About Bleed
Why is adding a Bleed necessary?
Small mechanical variations can end up leaving a white edge where
there should be no white edge if the image is not extended beyond
thenaltrimsize.Extendingimages1/8”beyondthenaltrimsize
guarantees that images truly will print to the edge of the paper.
How do I add bleed to my design?
Buildyourles1/8”largerthanthenaltrimsize.Forexample,ifyouhavedesignedastandard3.5”
x 2” business card with a red background covering the whole area, you will need to enlarge that red
background to 3.75” x 2.25”. This will make the red background extend 1/8” on every side of the
page.
Adobe Photoshop
1. Open Photoshop and click File > New...
2. Enter the full bleed
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dimensions. That is, 1/4” extra both vertically and horizontally.
3. Set the Resolution at 300 pixels/inch
4. Set your Color Mode at CMYK
Adobe Illustrator
1. Open Illustrator and click File > New...
2. Enter the trim
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dimensions in the Width and Height boxes (for example, the trim dimension on a
standard business card would be 3.5” x 2”)
3. Enter 0.125 for the top, bottom, left and right bleed
4. Set your Color Mode at CMYK
5. Set your Raster Effects at High (300ppi)
Adobe InDesign
1. Open InDesign and click File > New > Document...
2. Enter the trim dimensions under Page Size (for example, a standard business card would have
trim dimensions of 3.5” x 2”)
3. If you do not see “Bleed and Slug” at the bottom of the window, click the “More Options” button.
4. Enter 0.125 for the top, bottom, left and right bleed
Trimming & Bleed Guidelines
Whenbuildingyourle,pleasefollowtheguidelinesbelowtoensureyourprojectisprintedcorrectly.
Trim Edge
Thisistheedgeofthenalprintedproduct.Forastandardbusinesscardthetrimdimensionswould
be 3.5” x 2”
4. Set your Color Mode at CMYK
2
Adobe Illustrator
1. Open Illustrator and click File > New...
2. Enter the trim dimensions
3
in the Width and Height boxes (for example, the trim dimension on a
standard business card would be 3.5” x 2”)
3. Enter 0.125 for the top, bottom, left and right bleed
4. Set your Color Mode at CMYK
5. Set your Raster Effects at High (300ppi)
Adobe InDesign
1. Open InDesign and click File > New > Document...
2. Enter the trim dimensions under Page Size (for example, a standard business card would have
trim dimensions of 3.5” x 2”)
3. If you do not see “Bleed and Slug” at the bottom of the window, click the “More Options” button.
4. Enter 0.125 for the top, bottom, left and right bleed
Keep in mind:
• For Saddle-stitched (stapled) booklets: Build your document to have reader’s spreads with facing
pages
• For Perfect-bound or Wire-bound books: Build as single pages
Step 3: Watch Out for Common Mistakes
See Common Mistakes in Print Design to learn what common print design mistakes to avoid so your
nalprintedpiecewillbe100%successful!
About Bleed
What is Bleed?
Inprintingterms,“bleed”referstoanarea,usually1/8”oneachside,beyondnaltrimsize,into
which images are extended.
2 See Common Mistakes in Print Design
3 The trim dimension is the final size of a product before any folding is applied. For more information see Trimming & Bleed Guidelines
3.5” x 2” Business Card
1/8” Bleed