The short version
- Print bleed is the part of a design that extends beyond the trim edge and is cut away after printing.
- The usual bleed is 3 mm on every side in the UK and Europe and 0.125 inch on every side in the US.
- The safe margin is an area inside the trim, usually 3 to 5 mm deep, where no important text or logos should sit.
- Crop marks are short lines outside the design that show the printer exactly where to cut.
- An A5 flyer with 3 mm bleed is 154 × 216 mm, or 1819 × 2551 pixels at 300 dpi.
On this page
Print bleed is extra background that runs past the edge where the paper will be cut, usually 3 mm on every side in Europe or 0.125 inch in the US. Printers print on a larger sheet and trim it down, and the blade can drift slightly; bleed means that drift cuts into spare colour instead of leaving a white sliver. The safe margin is the opposite safeguard: a band 3 to 5 mm inside the trim where you keep every word and logo, so nothing important is cut off.
Bleed, trim and safe area: the three lines
Every print file has three invisible lines. Picture them as nested rectangles, from the outside in:
+------------------------------------+ bleed edge: 3 mm outside the trim
| +------------------------------+ |
| | +------------------------+ | | trim line: where the blade cuts
| | | | | |
| | | words, logos, faces | | | safe area: 3 to 5 mm inside trim
| | | | | |
| | +------------------------+ | |
| +------------------------------+ |
+------------------------------------+
Background colour and images: fill to the bleed edge.
Anything that must not be cut: keep inside the safe area.Where it is
What belongs there
Where it is
What belongs there
Where it is
What belongs there
How much bleed to add
Always use the figure your printer gives you; it is usually in their file guidelines. When there is no guidance, 3 mm or 0.125 inch on every side is the safe default. At 300 dpi, 3 mm is about 35 pixels and 0.125 inch is about 38 pixels, so a file with bleed is roughly 70 to 75 pixels larger in each direction than the trim size.
Bleed
With bleed (px)
Trim size (px at 300 dpi)
Bleed
With bleed (px)
Trim size (px at 300 dpi)
Bleed
With bleed (px)
Trim size (px at 300 dpi)
Bleed
With bleed (px)
Trim size (px at 300 dpi)
Bleed
With bleed (px)
Trim size (px at 300 dpi)
Bleed
With bleed (px)
What crop marks are for
Crop marks, also called trim marks, are short hairlines printed outside the bleed at each corner. They line up with the trim edges, so the printer can align the blade without measuring. They sit outside the design and are cut away with the bleed, so they never appear on the finished piece. You don't draw them yourself: a print PDF export adds them.
Photos that run off the page need a little extra thought. The part inside the bleed will be lost, so crop with that in mind: never let a face, a product or a line of text in the photo sit within the outer few millimetres. The photo also needs enough pixels to cover the bleed at 300 ppi, not just the trim; resolution for printing has the sums.
An A5 flyer with colour running to every edge. The background extends into the bleed; every word sits well inside the safe line.
Common bleed mistakes
Mistake
- Designing at the trim size and stretching it to add bleed
- A thin border close to the trim, which shows any drift
- Text right up to the edge because it looked fine on screen
- A white margin added round the design instead of bleed
- Exporting a PNG and hoping the printer adds bleed
Fix
- Extend the background itself, without scaling the layout
- Borders at least 5 mm inside the trim, or none at all
- Every word inside the safe line
- Colour all the way to the bleed edge
- A print PDF with bleed and crop marks
Borders deserve a special warning. A frame 2 mm from the edge will look uneven if the cut drifts by even 1 mm, because the eye compares the left and right sides instantly. Either keep borders generous or leave them out; certificate design shows how to frame a page safely.
How to set up bleed, step by step
- 1
Get the printer's specification
Trim size, bleed depth, safe area and preferred file type. Most printers publish these on their website.
- 2
Design at the finished size
Lay out the piece at its trim size so your margins and type sizes are true.
- 3
Let backgrounds run past the edge
Colour, gradients and photos should continue beyond the trim, not stop at it. Gradients are the easiest to extend because there is no subject to cut through.
- 4
Pull words inside the safe line
Check every corner. Page numbers, small print and QR codes are the usual culprits.
- 5
Export a print PDF
Choose bleed and crop marks in the export. Read print ready PDF for colour and font settings.
In Gradiently, Pro exports a print PDF with 3 mm of bleed and crop marks, so you design at the trim size and the export takes care of the rest. Because a gradient background has no edge detail, it continues into the bleed without anything important being cut. If gradients are new to you on paper, printing gradients covers banding and colour.
Questions people ask
What is bleed in printing?
Bleed is background that extends past the trim edge of a design. It is cut off after printing so colour reaches the very edge with no white sliver.
How much bleed do I need?
Usually 3 mm on every side in the UK and Europe and 0.125 inch in the US. Always check your printer's specification.
What is a safe margin in print?
An area 3 to 5 mm inside the trim where you keep text, logos and anything important, so the cut never touches them.
Do I need crop marks?
Most printers want them when the design has bleed. A print PDF export adds them automatically outside the design area.
What happens if I don't add bleed?
If colour runs to the edge, small cutting variations can leave thin white lines along one or more sides of the printed piece.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
See our profile