The world of children’s illustration is becoming increasingly thrilling with each passing year. Thanks to advanced technology, new design trends, and intelligent software tools, artists can now bring their fairy tales to life much more quickly and beautifully than in the past. If you are about to open your very first sketchbook or simply want to improve the way you design and illustrate your masterpieces, the right software is the thing that makes the greatest difference. To be a professional children’s book illustrator means knowing how to use the right tools.

Thus, before going to find a children’s book illustrator, let’s discuss the latest tools of 2025 that professional illustrators and beginners worldwide are using.

Importance of Tools for Children’s Book Illustrators

Tools can significantly influence the entire process of creating an illustration, from drawing your initial sketch to the final publication of your work. With the right tools, children are certainly going to be amazed by the clean line art, soft watercolor, bold facial expressions, or colorful worlds created.

However, with advances in technology, artists can benefit from faster, more intuitive, and surprisingly affordable tools. Most of the hot tools of 2025 come with interfaces that are friendly to beginners, easy to learn, and offer exclusive functionalities for experts. Getting updated will help artists work smarter, create new styles, and create high-quality illustrations that publishers and families adore.

Whether you like to paint with traditional watercolors or use digital painting, there are unlimited avenues for you to become an illustrator for children’s books.

Top 7 Tools Children’s Book Illustrators Must Be Aware of

Here are the seven most popular tools that were contributing to the creativity of illustrations for children’s books in the year 2025, and each one has its own special feature to assist you with developing your own artwork.

1. Pro

Procreate remains king in the world of illustrations thanks to its fabulous and simple design. It is an iPad painting app that lets artists paint wherever they are: on a couch, in a café, or on a plane.

Why is it popular in 2025?

• The smooth brush engine with thousands of custom brushes
• Easy to layer, mask, and color-adjust
• Animation Assistant for simple motion graphics
• Perfect for beginners and professionals alike

Why do illustrators of children’s books love it?

While Procreate certainly makes character sketches, color schemes, and even palette experimentation quite effortless, it is also quite portable, allowing artists to work on their tales at their convenience.

2. Adobe Fresco

Adobe Fresco is known for its realistic brush simulation. Every live brush, whether watercolor or oil, behaves just like its real-life counterpart. This has solidified Adobe Fresco as a favorite among artists who appreciate just a hint of realism in their work.

Key Features

• Realistic live brushes
• Smooth Raster + vector graphics support
• Cloud synchronization between devices

Why is it useful?

Children’s book illustrators tend to use soft, expressive brush strokes alongside strong lines. Adobe Fresco brings together the best of both worlds in one app. It is extremely easy to use and is great for those who have been working traditionally and are looking to move to digital.

3. Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint is one of the favorite applications of artists who enjoy detailed lines, expressive characters, and a comic look. Artists often use this application to produce clean outlines and textures that would fascinate a younger audience.

Why It’s Trending?

• Excellence in pressure sensitivity
• Customizable brushes
• Tools suited for layer work, such as comic illustrations and picture books
• The layers
• Natural pen experience for tablets

Why Illustrators Choose It?

Clip Studio Paint is one of those tools that helps artists craft intricate characters, smooth poses, and facial expressions that are so important in children’s books. The comic functions also assist artists involved in graphic novels or other forms of storytelling.

4. Affinity Designer

However, this software package has advanced to the point of becoming a serious rival to Adobe Illustrator in advanced vector processing, without the costly subscription fees.

What Makes It Stand Out?

• One-time purchase
• Smooth vector editing
• Pixel + vector modes
• High speeds

Why It Helps Illustrators?

Vector illustrations will remain sharp and distinct regardless of print size, whether small or blown up to poster size. Affinity Designer will help children’s book illustrator create clean shapes and lines, vibrant scenes, and artwork that can be modified.

6. Canva Pro

Canva Pro has, yes, surprisingly been very well-liked by children’s book illustrators, not for drawing there, but for creating layouts and mock-ups.

Why It’s Trending?

• User Interface: Browser Interface with Easy Drag-and-Drop Feature
• Templates for book covers and advertising material
• Joint efforts of authors, designers, and publication houses

Why is it useful?

Illustrators might need to produce sample pages, promotional images, and other design concepts to help artists quickly conceptualize. Canva Pro ensures this process becomes incredibly easy, even for new users. Many self-published novel writers even partner with an illustrator for feedback through Canva.

7. Adobe Photoshop

It remains one of the best-kept secrets among professional illustrators. It is unparalleled in 2025 for essential editing and intricate graphic manipulation.

Key Features

• Final Editing
• Color correction
• Adding Textures
• Preparing Files for Printing

Importance of Adobe Photoshop

It also helps enhance the artwork, ensuring each page prints sharply and well-balanced. Its flexibility has continued to make it a common part of many illustrators’ workflows.

8. Traditional Media: Watercolor, Colored Pencils

Even in contemporary times, many illustrators for children’s books are found to work with more traditional media. Watercolors, markers, and colored pencils convey a softness and an organic quality.

Why They’re Still Beloved?

• Textures that were unusual and could not be replicated by digital brushes.
• Hand-drawn warmth appeals to young readers
• Capabilities of mixing traditional art and digital image editing

Most of them feature a watercolor background and computer-generated characters, creating a fascinating blend of tradition and technology.

Tips While Choosing the Right Tools

Always test the free trials or demo copies of software before spending money on costly software. Identify the software that matches your style: soft painterly brush strokes, strongly vector graphics, or textured pencil marks. Always be equipped with a blend of traditional and digital software.

How Deveo Studio Helps Children’s Book Illustrators?

At Deveo Studio, beautifully drawn, hand-crafted illustrations come alive in children’s stories. We have a team of professional, highly skilled children’s book illustrators who work in close coordination with our editors, designers, and publishing experts at Deveo Studio to develop phenomenal children’s books.

We assist artists and authors with every detail: from characters to inside illustrations, cover art, text formatting, and finally, print resolutions. If you are in the wish to find a children’s book illustrator, Deveo Studio offers ample support and learning through a rich community of creative individuals!