Understanding Crops and Bleeds

What is Bleed?

A bleed is essentially the visual content that runs over the trim edge, or the intended cut line on the printed stock sheet. Once the stock sheet is printed on, the trim line is cut and the bleed is removed. Bleed is important as it allows flexibility in production where the trim is not in the exact same spot for each sheet.

Add a ¼ inch to both your height & width.

• Most printers need about an eighth of an inch bleed on all four sides. This will result in a document that is a quarter inch taller and wider than your finished piece (⅛ + ⅛ = ¼).

• Make sure all colors, photos and graphics go to the bleed edge, or ⅛” past the trim edge.

Now that you have your file created correctly, make sure it is exported to a pdf correctly.

Click on “Marks and Bleed” on the left of the panel. Check the box for “Crop Marks” and make the bleed .125 inches on all sides.

Ask for help

If you find yourself struggling with it, and you just can’t seem to get it right, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your print provider knows what they need and can usually steer you in the right direction. They may even have templates you can use.