Have you ever created a beautiful design and submitted it to the printer only to get back your business card or brochure with parts of the design cut off? You’re not the only one!
If you’re new to print, it can be an easy mistake to make – and sometimes an expensive one to correct, but knowing a little about the process (and the jargon) can help you avoid such a mishap and get the most of your print materials.
Bleed
Print technology is advancing all the time, but it’s still not an exact science and there is often a slight variation in the final trim size of your printed materials. Usually it is only a matter of a fraction of a centimetre, but if your colour and/or design only runs to the very edge of the trim area, you may end up with a white strip along one edge of your design. Avoiding this issue is a simple matter of creating a design that allows for that variation by including ‘bleed’ in your design beyond the trim area.
As a guideline you can use the following figures in your design templates:
Size |
Dimensions |
Allowing for bleed |
|
A3 |
420mm x 297mm |
427mm x 304mm |
|
A4 |
297mm x 210mm |
304mm x 217mm |
|
A5 |
210mm x 148mm |
217mm x 155mm |
|
A6 |
148mm x 105mm |
155mm x 112mm |
|
DL |
210mm x 99mm |
217mm x 106mm |
For best results, you need to make sure that there is no critical information within the bleed zone. Remember: it’s just there as a buffer and will almost all be cut away during trimming. It’s also a good idea to keep critical information away from the trim border, give yourself a minimum of 2 mm of space within the border area to ensure that nothing gets trimmed out.
For more information about any aspect of your print needs, give the experts at Kwik Kopy a call today!
