Prepress Artwork > Bleed in Printing

Bleed in Printing

Wondering what printers mean by “bleed”? This guide explains everything you need to know to prepare documents with the correct bleed for printing.

Table of Contents

What Is Bleed in Printing?

Bleed is the area of your document that extends beyond the trim size, ensuring that no white edges are visible in the final product. Without this bleed zone, you'd be left with an ugly white border around your book page after cutting.

That's why it's so important to prepare your documents with the correct bleed, because it ensures that the design will extend all the way to the edge of the paper without leaving any white space.

A typical bleed zone is 0.125" or 3mm from the edge of the page. When setting up your document, make sure to give every background color or image a bleed zone so that there will be a seamless transition from the background to the edge of the paper. This is especially important for products like books and cards

Here are the samples after cutting with bleed and without bleed.

What Is "Full Bleed?"

Full bleed means that an image or background color covers the entire page, leaving no white margins. This technique is used to ensure that images fill their intended space completely.

How Much Bleed Is Needed for Printing?

For most projects, a bleed of at least 0.125 inches on each side is recommended. For example, if your document's final size is 3 x 4 inches, the dimensions with bleed would be 3.25 x 4.25 inches.

How to Add Bleed in Different Software?

Add Bleed in Adobe Illustrator

1. For new document

Set Bleed in the “New Document” setting.

2. For opened document

Open your artwork, go to “File” > “Document Setup”, and enter the desired bleed width.

Add Bleed in Adobe InDesign

1. For new document

Set Bleed in the “New Document” setting.

2. For opened document

Open up your document and go to the File menu. Select “File” > “Document Setup” to open the “Bleed and Slug” panel. Here, you can set your bleed margins by entering the desired width into the “Top,” “Right,” “Bottom,” and “Left” fields.

Learn how to show bleed lines in InDesign for accuracy in this video.

Add Bleed in Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop does not have a separate bleed setting, you can only enter the size with bleed when inputting the document size

Add Bleed in QuarkXPress

1. For new project.

Set Bleed in the “New Project” setting.

2. For opened project.

To create bleed margins in QuarkXPress, start by opening your document. In the document window, select the “Layout” > “Layout Properties“. Enter a suitable value in the “Bleed” field, and then click “OK”.

Add Bleed in Affinity Publisher

1. For new project.

Set Bleed in the “New Document” setting.

2. For opened project.

Choose “File” > “Document Setup“. Fill the “Bleed“.

Add Bleed in Canva

1. Click on File > Setting > Show print bleed.

2. Extend your background to cover the bleed area

Creating Bleed with Page Spreads

When you're working with page spreads, you don't need to add bleed between two pages.
If you're designing for wire-o or spiral binding, make sure that all four sides of every page have bleed zones; and remember that for these bindings, if you're using InDesign, do not use the “facing page” option.

How to Export PDF Artwork with Bleed

How to Export PDFs with Bleed from Adobe Illustrator

1. Click on File > Save As.

2. Give the file a name and choose .PDF.

3. Select the PDF Preset >High Quality Print.

4. Go to Marks and Bleeds, for Bleeds, select Use Document Bleed Settings.

5. Go to Output, for Profile Inclusion Policy, select Don't Include Profiles.

6. Click on Save PDF.

How to Export PDFs with Bleed from Adobe InDesign

1. Click on File > Export.

2. Give the file a name and choose .PDF.

3. Select the PDF Preset > High Quality Print.

4. Go to Marks and Bleeds, for Bleeds, select Use Document Bleed Settings.

5. Go to Output, for Profile Inclusion Policy, select Don't Include Profiles.

6. Click on Export.

How to Export PDFs with Bleed from QuarkXPress

1. Click on File > Export As > PDF.

2. Give the file a name and choose Options.

3. Select the PDF Style >Press-High Quality / High Resolution.

4. Go to Marks, for Mode, select Off.

5. Go to Bleed, select Use Layout Bleed Settings.

6. Click on OK, then save.

How to Export PDFs with Bleed from Affinity Publisher

1. Click on File >Export<.

2. In the Export Settings, choose PDF. For Preset, choose PDF(for print)<

3. For ICC profile, don't check Embed ICC profiles. Check Include bleed.

4. Click on Export<.

How to Export PDFs with Bleed from Canva

1. Extend your background to cover the bleed area

2. Click on >Share > Download and choose “PDF print“.
Make sure to tick the boxes for crop marks and bleed,
and select CMYK as the color profile for accurate printing.

Common Mistakes with Bleed

1. Add 0.125 inches of white space around the edges of the document or on one side

Always make sure the bleed zone extends 0.125 inches from the trim line and that the image or background goes over the trim line to the extent of the bleed area.

2. The artwork "floats" on the page

Always adjust the size of the entire document to fill the bleed size, not just the background color.

3. The image looks great but the text has been cut off

Keep text within the safe zone to avoid cutting.

Difference Between Bleed and Crop Marks

Bleed and crop marks work together to ensure accuracy in the final printed piece. While bleed extends the artwork beyond the trim line, crop marks indicate where the paper should be cut.

Ready-to-Use Templates

Our website offers templates with pre-set bleed settings, ready for you to use. These templates can be conveniently downloaded from the Quote and Template Download pages, making your design process even smoother.

Need More Help? Talk to Us!

At QinPrinting, we pride ourselves on our first-class customer service. If you have any further questions about bleed or other crop markings, we've made it super-easy for you to get in touch with our expert design team by telephone, via email, Skype, the chat box, or the contact form. Talk to us!