Plenty of Room

Plenty of Room is a printable coloring book of 60 bold, easy pictures for grown-ups: thick black lines, big spaces, and calm everyday subjects. It was made for anyone who finds ordinary coloring books too small or too busy: if your eyes tire, if your hands are less steady than they were, if you are new to coloring, or if you simply want something restful you can finish in an afternoon. Nothing in it is babyish, and nothing is fiddly.

You print the pages yourself, on your own paper, one picture to a sheet with nothing on the back. US Letter and A4 are both in the download.

The 60 pictures, in six chapters

• The Kitchen Table (1 to 10): tea for two, a fresh loaf, the fruit bowl, baking day, jam jars, morning coffee, apple pie, kettle on, a boiled egg, birthday cake.
• In the Garden (11 to 20): a robin on the fork, the watering can, sunflowers, geraniums on the step, a harvest barrow, a seat in the shade, tulips, the birdbath, apples on the branch, the garden shed.
• Home Comforts (21 to 30): the reading chair, a cat on a cushion, the knitting basket, the mantelpiece clock, the old radio, the sewing machine, a front door, slippers on the rug, the record player, the window sill.
• Out and About (31 to 40): a bicycle with a basket, a Sunday drive, the park bench, market day, a rainy day, a hot air balloon, the steam train, a picnic, ice cream, a table for two.
• By the Sea (41 to 50): the lighthouse, under sail, beach huts, a deckchair, seashells, two fish, the rowing boat, a seagull on a post, a sandcastle, the harbor.
• Animals and Birds (51 to 60): a dog in its basket, the hen, a cow in the meadow, a horse by the fence, the sheep, a rabbit in the grass, the owl, a butterfly, the goldfish bowl, a swan on the lake.

What makes the pictures easy

• Measured, not just promised. Every picture was measured after it was finished. Lines are at least 1.6 mm thick and most are 2 to 3.5 mm. No space is smaller than 4 mm across. Pure black on white: no grey, no shading, no tiny detail.
• A level under every picture. One, two or three dots, with the number of shapes to color, so you can choose a picture to suit the day, the light and your hands. Level 1 has up to 15 shapes (29 pictures), level 2 has 16 to 35 (24 pictures), level 3 has more than 35 (7 pictures, the longest being the sunflowers at 79).
• One line to talk about. Under each picture is one easy question ("How do you take your tea?", "What was the first car you remember?") for anyone coloring beside a parent, a grandparent or someone they care for. Nothing on a picture page mentions age, health or memory.
• Grown-up subjects. Teapots, gardens, radios, lighthouses and farm animals, drawn plainly, not cute cartoons.

The help pages at the front (9 pages)

• How to use this book: choose, print, color, keep. The picture fits a standard 8 x 10 inch frame once the sheet is trimmed.
• Three levels: the three levels side by side, and how the shapes were counted.
• Printing your pages: the three printer settings that matter, which paper suits pencils, felt-tips and markers, and how to have a picture printed larger at a copy shop.
• Pens, pencils and easy hands: felt-tips, pencils and crayons compared, and four ways to make coloring kinder on stiff or tired hands.
• Choosing colors: the same lighthouse colored three ways, why light-beside-dark reads best for tired eyes, and two six-pen starter sets.
• Light and comfort: where to put the lamp (on the side opposite your coloring hand) and how to sit.
• Coloring together: six short notes for family and carers, drawn from the Alzheimer's Association's advice on art at home.
• A pen test page: try each pen on your paper and check for ink coming through, plus a solid-black bar to check your printer.

At the back: every picture listed by level, simplest first, and a page saying where the advice comes from.

Why a printable

In a bound coloring book the paper is thin and there is another picture on the back, so markers soak through and spoil it, and the book will not lie flat on a lap. Here every picture has a sheet to itself, you choose the paper, and if a page goes wrong, or you love it, you print it again.

What you download (4 PDF files)

• The whole book, 79 pages, for US Letter (8.5 x 11 in) and for A4 (210 x 297 mm): cover, help pages, all 60 pictures, the test page and the list by level.
• Pictures only, 61 pages, for US Letter and for A4: just the 60 pictures and the test page. In this file picture 12 is page 12, which makes printing one picture easy.

Open the pair that matches your paper. You do not have to choose when you buy.

Good to know

• This is a digital download. Nothing is posted to you, and you need a printer or a print shop.
• The pictures print in black only. The help pages at the front are in color and read well on a screen.
• For personal use: print as many copies as you like for yourself and the people you live with or care for. Please do not share or resell the files.