Vellum Help
Previewing Your Book
Vellum’s live Preview — shown on the right side of the main window — allows you to see immediately how your book will appear on a range of devices.
- Changing Pages and Chapters
- Selecting a Device
- Changing Device Settings
- Draft and Proof Modes
- Preview Menu
Changing Pages and Chapters
The Preview will default to the first page of the current chapter. To change pages, use the page turn buttons that appear when you move your mouse to the left or right side of the pane.
To change the chapter you are previewing, use the navigation controls in the upper-right corner of the Preview:
The arrow buttons switch the Preview to the previous or next chapter. The Table of Contents button in the middle allows you to choose a specific chapter to preview.
Selecting a Device
Use the Device popup to preview using a different ebook device, or to preview the print edition of your book:
Changing Device Settings
You can use the Device Settings menu to see how your ebook will appear when a reader changes settings on their device, like increasing font size or switching to Sepia mode.
Note: The settings you change here only guide the Preview. They do not at all affect the book you create.
Draft and Proof Modes
When previewing the print edition of your book, the Device Settings menu allows you to switch between Draft and Proof modes.
Draft mode is optimized for speed, and gives you a good idea of what your text will look like. It does not include all of the Automatic Layout features that Vellum employs to generate your final PDF.
To preview the final version of your print edition, select Proof mode in the settings popover.
Since Proof mode can be significantly slower than Draft mode, we recommend only using it to inspect layout, and switching back to Draft mode before making any changes to your book.
Preview Menu
Many of the above features can be accessed via Preview in the main menu:
This menu also contains commands you can use to sync to and from the Text Editor, as well as settings to configure the Preview when it’s showing Print.
Syncing with the Text Editor
The Preview displays the full styling that appears in your finished book, and does not allow you to make edits to your text. To do that, use use Vellum’s Text Editor.
You can sync the Text Editor to the content shown in the Preview by using Preview ▸ Show Preview Content in Editor. This will locate the first paragraph displayed in the Preview and then highlight it in the Text Editor (changing chapters if necessary).
You can go the other way, too. When you are editing a paragraph in the Text Editor, use Preview ▸ Show Editor Content in Preview to highlight that paragraph in the Preview.
Print Preview Settings
The Preview menu also contains configuration options for viewing your print edition.
Limit to Page Size
By default, Vellum will prevent the Preview from growing larger than the trim size you’ve chosen in Vellum. For instance, if your trim size is 6 × 9 inches, then the Preview will stop growing when it reaches six inches wide on your monitor. If you’d like the print preview to always fill the available space, you can uncheck Limit to Page Size.
Show Bleed in Proof Mode
When you have a Full Bleed image in your book, it will extend beyond the trim size and into the bleed region. This region ensures your artwork reaches the edge of the page after it is trimmed.
In some cases, it may be useful to view this bleed region. When you are in Proof mode you can turn on Show Bleed in Proof mode. With this enabled, Vellum will display a magenta guide that shows where the page should be trimmed and where the bleed region begins:
