Applying Forced Edges

Watch the Video

You can see how border artwork becomes an edge design in this video:

Understanding Forced Edges

Forced edges work by placing artwork in the bleed region of pages in the book. When pages are trimmed, the color of this artwork can also be seen from the side.

Because this technique only makes use of the bleed region, it does not require any special printing equipment, and can be used with any service that supports full bleed — including KDP and IngramSpark. Nevertheless, it’s worth understanding the risks and limitations of this technique.

Single Page Borders

Creating a solid color edge is fairly straightforward. Since the design is unchanging, you can use a single border image with the desired color on each outside edge.

To prevent your border from being cut off when your pages are printed and trimmed, we recommend extending any colored region to a minimum of twice the width of the bleed. For KDP, the bleed is 0.125", so each colored region should be at least 0.25" wide.

Note: Even if you follow these guidelines, it’s still possible that your border may be entirely cut off when the page is trimmed. This is an inherent risk with forced edges, though increasing the width of the colored region can help mitigate it.

Multipage Borders

Creating borders for most designs, though, is much more involved. For instance, for a design that consists of repeating hearts...

...your border needs to change on every page:

In the above example:

• For page edges without a design, the corresponding border will be blank
• For page edges that are entirely red, the border will be solid
• For page edges that intersect the heart design, the border will start and stop

When each unique border has been applied to each page in your book, and your book has been printed, the edges of each page will combine to reveal the overall design.

Edge Artwork Providers

Because multipage borders can be complex, we advise working with an experienced provider. The recommended providers listed below can create Vellum-ready borders suitable for edge designs:

Pre-made

Pre-made borders can be purchased and downloaded immediately. If you aren’t sure what you want, browsing this artwork can help you understand the options, and decide upon a final look.

Conversion

If you already have a design for your edges, then you can use a conversion service to generate a Vellum-specific multipage border. Send your design and you can download a border to use in Vellum, in some cases instantly.

Custom

A designer works with you to create custom edge artwork for your book. Creating multipage borders for edges can be a bit tricky, so for the most consistent results it can be useful to work with a professional.

Adding a Border

Once you’ve acquired edge artwork, you can apply it to your book using a custom Page Border. To add one, locate the Background and Border style feature:

1. Go to the Styles pane
2. Click on the Configure button of your selected Style
3. Select Background and Border

Press the Create Custom button that appears below the style carousel.

You will be shown a prompt asking the kind of background or border to create:

Choose Page Border and press Create.

Adding and Configuring Edge Artwork

After you’ve created your custom border, you’ll see these controls, which allow you to add your edge design and configure how it appears.

Layout Controls

Use the Page Span control to indicate whether the artwork in your edge design are single pages or spreads. Forced edges must reach the edge of the page, so you’ll want to make sure your Image Extent is set to Full Bleed.

For a full list of controls, including options for Position and Mirroring, see the full guide to Using a Custom Border.

Adding an Image

To add your edge design, click the widget to choose it from your files, or drag it here from the Finder:

Applying to Entire Book

After you’ve added your image, select Entire Book from the Apply To menu, which ensures that your edge design will be applied to every page.

Repeating Designs

When multipage artwork is applied to the entire book, it will be positioned so that the edge design is centered:

If the artwork has fewer pages than your book, you can use Multipage Repeat to control how your design is applied to the remaining pages:

	None No pages of the artwork repeat — Use when you only want to see the design once
	First and Last Pages First and last pages of artwork repeat through the book – Use when only the background of the design should repeat
	All All pages of the artwork are repeated through the book – Use when your entire design should repeat

Recommended Settings

The designer who created your edge artwork file may have included recommended settings for the Border, such as Apply To: Entire Book. When you add a file that includes recommendations, you’ll be shown a prompt asking whether to apply them:

Click Apply to use the recommendations that are shown.

Printing in Color

By default, Vellum will convert color images into black and white images for print. If you want your edge design to appear in color, make sure that you’ve chosen Include Images in Color in Vellum’s Print Settings.

Of course, when it comes time to print using a print-on-demand service, like KDP or IngramSpark, you’ll need to choose color printing there as well.

Risks and Limitations

As you work with forced edges, we recommend keeping a few things in mind:

• Since artwork is printed on the front of the page, the resulting edges will appear lighter, and less saturated.
• Variation in page trimming can shift artwork placement from page to page, or even cut off the border entirely, which can cause an edge design to appear slightly blurry or striated.
• Color edges will require that your whole book be printed in color, which will typically increase printing cost.
• While most print-on-demand service can produce books with forced edges, printers like Bookvault discourage their use.

Many aspects of forced edges can be hard to understand by just viewing your PDF, so we strongly recommend ordering proofs of your book before publishing.