What is bleed?

Bleed is a term used in the printing industry that refers to the area of an image or design that extends beyond the edge of the final printed product. The purpose of bleed is to ensure that there are no white borders or unprinted edges when the final product is trimmed to its finished size.

For example, imagine you are designing a business card with a background image that extends to the edge of the page. Without bleed, any slight misalignment during the trimming process could result in white borders or edges along the finished brochure. Bleed helps to prevent this by providing a margin of error during printing and trimming.

To create bleed in your design, you will need to extend any images, colors or backgrounds that you want to print to the edge of the document by an additional amount. The standard amount of bleed is usually around 0.125 inches or 3mm. This extra area is then trimmed off during the finishing process, ensuring that the final product has a clean, professional look with no white borders.

It's important to note that not all designs will require bleed. For example, if your design has a white border around the edges, you may not need to include bleed. However, if your design includes any images or colors that extend to the edge of the page, you will need to include bleed.

When submitting your design, be sure to include the bleed area in your artwork files. This will ensure that we exactly how much bleed to include in the final product. It's also important to make sure that your design is properly aligned with the bleed area so that no important elements of your design are cut off during the trimming process.

In summary, bleed is a crucial aspect of printing that ensures that your final product looks professional and polished. By extending your design beyond the final trim size, you can prevent any white borders or unprinted edges from appearing in your printed materials. So, whether you are designing a business card, sticker, greeting card, brochure, or any other printed product, be sure to include bleed in your design to ensure a high-quality final product.