An apparatus and method for improving the uniformity of a liquid curtain in a coating system comprising a lip of a slide die wherein the lip includes a front surface on which a liquid composition flows by gravity. The apparatus comprises a ledge having a first, second, and third surface portion. The first surface portion is disposed intermediate the second and third surface portions, and is substantially horizontal. The second surface portion is contiguous with the first surface portion and upwardly inclined. The third surface portion is contiguous with the first surface portion and downwardly inclined away from the first and second surface portions. The apparatus further includes a positioning device for positioning the ledge and lip relative to each other (1) in a first orientation wherein the lip is disposed proximate the first surface portion whereby the liquid composition flows from the slide die onto the first surface portion, and (2) in a second orientation wherein the lip and the ledge are spaced from each other whereby the liquid composition forms a vertical liquid curtain in free fall.