Bleeds

Digital printing services,postcard,business cards,poster,flyers,letterhead,fridge magnet,docket book > Preparing files, help & links > Bleeds

Some more pages on Bleeds:

 

If you want a picture, photograph, drawing, logo, other image or background colour to print right to the very edge of the paper, then you need bleeds and crop-marks.

 

What are bleeds and crop-marks, and why might you need them? Well, here we go.

Imagine this:

  • A person has a graphic (e.g.: a background colour on a business card, or a picture, photograph, drawing, logo, other image on an A4 brochure) that he or she wants printed right to the very edge of that person's page and that person sets up the file so that image stopped at the edge of the printed page.
  • TheOnlinePrinter almost always prints on white paper, so we print that customer's job on white paper.
  • Well, if TheOnlinePrinter was just 0.25mm out when the job was trimmed-down to its final size then:
    • In the case where the graphic was a background colour (i.e.: our business card example below and to the right), the customer would get a finished job that had a 0.25mm white strip down one side, and that white strip would look ugly; or
    • In the case where a picture, photograph, drawing, logo or other image was meant to go to the edge of the paper (e.g.: an A4 brochure), the customer would get a finished job with the picture, photograph, drawing, logo or other image finishing 'in a bit' from the edge of the paper, and that would look unprofessional.

The two images on the right are business cards. The black line is where the business card will be trimmed to size.

If you examine the top business card, you will notice that the ink goes right to the edge of the card. The business card has been trimmed correctly, and it looks great.

 

Now look at the bottom business card, and look at it closely. It was trimmed, and the trimming was just 0.5mm out. The business card has a white stripe down the right-hand side, and along the bottom.
It does not look prpfessional.

Solving the problem - use bleeds and crop-marks:

  • What are bleeds and crop-marks?
    • ‘Bleed’ and ‘Crop-marks’ are printing terms.
    • A bleed is the area of the paper that will be trimmed off after the job is printed.
    • Crop-marks indicate the exact place where the paper is to be trimmed.
  • How are bleeds and crop-marks used?
    • All graphics that are to be printed to the very edge of the printed page are set up so that they print at least 3mm past the edge of the printed page — this is the bleed.
    • Crop-marks are placed to mark the place where the paper is to be trimmed.
    • We print the job on oversized paper, the graphics go to the very edge of the over-sized paper, and we then cut the job down to the final size — and the crop-marks tell us where to make the cut.
    • The customer then gets a job that has the graphic going right to the edge — and if we are out by 0.25mm when we cut the paper, there will not be any ugly white border, or imperfect pictures, photographs, drawings, logos, other images.
  • How do I use bleeds and crop-marks, and where do I place my text and graphics that are not meant to go right to the edge?
    • If you need bleeds, then extend the background a minimum of 3mm outside the final paper trim edge. For example:
      • An A4 brochure (210mm x 297mm) should be set up so that it is at least 216mm x 303mm; and
      • A standard business card (90mm x 55mm) should be set up so that it is at least 96mm x 61mm.
    • You should draw guides at the exact place where we are to trim the final printed job (i.e.: 3mm in from each edge of the screen page). For example:
      • Our printed A4 brochure would be trimmed to 210mm x 297mm; and
      • Our printed standard business card would be trimmed to 90mm x 55mm.
    • Graphics that that you want to print right to the edge of the printed page should extend right to the edge of the file. For example:
      • The background colours on our A4 brochure would cover the whole of the 216mm x 303mm page we have created; and
      • A photo that we want to appear on the top right-hand side of our standard business card would be placed on the top right-hand side of your file (i.e.: part of the photo would be placed outside the crop-marks).
    • All text and graphics that you do not want to go to the very edge of the printed page should be placed inside a ‘safe zone’, and the ‘safe zone’ is the area within 5mm of the edge of the final size of the job. This ensures a more professional appearance and eliminates any risk of type or images being accidentally ‘nicked’ during trimming. For instance:
      • The safe zone for our A4 brochure example is an area 200mm x 287mm
      • The safe zone for our standard business card example is an area 80mm x 45mm

Take a close look at the business card on the right.

  • The black box is where the business card will be trimmed to size.
  • The outer aqua-coloured lines are 3mm outside the trim-lines, and these are the bleeds. All background colours continue past the trim-line to the bleed lines.
  • The inner aqua-coloured lines are 5mm inside the trim-lines, and these are the Safety Margin lines. All important text and images are inside the Safety Margin lines.

Now take a look at the business card on the right. You will notice that there are crop marks near each of the corners. This is where the business card will be trimmed.

What you should notice is that the background colour continues past the crop-marks.

If TheOnlinePrinter is 'just a little bit out' when the business card is trimmed down to the correct size, then there will not be any white strip at the edge of the card.

 

So, make sure you place bleeds on your file when you are creating it, and you will avoid any of the problems that can occur is the job is not trimmed exactly right.

If you are saving your job as a PDF file, it is crucial that you save it with bleeds and crop marks. Usually the first step in creating a PDF file is to save a Postscript file of your job in the software you have used to create it. You will need to set the job up as if you were going to print it on an over-sized sheet, allowing for bleeds and crop marks. Then save the Postscript file (or save to disk), and distil a PDF file. Check the PDF file to see that it has bleeds and crop marks before you send it to us.

We do not charge extra for bleeds.

Some more pages on Bleeds: