Color by Number for Adults

1. Print page 1 of the PDF at 100% (“actual size”). The colors and their names are listed under the picture, so a black and white printer works too.
2. Gather your colors. Colored pencils, crayons or felt-tip pens all work. If you do not have the exact shade, any similar color is fine.
3. Color one number at a time. Fill every 1, then every 2, and so on. It is quicker than hunting for each color and the picture appears gradually.
4. Check with page 2, which shows the finished picture in color.

Press Color online under any picture. The colors appear as numbered circles: pick a number and every space with that number is softly highlighted, so they are easy to find. Tap a space to fill it. If you tap a space with a different number, nothing is lost: the hint tells you which number it needs. Undo takes back the last fill, Save picture keeps your finished page on your device, and when every numbered space is colored, a small celebration appears. It works on computers, tablets and phones, with nothing to install and no sign-up.

• Work light to dark. Start with the palest numbers, so darker colors never smudge into them.
• Keep the key close. Lay a strip of each color next to its number on the legend before you begin.
• Blend if you like. Two layers of colored pencil, or a light and a dark shade in the same space, add depth that the plain color cannot.
• Leave the white spaces white. Tiny spaces without a number are part of the design; they keep the colors around them crisp.

The mandala and geometric pages here use clear numbers with the color names printed beneath every picture. For bigger spaces and fewer colors, the easy color by number mandalas are a comfortable choice, and online coloring lets you tap a whole space at once and zoom in as far as you need.