Looking for a Vellum Alternative? Here’s One for Mac and Windows

Vellum is lovely book formatting software. If you’ve ever seen an indie book with a clean chapter opening, a graceful drop cap and perfect scene breaks, there’s a good chance Vellum made it.

But there are two reasons a lot of authors go looking for a Vellum alternative. It only runs on a Mac. And the full version, with print, costs $249.99.

If you’re on Windows, or you’d like the same kind of result for less, here’s an honest look at your options, and at Colophon, the formatter I built.

Why authors look for a Vellum alternative

1. There’s no Vellum for Windows

Vellum is Mac only. Windows writers are told to rent a Mac in the cloud or borrow one, which is awkward for a tool you’ll come back to with every book.

2. Print costs extra

Vellum Ebooks is $199.99 and only makes ebooks. To make a paperback you need Vellum Press at $249.99. Most indie authors want both, so $249.99 is the real price.

3. Some books need more than chapters

Devotionals, Bible studies, classroom books and activity books often need answer lines, questions, fill-in-the-blanks and puzzles. Those aren’t what Vellum is built for.

What to look for in a book formatter

• Ebooks for every store. Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Nook and Google Play each have their own quirks. A good formatter makes a file for each one.
• A print-ready PDF. The right trim size, margins, page numbers and running heads, ready to upload to KDP or IngramSpark.
• A real preview. You should see the actual printed page while you work, not a rough guess.
• Styles, not templates. Pick a look once and every chapter follows.
• A fair price. Pay once, with no subscription.

Meet Colophon: a Vellum alternative for Mac and Windows

Colophon works the way Vellum does. You write or paste on the left, and the right side shows the finished page: title, ornament, drop cap and all. Pick a book style and every chapter updates at once.

When you’re done, one click makes an EPUB for each store and a print-ready PDF for your paperback.

It’s $129 USD, one time, and that includes both the Mac and the Windows versions and both ebooks and print.

It opens your Vellum books

This is the part I care about most. If you already have books in Vellum, Colophon opens the .vellum file directly. Your chapters, text, notes, images and style choices come across, so you aren’t starting over. Give it a read-through before you publish, as you would with any move.

It also imports Word documents, so a new manuscript is a single step in.

Book styles that look typeset

• Chapter headings with spaced capitals, numbers, ornaments and heading images
• Script and serif drop caps that wrap the text letter by letter
• Hanging quote marks, small-caps subheads and elegant scene breaks
• Your own fonts and ornaments

Word Finds and workbooks built in

Colophon can make Word Find puzzle pages. Type your words and it builds the grid, adds the word list, and puts an answer key at the back of the book.

It can also add workbook pieces: writing lines, questions and fill-in-the-blanks. That makes it a good fit for devotionals, study guides, children’s books and classroom material.

Colophon vs Vellum at a glance

Vellum details are from vellum.pub, November 2026. Vellum is a trademark of its owner. Colophon is independent and not affiliated with Vellum.

When Vellum is still the better choice

I’d rather you buy the right tool than the wrong one. Stay with Vellum if:

• You need hardcover cover-wrap files or PDF/X-1a output for your printer.
• You need an unusual trim size Colophon doesn’t have yet.
• You’re on a Mac, you already own Vellum, and it does everything you need.

For everyone else, especially Windows writers and authors of workbooks and devotionals, Colophon does the job for about half the price.

Other Vellum alternatives

There are other routes, each with trade-offs:

• Atticus runs in the browser on any computer and is a popular choice.
• Kindle Create is free from Amazon, but it’s mainly made for Kindle.
• Microsoft Word or Affinity Publisher can do it, but you’ll set every margin, header and page break yourself.
• Reedsy Book Editor is free and online, with only a few looks to choose from.

If you want Vellum’s write-on-the-left, see-the-page-on-the-right way of working on a Windows PC, that’s exactly the gap Colophon was made to fill.

Try Colophon

Colophon is $129 USD, once, for Mac and Windows. Your download link appears right after checkout and is emailed to you.

See all the features and screenshots of Colophon →