We see a lot of files that are intended to bleed, but do not actually bleed. We are here to help?

First, what even is bleed?

Here is an explanation from Binders Inc.:

In the printing world, bleed is a very important concept that deals with the edges of paper and how it is printed or cut. Since printers essentially grab each sheet of paper by the edges to feed it through the printer, no printer is capable of printing all the way to the outer edge of the material.

In addition, paper and other material is often printed at a very high speed, which can cause it to not feed through the printer in exact perfect alignment—even when using a professional printing service.

If you print words, logos or images all the way to the edges of your template, they will likely end up appearing slightly cut off in the final product. Understanding bleed margins help prevent this problem by expanding the text or image outside of the designated printed area, resulting in a polished and professional final product.

A little further..

A standard bleed area is generally .125 inches on each side. So, if you’re preparing a standard 11 x 8.5 inch document for printing, you will want the final template to actually be 11.125 x 8.625 inches. Or if you’re printing a custom background image on a on a standard 9 x 12 inch folder, the image should extend to at least 9.125 x 12.125 inches for each side.

Most common document only require a .125 inch margin; however, larger documents may require a larger bleed area. The standard bleed area for documents larger than 18 x 24 inches is generally .5 inches. For example, if you want to prepare an 18 x 24 inch document for printing, you will want to prepare an 18.5 x 24.5 inch template. Remember to also leave room for cutting.

There’s no way to be sure exactly where the bleed area will be cut, so be sure to extend images beyond the edge of the final document and all the way to end of the bleed zone. For instance, it would okay to extend a background design into the bleed zone, but you wouldn’t want to have a photo of someone in the bleed area or else you risk them getting cut from the final design.

To summarize, the correct way to send is files that are supposed to print to the very edge, even just one image or page in a zine, your size should not be 5.5x8.5”, it should be 5.75x.875” if you include .25” bleeds. We need at least .125” and if you do not include it we enlarge your page to make it for you. This means: a lot more work for us, but more importantly some of your image you intended to print will be cut off to make a bleed.

How to include and export bleeds in Photoshop:

The easiest way is to make your document size larger, and draw guides for yourself for the trim.

The correct way to add bleed to your document is to choose “File,” then “New,” to start a new document. Set your new document's size and resolution. Remember to add the size of the bleed to your document size. For example, if your final document size will be 5 by 7 inches, and the required bleed is a quarter of an inch, you should set the document width to “5.25 inches” and the height to “7.25 inches.” Finally, click “OK” to create the file. To edit an existing file, go to “File,” and “Open,” then select the file and click “Open.” Choose “Image,” then “Canvas Size,” and increase the width and height of the canvas to include the bleed. Click “OK.” You will see a border filled with the background color around the edge of your document.

How to include and export bleeds in InDesign:

How to create a PDF that includes bleeds:

If you know your design will extend to the paper’s edge, you can set up the bleed area right when you create your document.

 Upon launching InDesign, click Create new. (See Create a new document to learn more about customizing your new document.)

Select the Print tab at the top. In Preset Details, choose your preferred measurement units.

Scroll, and then click Bleed and Slug to expand the panel. Type a bleed value in any units. For example, you can type 0.125 in or 3 mm even if your document uses picas or something else. Set the same bleed on all sides, or click the chain icon to set different values for the top, bottom, inside, and outside settings.

 Note: Bleed values of .125 in (3mm) are standard, although some print providers may require a larger bleed area.  

Optionally, you can include job notes and instructions for your printer in a slug area that typically extends beyond the bleed area. The slug is also trimmed off.

How to add bleed in Illustrator:

HOW TO ADD A BLEED TO A NEW ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR DOCUMENT

To create a document with bleeds, open Illustrator and click
File > New
Type in the documents size
To add a bleed, go to the “Bleed” section and click on the arrow under the section titled “Top” until you see “0.125 in”
- Adjusting the bleed under one section will auto-populate the rest.
Click “Create”

The art board has been created. You’ll be able to tell the bleed has been added to your document by seeing the red line around the document.

Make sure any colors or pictures meant to go to the page’s edge, extend past the edge to the red bleed line. Doing so will ensure there is no unwanted white space when printing.

HOW TO ADD A BLEED TO AN EXISTING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR DOCUMENT

Open the document.
Click File > Document setup
In the first box next to “Bleed” hit the arrow under “Top” just once until it reads “0.125 in”. The other boxes will auto-populate.
Click “OK”

The red line around your document shows the bleed has been added. Adjust your document’s elements to go up to the red line if needed.

HOW TO EXPORT AN ILLUSTRATOR FILE WITH BLEEDS

To export an Illustrator file with bleeds, you need to save the document as a PDF.

To do so, go to: File > Save As
Type the file’s name and select where it should be saved to.
Make sure the “Format” is set to Adobe PDF.
Click “Save”
Click on “Marks and Bleeds” in the side menu
Under the “Marks” section, click “Trim Marks”
Under the “Bleeds” section click the box next to “Use Document Bleed Settings”
Click “Save as PDF”

Some final exporting and saving notes while your here for the best possible print output!

Resolution/DPI: 300 min for print

Explanation: The term DPI is generally used for printed images since printed images are made up of tiny dots (Dots Per Inch) while the term PPI is mostly used for screens, since screens contain pixels (Pixels Per Inch).

Last but not least….

What is the difference between RGB and CMYK and which color mode or color space should I use?

RGB stands for RED, GREEN and BLUE. Those are the colors used to display everything through a screen using light.

CMYK stands for CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, BLACK. Those are the colors (toners, inks etc) used to print everything on paper.

The exception to those rules is PANTONES. Those are pre-made or pre-mixes colors/swatches that are a standard for printing. There are over 1,000 Pantone colors, and two versions of each! Each Pantone has what is called a Coated version (such as 225C) and an Uncoated version (225U), and they differ because they are printed on two different types of paper, coated and uncoated. Pantone can be interchangeable with the non-brand name for the color, which is then referred to as the spot color. It means the same thing, and is referring to the same colors. Please note, you cannot create Pantone or spot colors from RBG or CYMK!

If you would like to find out (way) more about paper and its coating we created a PDF all about paper! Find that guide here. Thanks for reading and please let us know if any of this is confusing and we are happy to clarify.

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