Create Professional Looking Connect the Dot Books for KDP | No Drawing Required

In this video, I’m going to show you how to create a professional looking “Connect the Dots” Children’s Book, using the Book Bolt Studio. And I’m going to show you how to create this book, using only 3 downloads from Creative Fabrica.
So if you’re someone who struggles with drawing your own illustrations, or with graphic design; then this video is for you!
0:00 - Create Professional Looking Activity Books for KDP!
0:18 - Animated intro.
0:29 - Why you should be using Book Bolt and Creative Fabrica.
3:19 - How to prepare illustrations for the Connect the Dot Generator in Book Bolt.
10:12 - How to set up a new project in the Book Bolt Studio.
11:29 - How to use the Connect the Dot Generator in Book Bolt.
16:50 - How to create a printing practice template for kids.
22:07 - How to create a professional looking Connect the Dot book cover for KDP.
44:21 - Closing thoughts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Book Bolt:
Low Content Book Publishing and Research
Save 20% Using Promo Code: craigbabin
bookbolt.io/957.html
Creative Fabrica:
KDP Interiors, Graphics, Illustrations, Fonts and Tutorials
1 Year All Access, Unlimited Downloads for $59 ($290 Savings!!!)
www.creativefabrica.com/ref/2...
- or -
30 Day FREE Trial (Limit of 10 Downloads)
Subscription Renews at $9/month (70% Savings!!!)
bit.ly/3HHgrft
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video Links:
Photopea: www.photopea.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Products and services that I use, endorse and are affiliated with:
Amazon - Stuff I Use:
KZbin Gear, Drawing Equipment, Art Books and More!
amzn.to/45odBWy
Book Bolt:
Low Content Book Publishing and Research
Save 20% Using Promo Code: craigbabin
bookbolt.io/957.html
Creative Fabrica:
KDP Interiors, Graphics, Illustrations, Fonts and Tutorials
1 Year All Access, Unlimited Downloads for $59 ($290 Savings!!!)
www.creativefabrica.com/ref/2...
- or -
30 Day FREE Trial (Limit of 10 Downloads)
Subscription Renews at $9/month (70% Savings!!!)
bit.ly/3HHgrft
Placeit:
Create Promotional Mock Ups for Book Covers, Apparel, Logos, Intros and More
No Software Required
Unlimited Subscription for Under $10 Per Month
1.envato.market/MXeQoP
Adobe CC Software:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition
Every Software Program You'll Need to Run Your Creative Business, all in One Bundle
60% Discount for Students and Teachers
bit.ly/3SkPz8z
Wacom Intuos Pro:
Hands Down the Best Drawing Tablet on the Market Today!
Digitally Draw, Paint, or Retouch Photos on a Mac or PC.
wacom.pxf.io/B0eqj0
Audible:
1000's of Self Help, Inspirational, Motivational and Educational Audio Books
Get a 30 Day FREE Trial
www.audibletrial.com/b3rk7k
Fiverr:
Hire Professionals for All of Your Business Needs
Logo Design, Illustration, Web Design, Voice Over, 2D & 3D Animation, Video Editing
bit.ly/3PM5mMe
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find my merchandise in the following locations:
Graphic T-Shirts, Hats and More:
Spread Shop: craigbabin.myspreadshop.com/
Digital Downloads for Creators:
Gumroad: craigbabin.gumroad.com/
Activity Books and More:
Amazon: amzn.to/3wyWCzN
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background Music:
Tropic Fuse: by French Fuse
From KZbin Audio Library
#kdp #bookbolt #creativefabrica

[@paular2442]

I appreciate the detail given in this video. This is the first video in which I do not feel as if there is something missing. This was the best explanation, including how to work with Photoshop. I learned more about Photoshop than I learned from a class, much easier to follow. Thank you.

[@CraigBabin]

That's very kind of you to say Paula. I'm glad you found the video helpful.

[@jennybolch7200]

Wow, I wish I had artistic vision like that. I’ll have to watch this video a few more times to totally comprehend it. So many useful editing tips. Thank you

[@CraigBabin]

You're quite welcome Jenny.

[@mrc7593]

On point again our Craig! Thanks for all the effort you put in!

[@CraigBabin]

It's my pleasure Mr. C.

[@DragonfliesandFairyLights]

Great tutorial. I love that you make a point to demonstrate best practice. Thank you so much!

[@CraigBabin]

You're quite welcome.

[@saracosta620]

This video was extremely enlightening. Thank you.

[@CraigBabin]

You're quite welcome Sara.

[@nattiyatakhoon7761]

Thank you for your advice! It helps 🎉

[@CraigBabin]

I'm glad I could help Nattiya.

[@sharonkamelonline]

Really just awesome, got so many tips about book builder so really appreciate that - I've just started but wish I had watched this video before I published my first 4 coloring books. Thanks again Craig, your guides are truly brilliant.

[@CraigBabin]

I'm glad you're finding them helpful Sharon.

[@mariagalek-tanaka6121]

You are THE BEST!

[@CraigBabin]

You're to kind Maria.

[@benicio1967]

HOLY COW!!! And I do mean HOLY COW!!! I always wanted to do connect the dots. I thought it would be so much fun and so easy. I can honestly say I know now I know that I simply will not ever be able to make dot to dot books. Who knew theyd be this difficult and complicated. I can’t lie. I couldn’t understand the necessity of any of the steps and you my friend are truly brilliant that you were able to understand this process and were able to figure out all these steps. I’m seriously blown away at the complexity of this particular genre. It looks so simple to do and they are anything but. I think I’ll have to just do the word search and sudoku books first and attempt the really advanced books down the road. I salute your skills.

[@CraigBabin]

I think you're selling yourself short, it just takes time to get the hang of it. That being said, puzzle books are a great place to start.

[@benicio1967]

@@CraigBabin thank you. You really know your craft. Very impressive. ❤️

[@CraigBabin]

@@benicio1967 I appreciate that, thanks.

[@kameleonpublishing]

Best 45 min of my life :D

[@CraigBabin]

You need to get out more! lol

[@manxman300]

Craig. I have been enjoying your videos. Lots of detail, yet easy to follow (even if I have to back up the video from time to time!!). My memory might be off, but it is telling me that in one video you saved final images as CYMK and in this video RGB. If that is true, why the difference. Richard (p.s. also a Canadian !!)

[@CraigBabin]

If you have access to Pantone color swatches in the design software you're using (like Adobe Illustrator), then definitely save out in CMYK, because Pantone colors are as close to RGB as you;re going to get. But in Book Bolt, when you switch over to CMYK, all the software is doing is converting the RGB colors to CMYK and to be honest, KDP can do a better job of that when they print the book. If you haven't yet, watch this video where I discuss this topic in a little more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apPKf4NvhJKHmdUsi=oiAUd9aaprCBXg1V

[@manxman300]

@@CraigBabin thank you for the quick reply

[@bluebellbell3725]

You got a new subcriber:)

[@CraigBabin]

Welcome aboard!

[@teto19777]

Hello Thanks for the video I love it, can't wait to create one. One question once you upload this digital file to Amazon KDP, is the book then sold on amazon as a digital file or will it be sold as a hard copy? Do you have a video on uploading a Amazon KDP and what happens after you upload?

[@CraigBabin]

It will be sold as a physical printed book. I have a video that walks you step by step through the process of uploading your book to KDP here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJK5k4SPaNSqbrs

[@thechetpicker]

Thank you for the tutorial. Can I ask, can you create the spine for the book with bookbolt too?

[@CraigBabin]

Yeah, you just have to rotate the text 90 degrees.

[@tessawestbrook267]

Hi @Craig Babin, are you able to do a video for photopea and the dot to dot image preparation?

[@CraigBabin]

It's the same as in Photoshop. Photopea is just a knock off of Photoshop. The interface is pretty much identical.

[@tessawestbrook267]

Thanks @Craig Babin. Will have a go. Great videos!

[@deewhite0612]

Great video. If only I can be as artistic as you!! Why didn't you use the Duplicate feature instead of Copy and Paste? Is there any particular reason?

[@CraigBabin]

Thanks Dee. I normally use hotkeys for functions like that. I don't in the video, so that my viewers can see what functions I'm using. I'm left handed, so CTRL+C (Copy) and CTRL+V (Paste), only require me to use one hand. CTRL+O (Duplicate), requires me to use both hands on my keyboard, because the keys are so far apart. I use a mini keypad for drawing, so I only have one CTRL key on my keyboard, so I copy and paste for convenience.

[@AutismDrama1]

Hi Craig, I hope you can help me. I watched video on Create Professional Looking Connect the Dot Books for KDP.I’m having a problem with the image opacity. I want to not completely remove the image as having a Dot to Dot book that will have numbers on one side. Is this possible and I’m missing how to do this? Thank you Your videos are so great and your so patient with your teachings.

[@CraigBabin]

I'm not sure if I'm understanding what you're asking. If you only want numbers on one half of the image, then just erase the half of the image where you want the numbers to be.

[@AutismDrama1]

@@CraigBabin On Book Bolt I haven’t been able to erase half with opacity. It fades or erases the whole image. And thank you for responding so quickly.

[@CraigBabin]

@@AutismDrama1 Oh I see, you won't be able to erase the image in Book Bolt, you need to be in a photo editing software like Photoshop. If you don't have access to Photoshop, just use Photopea.com , it's a free knockoff of Photoshop, and you don't have to download it, you can use it right in your browser window.

[@christiancarretto]

One thing I noticed no book bolt tutorials talk about is ... The interior pages, is it on both sides of each page? So for example is 50 puzzles 25 pages ?

[@CraigBabin]

Every page in the Book Bolt Studio represents one side of an actual physical page in a printed book. I address this in this video here: 16:06

[@juliejuly3154]

Hello Craig, thank you very much for the video. Just one question that was tormenting me all the time I was watching you creating the book cover: why did you keep shifting between Photoshop and Book Bolt instead of doing everything in Photoshop? What is so special about Book Bolt (in terms of cover creation) that you can't do in Photoshop?

[@CraigBabin]

You can do it all in Photoshop. What you can't do in Photoshop is layout your book's interior, you need InDesign for that. What you can't do in Photoshop is generate puzzles or research profitable niches like you can in Book Bolt. This video is for people who can't afford Adobe software and who want all of the benefits that Book Bolt offers as well. Unfortunately, Book Bolt studio is still developing, so it may be another year before you are able to do in Book Bolt, those things I did in Photoshop. So for now, there are a few tasks that still need to be done in Photoshop or Photopea. But once Book Bolt updates it's software to be able to do all of those things, as far as self publishing low and medium content books is concerned, Book Bolt will be a far better option for creating books than Adobe software will be. And that's simply because of the Puzzle Generator and the Research aspect, as well as the fact that the Book Bolt Studio is designed specifically for desktop book publishing. Adobe software will always be able to do a lot more in the way of graphic design and publishing other forms of print media, but if you're only interested in publishing low and medium content books, then you don't need to be able to do any of that extra stuff, so there's no reason to pay the extra money. Book Bolt has pretty much everything you need to succeed in self publishing, from both the creation and marketing stand point. I still use Photoshop and InDesign to create my books, but I also use Book Bolt for the research and puzzle generator. I'm simply trying to show people who can't afford both software, how to do everything in Book Bolt. Book Bolt is simply a cheaper all-in-one alternative to the higher priced Adobe software, that also has everything you need for one particular task. Hopefully that answers your question.

[@juliejuly3154]

@@CraigBabin Thank you very much, now I get it!

[@adriansnyder6013]

I can not seem to find the dot to dot on my book bolt studio. I am also having trouble deleting a page that I don't need. Any ideas?

[@CraigBabin]

Make sure that the image you are putting the dots on is selected on your page, the dot generator is located in the tool bar directly above the art board, it looks like a letter "N", just click on it. When deleting pages, make sure that the page you want to delete is not the page that's loaded onto your art board. In other words, if you want to delete "page 4", then select "page 5" in the left hand menu and make sure that it's loaded on to your art board. Then go back to the left hand menu and "right" click on "page 4" (do not select it) and choose delete page.

[@adriansnyder6013]

@@CraigBabin You are my hero. Worked perfectly. Your directions were so much better than the help desk. Thank you!

[@CraigBabin]

@@adriansnyder6013 You're welcome, glad I could help Adrian.

[@jbello9398]

Are these price percentage discount for life? Just curious

[@CraigBabin]

If you're talking about the yearly Creative Fabrica deal, then yes, it will renew at the same rate.

[@pjayis]

what is the %20 off price code to use

[@CraigBabin]

craigbabin

[@l.phipps5478]

This is way too complicated for me; however, your cover looks amazing.

[@CraigBabin]

It's really not as complicated as it looks. I'm actually just repeating the same steps over and over throughout the entire video. I don't think you give yourself enough credit ... you can do it!

[@l.phipps5478]

@@CraigBabin Thanks for your encouragement. I will re-watch the video and give it a try.

[@mrc7593]

I watch the video through quickly once, without pausing, to get an overview of the content. I then watch it again (and again) pausing the video at specific points to think about what is being done and to work it out for myself. I’m on my third run as I speak. People, this is the way to do it, it’s so simple. Just need a little patience and logic!

[@CraigBabin]

@@mrc7593 I couldn't have said it better myself Mr C!

[@pjayis]

i tried using your name on BookBolt and it said it was not accepted

[@CraigBabin]

Are you sure you spelled it right, lowercase with no spaces? "craigbabin" And you're putting it in where it asks for the promo code, correct? It should be working, I just received 3 new commissions in the last 2 hours. Let me know if it still doesn't work.

[@patriciagoertzen8857]

Much to complicated; is there a step by step by step manual with pics on how to use for dot to dot from a pic that I supply?

[@CraigBabin]

No, I only have my videos.

[@minhazulfiqar4477]

oj

[@CraigBabin]

???