What Is Vellum? — Self-Publishing Glossary

Vellum is book formatting software made by 180g, a small company based in San Francisco. It’s been around since 2014 and has become the de-facto standard for indie ebook formatting.

Why Vellum Matters

Before Vellum, indie authors had two options: format in Word (poor quality), or learn InDesign (professional quality, months of learning curve). Vellum created a third option: beautiful, professional output with a simple, Mac-like interface that most authors can learn in an afternoon.

The result is that the top-selling indie authors — the ones hitting USA Today and NYT bestseller lists — almost universally use Vellum. When readers open a Kindle sample of a professionally-published indie book, they’re almost certainly looking at Vellum output.

What Vellum Actually Does

Vellum takes your manuscript (in Word or RTF format) and lets you:

Choose a theme — Vellum has 25+ professionally designed themes. Each handles chapter headers, drop caps, ornamental dividers, and typography as a cohesive system.
Structure your book — drag and drop sections, add front matter (title page, copyright, dedication, TOC), and add back matter (author bio, “Also By” list, newsletter signup).
Preview on every device — Vellum shows you exactly how your book will look on Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, iPad, Kobo, and standard ebook reader previews.
Export — ePub for wide distribution, MOBI/KPF for Kindle, and PDF for print (with Vellum for Print).

The Price Problem

At $199.99 for ebook-only formatting, Vellum requires a significant upfront investment. Combined with the Mac-only requirement, this creates a barrier for:

Windows users (who literally can’t use it)
Authors publishing their first 1–3 books (where the per-book economics don’t work)
Authors who just want professional output without learning new software

This is exactly the problem MekarPad solves: Vellum-quality output without the software purchase or learning curve.

Vellum vs. the Alternatives

Tool	Platform	Price	Output Quality
Vellum	Mac only	$199–249	Excellent
Atticus	Mac/Windows/Web	$147	Very good
Reedsy Book Editor	Web (free)	$0	Good
Microsoft Word	Mac/Windows	subscription	Poor
MekarPad service	Any	$75/book	Excellent (uses Vellum)

Common Mistakes

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Confusing Vellum with Vellum for Print — these are two separate products. Vellum (for ebooks, $199) and Vellum for Print ($249.99 or bundle $249.99) are priced differently and have different output capabilities.

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Assuming Vellum works on Windows — it doesn't. Vellum is Mac-only. Windows users need alternatives like Atticus or a formatting service.

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Buying Vellum for 1–3 books — the math doesn't work. At $75/book for a formatting service vs. $250 for the software, you need to format 4+ books before Vellum's upfront cost pays off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Vellum free?

No. Vellum costs $199.99 for ebook-only or $249.99 for the bundle including print formatting. There's no free version or trial. You can download the app and preview it, but exporting requires purchase.

Does Vellum work on Windows?

No. Vellum only runs on Mac (macOS 12 Monterey or later as of 2024). Windows users who want similar output quality should look at Atticus ($147) or use a professional formatting service.

What's the difference between Vellum and Vellum for Print?

The standard Vellum app exports ePub and MOBI/KPF files for ebooks. Vellum for Print adds the ability to export print-ready PDF files formatted for Amazon KDP print and IngramSpark. The bundle includes both.

Can I use Vellum without owning it?

You can't use the software without a license, but you can hire a formatting service that owns a licensed copy. MekarPad formats manuscripts using Vellum and delivers the output files — so you get Vellum-quality formatting without buying the software.

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