Your coloring supplies can make or break your coloring experience. The right tools transform a beautiful design into a stunning finished piece — while the wrong ones leave you frustrated with bleeding ink, broken tips, and muddy colors. Here's your complete guide to choosing the best coloring supplies for every budget and skill level.
Colored Pencils
The most versatile and beginner-friendly option. Colored pencils offer excellent control, easy blending, and virtually no risk of bleeding through your page.
Budget picks (under $20)
- Prismacolor Scholar: Smooth, soft leads with good color payoff for the price
- Faber-Castell Classic: Reliable German quality, widely available
Professional picks
- Prismacolor Premier: The gold standard for colored pencil coloring. Soft, creamy leads blend beautifully.
- Faber-Castell Polychromos: Oil-based leads that are lightfast and extremely smooth
- Caran d'Ache Luminance: Premium Swiss pencils beloved by professional artists
💡 Blending tip: Layer colors from light to dark, then blend with a colorless blender pencil or by burnishing (pressing firmly with the lighter color on top).
Alcohol Markers
Alcohol markers produce vibrant, professional-looking results with smooth, even coverage. The catch: they bleed through standard paper, so always use cardstock or marker paper.
Budget picks
- Ohuhu markers: Excellent value, dual-tip (brush + chisel), highly recommended for beginners wanting marker results
- Arteza alcohol markers: Good color range at accessible prices
Professional picks
- Copic Sketch: The industry standard. Refillable, replaceable nibs, unmatched blending
- Prismacolor markers: Great for bold, vibrant fills
Gel Pens
Gel pens are perfect for adding fine details, outlines, and — most importantly — white highlights. A white gel pen is an essential tool for any serious colorist.
- Sakura Gelly Roll: The most popular white gel pen. Opaque, smooth, reliable.
- Pentel Hybrid Technica: Excellent for fine linework and detail
- Staedtler Triplus Fineliner: Great for adding intricate detail work
What Works Best for Our Coloring Books?
Our 300 DPI PDF coloring books are compatible with all media when printed on the right paper:
- Colored pencils: Works on any paper weight
- Alcohol markers: Use 80+ lb cardstock to prevent bleeding
- Watercolor pencils: Use watercolor paper or heavy cardstock
- Gel pens: Works on any paper weight
Get Pages Worth Coloring
Our 300 DPI coloring books look stunning with any medium. Instant download, print on your preferred paper.
Browse Collections →