How Will My Sprayed Edges Look?

Sprayed edges can be a striking addition to your book, but the final appearance can vary depending on the paper stock you choose and the design you're printing. Understanding these factors can help you achieve the best possible result.

Best paper options for sprayed edges

Uncoated paper stocks, such as Bond (white) and Cream, provide the most consistent and vibrant results for sprayed edges, including designs with more solid backgrounds.

If you're using cream paper, it's important to account for a slight colour shift caused by the natural tone of the paper. This can affect how your chosen sprayed edge colour appears once printed.

Coated paper considerations

Coated papers, such as 100gsm or 150gsm, can be more challenging when producing sprayed edges, particularly when using dark or solid colours.

The coating can sometimes result in:

• Less even coverage
• Variations in colour consistency

These characteristics should be considered when choosing your paper stock and sprayed edge design.

Tips for black sprayed edges

For the best possible results when creating black sprayed edges, we recommend supplying your artwork either in greyscale or using the following CMYK values:

C: 0
M: 0
Y: 0
K: 100 (Registration Black)

This can help improve the coverage and depth of the black, particularly when using uncoated paper stocks.

Sprayed edge limitations to be aware of

Due to the nature of print-on-demand production, there are some inherent limitations with sprayed edges.

Occasionally, a small amount of ink from the sprayed edge process may pull onto the first or last few pages of the book.

While we take steps to minimise this, it isn't always possible to eliminate it completely due to the way the book is clamped during the spraying process.

Sprayed edge examples

Black sprayed edges – Uncoated Stock

Black sprayed edges Uncoated Stock

Black sprayed edges – Coated Stock (CMYK Black) 

Black sprayed edges Coated Stock (CMYK Black)

Black sprayed edges – Coated Stock (Registration Black) 

Black sprayed edges Coated Stock (Registration Black)

Sprayed edge overspray 

Sprayed edge overspray