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Coloring Book EngineColoring Book Engine

Activate Your License & Connect Your AI

Setting up the app takes two one-time steps: activate it with a license key, and connect the AI account that powers generation.

Activate Your License

Section titled “Activate Your License”

Coloring Book Engine runs on a license key — either a trial key (free, from coloringbook.dev) or a full license. After a purchase, your key arrives by email, together with the download link:

The welcome email containing your license key and the Download Now button

When the app first starts, the Activate Your License dialog asks for that key:

The Activate Your License dialog with the License Key and Device Name fields

  1. Paste your License Key.
  2. Optionally give this computer a Device Name (handy later if you use more than one machine).
  3. Agree to the End User License Agreement and press Activate.

Don’t have a key yet? The Get a Trial Key link in the dialog takes you straight to the free trial.

Once activated, the license panel (Settings → License) shows your Plan, how many Devices are in use, and the expiry (Lifetime for a full license):

The Settings → License panel showing an active Personal / Lifetime license

A few things worth knowing:

  • Trial keys unlock the full workflow with some limits (such as the number of pages per project). Everything in this handbook works on a trial.
  • Device seats — your license allows a set number of devices. If you hit “Maximum Activations Reached”, open Manage Devices and Deactivate a machine you no longer use, then activate the new one. Moving to a new PC is exactly this: deactivate old, activate new.
  • Upgrading from trial to full is the same dialog with your new key.

Connect Your AI

Section titled “Connect Your AI”

Coloring Book Engine uses your own AI account for image generation — there is no subscription and no middleman markup. You pay your AI provider only for what you actually generate.

On the Projects screen, choose Connect Your AI, pick your provider, and paste your API key — OpenAI or Google AI for the image-generation stages (a Get API Key link takes you straight to your provider’s key page):

The AI API Configuration dialog with provider cards and the API key field

Don’t have a key yet? Grab one from your provider’s official page — it takes a couple of minutes:

OpenAI (GPT) Create an API key at platform.openai.com ↗ Google Gemini Create an API key at aistudio.google.com ↗

Two things worth knowing:

  • Your key stays on your PC. It is stored locally and used only to call your provider directly.
  • We recommend the best model, always. You’re building a commercial product — the top-tier model is the choice that meets both your intent and your quality bar. Cost is a fair concern, but keep the comparison honest: at raw API prices, producing a whole book still costs a fraction of commissioning the same artwork from a designer.

With both keys in place, you’re ready to create your first project.