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

The video tutorial begins with the host, Craig, introducing the project of creating a professionally designed children's activity book using Bookbolt Studio. He emphasizes the utility of the platform for individuals who find drawing or graphic design challenging. Craig also discusses his affiliation with Bookboat, highlighting its research tool for profitable niches and the Bookbolt Studio's capabilities for designing low-content books. The video is promoted as a solution for creating books with only three downloads from Creative Fabrica.

Craig informs viewers about the Black Friday sale for Bookbolt, offering a six-month Pro subscription at a significantly reduced price. He provides a promo code for additional savings and mentions a similar offer for Creative Fabrica, where a one-year subscription is available at a discounted rate. These offers are time-sensitive, and Craig provides links and promo codes in the video description for interested viewers.

The host demonstrates how to prepare coloring pages for use in the Bookbolt Studio's dot generator. Using Photoshop (with Photopea as an alternative), he guides viewers through removing white backgrounds and converting line art to pure black. The process involves unlocking layers, using the magic wand tool, and adjusting color settings. The prepared images are then exported as PNG files for use in Bookbolt.

Craig walks viewers through setting up a new project in Bookbolt Studio, including choosing the book's trim size, paper type, and page count. He details his personal preference for the book's initial pages, such as the cover page, copyright page, and author promotion. The host then shows how to import prepared images and use the connect-the-dots feature, adjusting dot and font sizes and placing dots strategically.

The video continues with Craig showing how to add various activities to the book, such as a practice template for printing. He creates a grid, uses text tools to make lines, and aligns them with a specific font. Craig also discusses the importance of keeping the book's even pages consistent for writing activities and provides tips for customizing and saving the work in Bookbolt Studio.

Craig explains how to design the book's cover by importing illustrations and creating a solid background color. He discusses the importance of contrast and choosing the right colors for the cover. The host also covers how to add a subtle floral pattern to the background and import an interior image sample to the cover. He emphasizes the need for simplicity in cover design to avoid overwhelming the viewer.

The host demonstrates how to manually create drop shadow effects for images in Bookbolt Studio, as the software does not support this feature natively. Craig also shows how to add characters to the cover and position them correctly. He discusses the use of blend modes and opacity adjustments to achieve the desired visual effects. The video concludes with Craig adding paw print shapes and other details to enhance the cover's background.

Craig wraps up the video by detailing the final steps to complete the book cover. He adds paw print shapes with varying sizes and opacities for a subtle background effect. The host then exports the cover to PDF and further enhances it in Photoshop by adjusting saturation and adding color Dodge ellipses for depth. Finally, Craig shows how to export the project from Bookbolt Studio as separate PDFs for the cover and interior, ready for uploading to KDP.