Applying Forced Edges

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.

Edge Artwork

While the above example is relatively simple, creating artwork that reveals more sophisticated designs on the edges can be complicated.

For best results, we recommend working with a designer that specializes in edge artwork, like Painted Wings Publishing.

Painted Wings sells ready-made edge artwork designed for Vellum, and can also work with you to create a custom design for your book.

Creating a Custom 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

Considerations

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, which can cause an edge design to appear slightly blurry.
• Color edges will require that your whole book be printed in color, which will typically increase printing cost.
• Metallic/foil effects are only possible with sprayed edges, and can’t be achieved with forced edges.
• 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.