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome.

[@bennyx1281]

Thank you for this , am l👀king for something to try after working 20+ for a company.

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Best of luck 👍

[@chismc1002]

Can you use it with the iPad version of Affinity Designer?

[@paulmarles]

I've not tried it but it probably won't work.

[@goilo888]

You can also make them very easily in Procreate, but with less flexibility in editing. I suggest using many layers.

[@linhliver]

Great tutorial but can I use this in Adobe Illustrator pls? Dont wanna spend money on another vector software

[@paulmarles]

Unfortunately not. It will only work in Affinity Designer.

[@RenatasArt]

⁠it is possible to do that on IPad? I can't find Vector Brush Tool 😢

[@annecoombes7769]

Hey Paul - Big Fan here! I'd love to do your Mandalas BUT I've got the new Affinity Designer 2 and can't get your instructions to work. Can you help? 😊

[@paulmarles]

I've not got Affinity Designer 2 yet so haven't checked to see if it works but it should do. I'll be buying it within the next few days so I'll check it then.

[@annecoombes7769]

@@paulmarles Thanks Paul

[@jchery04]

Did you ever get it to work? I'm struggling with this as well.

[@annecoombes7769]

@@jchery04

[@annecoombes7769]

@@jchery04 I did. Just follow Paul's instructions to the letter. The screen may look different but the instructions work perfectly with a couple of false tries on my part. Good luck !!

[@shlokapoojary5069]

Hello, Sir Can i use it for commercial purpose??

[@mundyness]

thank you so much for your informative and helpful videos! would your template work with the ipad version of AD? (I haven't bought AD yet so can't test it :))

[@mundyness]

oh, i just saw your reply to someone else's question asking the same thing XD

[@NeelamManghlani]

There are some free graphics of mandala in canva. So can we use them with some modifications to create book?

[@lesliepalmer7407]

Brilliant!

[@paulmarles]

Thank you.

[@CavalierTipsandFun]

I love watching your content. Thank you for all the great tips. I recently uploaded my coloring book to KDP but in the view it's all messed up. It's like I can see ghost design elements in the final product. I don't see these images on my file, not when I print them on my computer or office store. Any ideas???? Thank you. Tonya

[@paulmarles]

Is it the cover or interior? You can always re-upload just the cover or interior.

[@CavalierTipsandFun]

@@paulmarles thank you. Interior. It was showing the bottom images through. I made new pages in inkscape instead of canva and it's ok. I appreciate your advice.

[@bennyx1281]

Do you have one video showing how to get started from beginning of what’s needed to start to the uploading your 1st book?

[@paulmarles]

Here is my latest video on how to upload a book to KDP: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5CsgYmhgJ6kjqM

[@user-iS3fb9en99]

thanks friend u are the best ..........

[@paulmarles]

Thank you.

[@jimcarr1709]

Hi Paul, I am very keen to start doing this however, each time I try to download the Mandal Generator, I get a message saying ''There is no specific application set to open the document ''Mandala Generator 8.5x11'' and ultimately I cannot download it. Could you advise how I may be able to get around this please? Many Thanks. Jim

[@latifaboufous2811]

Thank you so much

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. 👍

[@Ian_Woods]

Great video as usual, clear and concise. Why do you add a white background at the end? Surely if its being printed by kdp on a white page its not neccessay just makes the file bigger for no reason

[@paulmarles]

Becasue it positions it correctly when transferring it to Keynote or wherever you're creating your interior.

[@QuizFrensy]

Thank you

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome.

[@S-ivanov]

Oh this is really awesome. I was looking for Mandala pattern creators the other day. I figured there would be so many coloring books on KDP with people using all the same ones from creative fabrica. But all the creators I came across didn't smooth the lines like yours seems too. I only hesitate to download though as last time I tried to download the hand writing line template from your store I got a virus warning about the file so I didn't download it. Not saying you put in the virus that is just the warning I got. Mind it is the first time I tried to download via the email link I normally just download straight from gum road. Just a heads up if anyone else has had that issue.

[@paulmarles]

Which email link. The link Gumroad sent you? That's the first time anyone has mentioned that and it's been downloaded a couple of thousand times. It's just a pdf.

[@jasonmanroe8720]

Are coloring book packages purchased on Creative Fabrica sold more than once? Will you end up duplicating other coloring books?

[@paulmarles]

They are. I always suggest making changes to them.

[@dikshakukreja3233]

Do blank recipe journals come under low content category ? I've uploaded a blank recipe journal with few basic words in interior like recipe name , serving , cooking time, temp etc. And Amazon mailed me to correct the category to low content. But there are so many blank recipe journals on amazon that are not categorised as low content and have look inside feature also. Can you please explain. Do i need to categorise it to low content or not ? And if yes, then why other blank recipe journals have look inside feature along with being low content.

[@sahilsaboor3623]

Yes they do

[@vacationpreparation820]

Yes they are low content. They are repetitive pages for the buyer to fill in.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, I can explain - they were probably published before Amazon implemented the new rules! Yes, you would need to categorize it to low content - that's what Amazon is telling you to do. If all the pages are identical then, it goes into the low content category.

[@BibsyP]

You don't need to add 0.25" and 0.125" the the page size as in the 6x9 book interiors? I uploaded my first book yesterday to see how it goes. I know it will languish in the nether regions of Amazon but it was good practice. Will try some more. and do more keyword research. Thanks for this mandala tutorial Paul.

[@paulmarles]

You add that if the page has bleed. If not then no, you don;t need to add those measurements.

[@BibsyP]

@@paulmarles Oh, of course. Thanks. I have photoshop Elements. It does lack some features. I wonder if it can do a mandala.... 🤷🏽‍♀️?

[@chanmeida1726]

Pual. Thanks for this video. Can you make a video on how to make a cover for this too? U mention can add color towards the end of the video, how to do that?

[@paulmarles]

I'll put it on my list.

[@KHverse_0]

Cool

[@lilyben591]

thanks

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome.

[@margaretonah8484]

Thank for your support so far Paul I have followed your instructions And uploaded up to 15books the right way but don't get buyer How can I run ads?

[@paulmarles]

I have an Amazon Ads playlist on my channel.

[@bluedimples7835]

Your awesome

[@paulmarles]

Thank you!

[@pedrofdez_76]

Hello Paul. I wanted to share with you an idea. From Affinity Designer, you can create artboards that when exported in printable PDF can be used as interior pages of the book, without having to go to canva or publisher. How do you see that way of doing interiors from Designer? Thanks.

[@paulmarles]

I find it a real pain to do it that way and lot slower than the way I usually do it.

[@sylviaokwaraji2115]

thanks so much for all your teachings. I will like to ask, can I still upload my books without a bank account on Amazon?

[@paulmarles]

You can upload them. The problem is receiving your royalties. you need a bank account.

[@sylviaokwaraji2115]

Okay, thank you now you have answered my question. God Bless you.

[@aykproductions5500]

Unable to download anything free from your website. It says 'Name a fair price' Please guide me how to do sp

[@paulmarles]

Put 0 in the box!!!

[@zainabezzy7396]

You're so generous Paul. Will this tool work in inkscape?

[@paulmarles]

No. It will only work in Affinity Designer.

[@Curious.Badger]

Thank you for your videos. My friend introduced me to them and we are going to do this. I was also curious if you would ever put Dot Grid paper on your gumroad shop?

[@paulmarles]

I hadn;t thought about it but I may be able to do that at some point.

[@rickycampos4770]

Thank you for sharing is that a photo shop to create

[@paulmarles]

You're welcome. Glad you found it useful.

[@pamelataigbenu]

Hello Paul please I need you to explain how I can save my manuscript on canva because after designing about 50 pages of children handwriting book with content I cannot save it as PDF print to publish on Amazon instead it saves per page. Please help

[@paulmarles]

Did you create it as consecutive pages in one file?

[@ayouba2098]

Hello Paul ! I create my covers with canva and I'm just wondering why my paperback book covers look slightly duller on amazone when i published it ??

[@paulmarles]

Did you make sure to choose pdf to print? You can't change the color profile in Canva as far as I know, so I'm not sure how you would correct that.

[@ayouba2098]

Yes i've download it with pdf print

[@Risingabovechaos]

Your gumroad page has a problem. I hit it, it flashes up for one second and then disappears and becomes a non functioning blank white page. Anyone else get this happening? It happens on all your videos to me. I am using android.

[@paulmarles]

I don;t know what the issue is. It works when I click on the link and haven;t had any other reports of similar problems.

[@hadeelfaiz5128]

Hello, after one month of Publishing the books I am still not selling any?

[@paulmarles]

Keep going. This business takes time to work at and improve on.

[@johnakinola2509]

Hi Paul am from Nigeria..... I only have a mobile phone, how can I Do this???

[@paulmarles]

You can’t use Affinity Designer on a mobile phone I’m afraid.

[@uzmauzma3289]

I have paid for subscription of creative fabrica last night from the link you have given in description of your video.but even after around 12 hrs, my account is still on hold.Just wanted to ask will this thing take more time?

[@paulmarles]

I don't know. Maybe ask Creative Fabrica.

[@SteveDiamond-Iam]

This is very useful, Paul. Thanks so much! Question: Is there any way to change the number of vertices in the pattern? It seems always to generate 24. I'd like to be able to make simpler designs with fewer.

[@paulmarles]

Yes, there is. You would need to go into the layers panel, unlock the mandala layer and experiment with deleting some of the layers.

[@SteveDiamond-Iam]

@@paulmarles Thanks! I found I could halve it to 12 just by hiding every other layer starting with the first, or cut it to 6 by hiding the first three, leaving one, and so on. I also tried using the pen tool instead of the brush. That gives a new range of effects. I wish there were a way to do this in Inkscape. (Well, I suspect there is, but I don't know how.) I'd rather not have to buy Affinity Designer, plus my daily driver OS is Linux and I hate having to switch to Windows just for one task.

[@Kythe42]

@@paulmarles Hello! I just came across this great tool and it's super helpful. I found I could easily create versions where there were 6, 8, and 12 points just by hiding layers because these all divide evenly into 24. But lets say I want to make a mandala with 10 points. For that I'd actually need to adjust the angle of the layers because it doesn't go evenly into 24. For a 10 point mandala, I'd need sections every 36 degrees. Is there any way to easily adjust the angle of the layers to create whichever variations I'd like? I'd also be interested in a radial version to give a more spiral type effect.

[@niel7748]

Thank you so much for your efforts. I would like to Know please how can i embed a pdf's font even though I dont have Acrobat pro I really need your help

[@paulmarles]

I discuss it in my next video.

[@niel7748]

@@paulmarles OK thank you

[@fitnessaboundtik6034]

I would really love to know if you have a course on how to skyrocket with Amazon kdp for. And I have been having issues making payments for Affinity designer (Nigeria)

[@paulmarles]

I haven’t got a course just yet but working on one.

[@fitnessaboundtik6034]

Oh awesome glad to hear this, just an init you could as well include how to create short written books as well.

[@jefferyadams8927]

I assuming that this awesome tool cannot be used in Adobe Designer?

[@paulmarles]

No. Affinity Designer only.

[@southernjustice615]

What's the best way, to get my own drawings into making a coloring book?

[@paulmarles]

It's possible. It's a bit lengthy to describe in a commnet but may cover it in a video.

[@southernjustice615]

Thanks Paul👊

[@soulfact6525]

One thing would like to know that when we search on amazon all departments with a keyword, here show 1000, search results for example. But when we search by selecting Books and then search with the same keyword it shows 50k-60k search results. This is a wide competition. So where should we focus?

[@paulmarles]

The all category. I' have done a video that explains why.

[@angelabunyard8876]

so sorry to be annoying. I downloaded the mandala design from gumroad and it has no file inside it?

[@paulmarles]

Apologies, that’s my fault. I’ve corrected the issue and should be downloadable now.

[@angelabunyard8876]

just been back on it. It has appeared. thank you

[@Tania689]

I dont think theres a vector brush in the version 2 i just downloaded

[@paulmarles]

The tool still works in AD 2

[@نورعلم-ف8ش]

I tried downloading it but I got just a pdf contains my info at the end !!!!?

[@paulmarles]

Apologies, that’s my fault. I’ve corrected the issue and is available to download now.

[@نورعلم-ف8ش]

@@paulmarles Thank you very much 👏😃

[@kimbrookins3285]

Sad to see there aren't any more new videos in about 9 months or so. What's going on?

[@vicki72146]

Sorry Paul. I cannot open your Mandala Pattern Generator Tool. My PDF program doesn't like it. 😝🥴☹

[@Lea_1113]

It's for use in Affinity Designer, not a PDF program. You save as PDF once you're finished...

[@lesliepalmer7407]

Will it work with Adobe Illustrator?

[@paulmarles]

No, the generator will only work with Affinity Designer I’m afraid.

[@ogunrinolaolasunkanmi4348]

We will really appreciate if you put we Adobe users in mind as well. I am using both Photoshop and illustrator. I guess you try to export as psd file from affinity and let's we Photoshop users enjoy it as well☺️😉

[@lesliepalmer7407]

@@paulmarles OK, I have been meaning to do a cost analysis of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator with other products. I LOVE your product!

[@johncrossugwuegede]

Please sir, help me with some free ebooks websites?

[@jfotaku5596]

How can i do it on ipad affinity designer

[@paulmarles]

I;ve not tried it on the ipad version I'm afraid.

[@TanyaCrewe]

I followed the video perfectly until 12:20 and I can't get the outline to appear.

[@S-ivanov]

Make sure you haven't got the stroke colour as white or transparent or turned off.

[@quytunhata1312]

everyone can use it, without me, have 1 notification: the file appears to be corrupted

[@nextoo1]

Jesus mate

[@jdarrenpacquiao]

I noticed that your tutorial is biased:(

[@paulmarles]

Biased towards what in particular? It's a video on creating mandalas! 😆

[@roadtrippingdrone5139]

Saturated ASF. waste of ad spent