Bleed, Trim & Safe Area Guide
If colour, photographs or graphics are intended to print right to the edge of a finished item, the artwork normally needs to extend beyond that edge. This extra printed area is called bleed.
Bleed, trim and safe area
These are three separate areas. The easiest way to understand them is to see them together on a correctly prepared piece of artwork.
Printing and trimming have small tolerances
Printed sheets are normally produced larger than the finished item and then trimmed down. Although modern printing and finishing equipment is accurate, physical sheets can move by a very small amount during production and cutting.
If artwork stops exactly at the finished edge, a small variation in trimming can reveal an unwanted white line. Bleed gives the cutter extra printed artwork to trim into.
Anything intended to reach the edge
If an element is intended to continue right to a finished edge, extend it beyond that edge into the bleed.
Correct artwork compared with common mistakes
The examples below use the same artwork so the difference is easy to see.
Keep important content away from the cut edge
While backgrounds extend outward into the bleed, important content moves in the opposite direction. Keep text, logos, QR codes and essential details at least 3 mm inside the finished trim unless the product specification asks for more.
This protects important information from finishing tolerances and usually gives the design better visual breathing room.
Crop marks show the trim position
Crop marks are short marks positioned outside the printed artwork and aligned with the intended finished trim. They tell the printer where the finished edges are intended to be.
A correctly prepared PDF does not always need visible crop marks, but it does need the correct finished size and required bleed. If crop marks are supplied, they should remain outside the bleed rather than crossing through the artwork.
Common bleed and trimming mistakes
Common finished sizes with 3 mm bleed
These dimensions assume 3 mm bleed on all four edges.
| Size | Finished size | Artwork with 3 mm bleed |
|---|---|---|
| Business Card | 85 × 55 mm | 91 × 61 mm |
| DL | 99 × 210 mm | 105 × 216 mm |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | 111 × 154 mm |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 154 × 216 mm |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 216 × 303 mm |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 303 × 426 mm |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 426 × 600 mm |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 600 × 847 mm |
| A0 | 841 × 1189 mm | 847 × 1195 mm |
Check the bleed before exporting
If backgrounds or images reach the edge of your design, display the print bleed and extend those elements completely through it. Keep important content inside the finished edge.
Export a print-quality PDF and check the resulting file before sending it. The exported PDF is ultimately what we receive for production.