# Print bleed and safe margins: how much to add and why

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/bleed-and-margins)

Printers cut stacks of paper with a blade that can drift by a millimetre or two. Bleed and safe margins are how a design survives that, and they take five minutes to set up.

## 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.

**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:

```text
+------------------------------------+  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.
```

The three lines of a print file. Only the middle one, the trim, is the size of the finished piece.

| Line | Where it is | What belongs there |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bleed edge | 3 mm or 0.125 in outside the trim | Background colour, gradients, photos that run off the page |
| Trim line | The finished size, such as A5 | Nothing in particular; it is where the cut falls |
| Safe line | 3 to 5 mm inside the trim | Text, logos, QR codes, faces, borders |

For large pieces such as posters and roll up banners, printers often ask for a deeper safe area of 10 mm or more.

## 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.

| Piece | Trim size (px at 300 dpi) | Bleed | With bleed (px) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A5 flyer | 1748 × 2480 | 3 mm | 1819 × 2551 |
| A4 poster | 2480 × 3508 | 3 mm | 2551 × 3579 |
| US Letter | 2550 × 3300 | 0.125 in | 2625 × 3375 |
| Postcard 6 × 4 in | 1800 × 1200 | 0.125 in | 1875 × 1275 |
| Invitation 5 × 7 in | 1500 × 2100 | 0.125 in | 1575 × 2175 |
| Business card 3.5 × 2 in | 1050 × 600 | 0.125 in | 1125 × 675 |

Pixel sizes rounded to the nearest pixel. Formats and their uses are covered in [poster sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/poster-size-guide), [business card design](https://gradiently.design/guide/business-card-design) and [flyer design](https://gradiently.design/guide/flyer-design).

## 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](https://gradiently.design/guide/image-resolution-for-print) has the sums.

An A5 night market flyer with a gradient running off every edge and the text kept clear of the borders

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](https://gradiently.design/guide/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](https://gradiently.design/guide/pdf-for-print) 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](https://gradiently.design/guide/print-gradients) covers banding and colour.

## FAQ

### 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.