Once you finish reading this, I’m going to have to ask you to try this on your next papercraft. I know that some may already be doing this, but I’ve also seen that very many do not. I have been doing this for a long time with great success and would like to share the following technique with you.

• ~Coloring the edges of the paper~

Before gluing, coloring the thickness of the paper (some of the tabs as well) with the appropriate color will get rid of the white lines that show up on finished pieces and will give your papercraft that seamless finish and a cleaner overall look.

Now there are different things you can use for coloring the sides of the pieces that you’ve cut out. Here is a list of items I personally have used in the past with success.

• Crayola Markers

Affordable and versatile.

Instead of using the tip of the marker to color, I prefer to use the flat part of the marker tip to color the width of the paper. These work great if the papercraft you are working on uses primarily solid colors like red, blue, yellow, green, etc. If you do not own markers or prefer to try out a something different out, I would then use…

• Color Pencils

Prisma colors or Crayola (I have used some RoseArt pencils once. Never again)

I’ve also used the Verithin line of Prismas and they work well but, tend to break at the tip so be forewarned. Color pencils work great because you can create different colors by drawing lightly or darkly over the area as well as by mixing different colors together to match what’s on the papercraft.

In addition, if you happen to own a big set of color pencils/markers you may already have the color at your disposal for color matching. (Be sure to test the color on a scrap piece of paper in order to match the colors before working on your cut out pieces).

• Prisma Markers

Widely known in artist circles, Prisma colors have many rich colors. I own a big set of these. I liked using these in the past because I was able to match the printed color most accurately. On the other hand, using Prisma color markers in this application does require skill and practice. A problem you can easily run into is “bleeding,” where too much ink goes into the paper leaving splotchy marks. With that being said, if you decide to use Prisma markers do some practice runs on scrap paper strips before working on the piece, that took time to cut out, or you may end up destroying it. Lastly, if you choose to go with the Prisma marker route here’s a tip, speed, speed, and speed will determine how clean the edge color will be. A single swipe in a fast motion across your edge is the key to avoid bleeding and if you are doing color match wait a bit then do it again with the same color, this will give you a darker shade of the color. I have stopped using Prismas and now prefer Crayola. Crayola markers don’t have a tendency to bleed like Prismas so they’re easier to work with on edge work. I’ll advise to try Crayola makers before Prisma markers.

That’s it! If you’ve always done this, hat’s off to you and if you haven’t tried this technique, give it a test run on your next papercraft and then send me your results!