The AI-free promise
Every page, drawn by a real human.
When you see the AI-free badge on a book, it means we’ve verified that the artwork was hand-drawn by a real illustrator — never generated by AI. Here’s exactly how we screen artists and protect that promise.
What “AI-free” actually means here
It’s an easy phrase to slap on a listing. We hold it to a strict, concrete standard so it means something you can trust.
What we require
- Linework drawn by hand, digitally or on paper
- A verifiable, human creative process
- Original art the artist owns and made
What we reject
- AI image generators (Midjourney, DALL·E, etc.)
- AI “auto-trace” or generated linework
- Traced or resold stock artwork
Our process
How we verify every artist
Getting onto ColorGnome takes more than uploading a file. Here are the steps every artist and every book goes through.
- 1
Portfolio & identity review
Every artist applies before they can sell. We review their full portfolio and public presence to confirm a consistent, recognizably human body of work — not a collection of generated images.
- 2
Proof of process
Artists provide evidence of how their work is made: layered source files, sketches and rough drafts, or start-to-finish time-lapses. Real drawing leaves a trail — AI output does not.
- 3
Signed AI-free pledge
Before a single book goes live, each artist signs a binding pledge that their pages are hand-drawn and contain no AI-generated linework. Violating it means immediate removal.
- 4
Human review of every book
A person on our team looks at each book before it is published. We check for the tell-tale artifacts of image generators and anything that feels off gets sent back for proof.
- 5
Ongoing spot-checks & reports
Verification never stops. We run periodic spot-checks on live catalogs, and anyone in the community can flag a book. Every report is investigated by a human.
Why we care this much
Coloring is a way to unplug and make something with your own hands. It feels wrong to do that over artwork a machine scraped together. Verifying every book keeps this a place where real illustrators are paid for real work — and where you always know what you’re coloring.
Think a book slipped through? Report it to us — a human reviews every report.