# Uploading and colorizing your own line art or illustrations

> Upload your own illustrations or colorize black-and-white sketches and manga line art on BookZeta while keeping your exact image dimensions and original file.

- **Category:** [Visual Tools (Graphic & Cover)](https://bookzeta.ai/help-center/visual-tools)
- **Canonical URL:** https://bookzeta.ai/help-center/visual-tools/colorizing-and-uploading-your-own-art
- **Last Updated:** 2026-11-12

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You do not have to rely exclusively on generated artwork in BookZeta. You can upload your own drawings, photographs, character portraits, or black-and-white manga and comic pages, place them into chapters or canvas panels, and—if you start from pencils or inks—let BookZeta **ink and colorize** your line art while keeping your exact composition and dimensions.

## Uploading your own artwork

You can bring external art into three places across the studio:

1. **Graphic Mode pages & Writer Mode chapters.** Use the **Upload Image** button in the image panel to attach a `JPG`, `PNG`, or `WebP` file (up to 10 MB; oversized files above `3300 x 3300 px` are automatically scaled down cleanly). In [Graphic Mode](/help-center/visual-tools/graphic-mode-tour), drop the uploaded image onto any panel or full-page layer. In Writer Mode, insert it inline just like [in-chapter images](/help-center/writing-tools/generating-in-chapter-images).
2. **Character portraits & setting references.** Inside a project's Assets panel or the [Series Bible](/help-center/series-continuity/creating-characters-settings-entities), upload your own character portrait or reference art so you keep full control over how your cast looks.
3. **Covers.** Upload custom illustration or photography directly onto the front, spine, or back wrap inside the [Cover Editor](/help-center/visual-tools/cover-editor).

Uploading, positioning, cropping, and exporting your own images costs **zero [Creation Points](/help-center/getting-started/understanding-creation-points)**.

## AI colorizing for sketches and clean line art

If you draw your own comic panels, children's book sketches, or manga line work and want help finishing the colour pass, select an uploaded image in your project's image library and choose **Colorize**.

BookZeta offers two modes depending on how finished your drawing is:

- **Sketch (`Inked & Colorized`)** — Best for rough pencil drawings, storyboards, or loose digital sketches. The model tightens the linework into clean inks and applies full colour and shading.
- **Clean Line Art (`Colorized`)** — Best for finished black-and-white inks or manga pages. Preserves your crisp line weights and expressions while laying in colour, lighting, and background tones.

## What happens to your original file

- **Your original upload is never overwritten.** Colorizing saves a brand-new PNG alongside your source image (labelled `[Colorized]` or `[Inked & Colorized]`), so you can compare both versions or try again.
- **Exact pixel dimensions are preserved.** BookZeta matches the closest aspect ratio during generation and outputs the finished image at the exact width and height of your uploaded source file, so it drops into the same panel without shifting your layout.
- **Point cost and automatic refunds.** Colorizing costs the same Creation Points as generating a single studio image (shown before you confirm). If an upstream error prevents the colour pass from finishing, the points are refunded automatically.

## Tips for cleaner colour passes

- **Scan or export at high contrast.** If you draw on paper, photograph or scan in even lighting so white paper reads white rather than muddy grey before choosing **Sketch** or **Clean**.
- **Close major gaps in line art** if you want crisp colour boundaries between clothing, hair, and background.
- **Add lettering after colorizing.** Always upload unlettered art first, run **Colorize**, and place your dialogue on top using BookZeta's [speech bubbles and panel templates](/help-center/visual-tools/speech-bubbles-and-panels) so text stays razor-sharp at 300 DPI.