Have you downloaded our free greeting card templates to make your own greeting cards but not sure how to use them? In that case read on and we’ll explain how to use these free greeting card templates in Procreate and other applications to make your own custom greeting cards.
What are Greeting Card Templates?
Greeting card templates are simply templates which are exactly the right size to make greeting cards and which show the lines you should cut around after printing the file and also the line you should fold along to compile the card.
Templates are useful as it saves calculating the size you need, particularly when working on smaller devices where this sort of thing can be a little fiddly.
The template forms the guides for you to create your design in. If you are using an application which supports layers (ie Procreate, Affinity Designer/Photo – in fact most graphics packages support layers), you can use our files and create your design under our template and then reduce the opacity of the template when printing so you don’t get dark lines around your card.
Unzip the folder and you will find four different formats:
Multiple Layers
For your convenience, I have created the files in each format (except PNG) with multiple layers you can switch on and off as required.
This will depend, of course on your project, however if you create a design which fits exactly within the template, you may choose to switch off the cutting line as you don’t need it and just keep the folding line (however I recomend reducing the opacity).
If you are creating a minimalist card, try turning down the opacity of the cutting outline as far as it will go so you don’t need to worry about dark lines around your card. ALSO, switch off the folding line as you will see there is a further layer with two tiny marks which you can use to fold which don’t go across the entire card.
You will see that each layer is clearly marked in the layer panel.
Tips for Using Templates to Make Greeting Cards
When you print your finished card, print it on as good quality paper or cardstock as possible. Normal office print paper is too thin and will give poor results.
Consider the cost of printing if you are printing a lot of fully colored cards. You can create great looking cards with simple black and white designs with just tiny pops of color.
Don’t be afraid to add a scrapbook embellishment or two to your finished card. A couple of stick on jewels or a sticker can add a pleasing finish to the card.
Remember to check which way up to put your design! If in doubt, mock it up first on a piece of scrap paper.
If you don’t know where to start, try using one of our coloring pages to make your cards. Our digital coloring pages can be colored directly in your graphics package making this a super-quick way to get started!
This red watercolor heart embellishment is free for you to download and use to create romantic and Valentine’s Day projects. Use the heart to make handmade cards, to add to digital scrapbook projects or planner pages, make invitations – and so much more!
For your convenience you will find both PDF and PNG files in the download. These can be used in most graphics software and the PDF file is print ready should you want to print it ‘as is’. The files are 300 dpi in size, which will give you great quality prints for cards and posters.
If you like this style, but would prefer an illustration in landscape, we have a watercolor heart in landscape format HERE.
If you are not sure how to use this heart, why not make a Valentine or romantic themed poster? We have a tutorial HERE which shows you how using free software!
This cute free Valentine’s Day graphic includes a little creature with a heart – perfect for making handmade cards, posters and other projects. Why not print the graphic and add it to a frame to make a quick and easy (and low-cost) Valentine’s Day Gift 🙂
I have added two versions to the download file. You will find the large Valentine’s Day graphic is 3000px square, which will give you excellent quality prints, even at larger sizes. I have also included a smaller 1024px file which I have optimized for digital use. The files are saved in PNG formats to give you the best possible quality to work with.
If you want to use this graphic to create a poster. we have a tutorial HERE which shows you how using free software or add it to a our free greeting card template to create a quick handmade card.
Free SVG cutting files! This free ‘Best People Are Born in March’ month header cutting file is yours to download and cut using your Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine. This free cutting file is perfect for birthday gifts or to make a header for a planner. Use this free svg file to make cards, signs and t-shirts for a loved one.
All our cutting files contain the following formats:
SVG
DXF
EPS
PNG
These free cutting files are ready for you to download and use in your cutting machine or for other crafts.
Looking for more free SVG cutting files? We have a lot more for you, just click below to find our complete collection.
We have a variety of cutting files available to cover a whole range of occasions and celebrations. If you would like to make a suggestion for new designs, you are very welcome to leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to sign up to our free printables newsletter! Be the first to know of new freebies and other fun things! SIGN UP HERE 🙂
When you use our free color palette generator to create your own custom color swatches for Procreate, it’s super easy to download them and add them to Procreate.
Choose the photo or image you want to use, select the number of swatches you desire and then give the swatch a name and click ‘download’.
Upload The File To Procreate
When you have downloaded the file, it’s simple to just add the file to Procreate.
Tip: If you have saved the swatch file to your desktop instead of your iPad, you will need to upload the file to your iPad. Either add it to your iCloud files, email it to yourself or save it to the cloud to retrieve from you iPad.
Then just go to where you saved the file on your iPad and tap on the swatch file you have just created. It will then automatically be added to Procreate and you will see the swatches in the color palette menu 🙂
Get ready to unleash your creativity with our ‘2023 Year of Coloring’ project! Each week, we’ll be sharing a new and exciting free coloring page that you can download and color to your heart’s content. Whether you prefer digital coloring in apps like Procreate or traditional coloring with your favorite media, we’ve got you covered.
To make the most of your coloring experience, here are some tips:
Digital coloring: Experiment with different brushes and textures to add depth and interest to your image
Traditional coloring: Use light and dark shading to create depth and dimension
For both digital and traditional coloring: Don’t be afraid to mix and match colors to find the perfect palette for your image
Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know when new pages are published, and feel free to share with friends and family. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of color and creativity!
Tag us at @makebreaks on Instagram to share your finished results 🙂
Here’s a cute little monster digital coloring page for you to download. This funny monster coloring page features a creature with a cupcake and a cherry on his head 🙂
If you are not familiar with digital coloring pages – these are pages I have designed specially for use in apps such as Procreate and Affinity Designer/Photo as well as desktop apps such as Photoshop. Plus they can be used in free graphics apps like Medibang, Ibis Paint and the fantastic Photopea which is a free application you can use in your browser (nothing to download!).
If you are new to digital coloring, you will find a video walkthrough below and a tutorial HERE.
In short, a digital coloring page is a file I have created with a transparent background. There is no opaque white on the page as you would find in a traditional coloring page. This means you can use it in a package like Procreate and use layers to color UNDER the design. Many of these pages have transparent shading so they are super-easy to use and to get great results!
High Resolution Files
However, unlike many other digital products which are created with lower resolution for digital use, I have created these as high resolution files at 3000 x 3000 px, which means you will get high quality prints even at larger sizes (print 10″ x 10″ at 300dpi or 20″ x 20″ at 150dpi).
I would LOVE IT if you tag me on Instagram or your favourite social media site if you use these pages #makebreaks #digitalcoloring 😀
If you would like me to share your finished artwork on the site or social media, you are very welcome to send me a finished copy of your project (you are welcome to watermark it). Send it to kate@makebreaks.com with any info about how you would like me to credit your work and website or social media links.
Want to know when new free coloring pages are added? Be the first to know of new freebies and other fun things! SIGN UP HERE 🙂
Have you seen our free digital coloring pages and want to give digital coloring a go, but not sure how? In this tutorial we’ll walk you through how to use our free coloring pages in apps such as Procreate, Affinity Photo/Designer, Photoshop or any of the plethora of free graphics apps for ipads and tablets as well as desktop devices.
What’s a Digital Coloring Page?
Let’s start by looking at what we mean by digital coloring pages. Our digital coloring pages have been designed specifically for coloring in an app such as Procreate. While you can, of course, print the coloring pages and color them using pens or pencils, we have created these pages for digital use.
Our digital coloring pages have been saved as transparent PNG files. This means that everything that would be white is transparent. This won’t make any difference at all when printing a page, but it makes a HUGE difference when coloring using an app. Having transparency in the page means you can use all sorts of exciting coloring techniques which would be impossible using a black and white jpg file.
In the image below, we can see how the opaque white that we’d see in a JPG file obscures the pink squiggle we can see on the transparent PNG on the right.
In this example, the jpg file with no transparency is on the left and the png file with transparency is on the right. Note how when I drew a pink squiggle under the coloring page, it’s visible on the png side because there is no opaque white obscuring it.
High Resolution Images
Although our files are designed for digital use, we are providing HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES to allow you to print the final colored version. Often, when images are designed for digital use, this means low resolution or small files – however our files are 3000 x 3000px which will give you great quality prints even at larger sizes.
This gives LOTS of room for trying different techniques and coloring styles. We can also use blending modes to get different effects – but don’t worry about that now, that’s something we’ll dive into later 🙂
How to Use Our Free Digital Coloring Pages
Our digital coloring pages can be used in any app or program which allows you to upload your own files and which uses LAYERS. The ability to use layers is hugely important and all the main drawing, image editing and digital painting, both free and paid for, include layers. This includes packages such as Procreate, Affinity Designer/Photo, Photoshop, Clip Studio – and free apps including Photopea (excellent broswer based app), Ibis paint, Medibang etc.
Upload the Coloring Page
To upload the coloring page you will first need to download it from our website, then unzip the file. Go to the graphics application of your choice and upload the file as you would any other image. I will be publishing detailed tutorials in the future showing how to do this using the main apps detailed above.
Add a New Layer UNDERNEATH
After opening the coloring page in the app, create a new layer UNDERNEATH the coloring page. You may find the app creates a new layer on top, if so, simply drag it underneath so the coloring page is the top layer.
Now start coloring! However, if this is the first time you have used a digital coloring page, do a experiment and see how it works.
Use any brush and quickly color a patch on the new layer – this will show you how the end result is going to look. You will see the transparency does a lot of the shading work for you (however, there’s still the opportunity to add more!). The color you have added UNDER the coloring page layer is affected by the shading in the coloring page.
Some of our coloring pages have more shading than others to allow you to experiment with different techniques.
Change the Background Color
I always change the background color before I start. Any color will do – the main purpose of this is so I can see if I’ve missed anything. If the app you are using doesn’t allow you to change the background color, draw a colored block and drag that to the bottom of the layers.
Block in the Shapes
I block in the shape of the different elements of the coloring page on different layers. As you will see in layer panel on the right in the image below, I have a different layer for the body, hair, horns, eyes etc. Each single element is on its own layer. This means I can quickly change the color or add patterns or texture with ease.
Is There An Easy Way to Block in the Shapes when digital coloring?
Well, the not particularly helpful answer is ‘it depends’! In the image above, you will see there are no strong black outlines, and therefore it is impossible to flood fill as you would a coloring page with solid black lines. To block out the shapes in the image above, I use a big brush to cover the whole shape I want to detail, and then use the fine eraser brush to remove any color from outside the lines. This is more time consuming, but it’s not too onerous and the effect we get from the shading and less strong lines – for me – is worth it.
With our digital coloring pages with strong outlines completely enclosing the shape the process is quicker. The alien below, for example, has strong lines outlining the shape, therefore it would be easy to block the shape on this one by using the magic wand tool to select the transparent pixels outside the shape and then invert the selection (don’t worry if this doesn’t make sense, we’ll be covering all of this in further tutorials).
However even with images like the alien below, I would split the elements onto different layers ie have the head, eyes and body on different layers.
Finishing Your Coloring Page
How you go on and develop your coloring page is up to you! You may be happy with how it looks with just the blocks of color – however, if you want to get more creative and customize the page more, how about adding shading or patterns.
The left image below is just color blocks with no additional shading. The image on the right I added shading to the image to give it some extra depth.
left: just flat color, no additional shading – right: additional shading to highlight features
Try using different brush effects – or even use other images to create completely unique effects!
In the image below, I filled the layers with the different shapes with other images to create this look.
Filling the layers with other images or patterns gives a whole new effect
The key thing is to experiment and have fun. There are no rights and wrongs when it comes to digital coloring – and the great thing is, if you don’t like it, you can easily paint over a layer or change the color.
More Tutorials Coming Soon!
We’ll be adding to our digital coloring tutorials, come back soon to see what we have for you 🙂
Before you go…
I would LOVE IT if you tag me on Instagram or your favourite social media site if you use these pages #makebreaks #digitalcoloring 😀
If you would like me to share your finished artwork on the site or social media, you are very welcome to send me a finished copy of your project (you are welcome to watermark it). Send it to kate@makebreaks.com with any info about how you would like me to credit your work and website or social media links.
More FREE Digital Coloring Pages
Don’t forget to check out our growing list of free digital coloring pages. You’ll find them HERE!
This free Valentine’s Day coloring page is ideal for making handmade Valentine’s Day cards, to create wall art as a gift or to make decorations for a special meal.
These coloring pages will print on letter or A4 paper. This is a square image high-resolution image which will give you superb results when printed. Print onto good quality paper for best results. This is a detailed coloring page which is perfect for wall art, greeting cards or just for fun. It would also make a great gift when colored for a loved one or special friend. If you do color this page give us a shout out on Instagram @makebreaks 🙂
Want to know when new free coloring pages are added? Be the first to know of new freebies and other fun things! SIGN UP HERE 🙂
If you are looking for free printable letters to add to your scrapbook pages, handmade cards and other craft projects, we hope you’ll enjoy the printable alphabets, letters and other goodies we have here for you! Printable letter templates are so useful, they are perfect for customizing or personalizing project, and are ideal for making banners, spelling out words and much more!
Free Printable Letters for Crafts & Classroom
We have a selection of free printable letters here you which are free for you to download.
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This is a growing list, so don’t forget to bookmark the page and come back to see what else we have for you. If you don’t have time to go through the list above, here’s a few of our favourites:
Free Printable Large Letters – This set of printable letters has been designed for crafters. The edges of the letters are straight and easy to cut out from paper or cardstock by hand. These letters are zipped together in a single file so you can download them all at the touch of a button. These free printable letters are save in a high resolution file format which means they will print at large sizes without any loss of quality.
Free Printable RED Glitter Letters– If you love glitter but hate the mess then this free printable glitter alphabet is just the thing. You’ll find all the letters in this pack including the Spanish Ñ. The bright red color makes this letter set perfect for festive crafts as well as for romantic occasions such as Valentine’s Day. These are large files (glitter takes up a lot of digital space :), however you’ll find all the letters zipped together for you to download and enjoy.
Free Printable Letters to Color – If you love coloring do check out this set of printable letters. You’ll find the whole alphabet with a pattern to color and this is perfect for coloring fans 🙂 If you want to make a custom card for someone, why not add one of these letters to color to the front of a card and color it to create your own unique effect?
Free Printable Glitter Letters – Here’s another set of printable glitter letters for you. This set is a light gold in color and is idea for occasions such as weddings, golden wedding anniversaries and more!
How to Use Your Free Printable Alphabets
Here are some ideas for using your free printable alphabet sets!
Make name or word bunting by printing out the relevant letters onto colored or decorative paper. Cut the letters from the paper and adhere them to bunting made from a coordinating color paper or cardstock. Change the colors used to create bunting for different occasions.
Make fabric bunting. You can make fabric bunting the same as you would make paper bunting, but with the added benefit that it will be long lasting, so you could make a set of bunting and use it over and over again. Use the letter shapes as a template to cut from fabric to make bunting.
Make custom handmade cards. Print a letter and adhere it to the front of a card. The glitter letters and the coloring alphabet are particularly good for this.
Make stencils. Instead of using the letters as a template to cut out, you could also use them as a stencil. Cut the letter from the paper and use the ‘hole’ as a stencil to stencil words and letters onto walls and other large, flat surfaces.
We hope you enjoy these free printable alphabets and letters. New sets will be added frequently – and if you have a suggestion for a new set do leave a comment. We love to hear from you 🙂
