What is full-bleed printing?

What is full-bleed printing?

To get a design to the edge of the sheet, your document needs to be slightly larger than your intended final size. This is where “bleeds” come in—they are the design on your document that goes beyond the edge of the final size so that when the print is cut down, the design is at the edge of the sheet. The sheet size your full bleed document is printed on will be larger than your final document size to accommodate the entire file with bleeds.

Standard bleeds are 1/8” (0.125”) out from all edges of your final document size. It’s also good practice to ensure you have a margin—also called a safe area—of at least 1/8” (0.125”) in from the edges of your intended final size. This provides a safe zone in the event there is any shifting of the sheet when it is cut and prevents any important text or other elements from being cut off.

How do I create a design with bleeds?

Bleeds can be added in most design software. Here are some commonly used design programs and how to add bleeds to your document in them.

Adobe InDesign

Added in either the New Document Window or Document Setup. Bleeds are automatically added to the edges of your document size, so set the document size to your final size.

Adobe Illustrator

Added in the More Settings Window when creating a new file or in Document Setup.
Just like InDesign, the bleeds are added to the edges of your document size.

Exporting your file from InDesign or Illustrator

To include bleeds and crop marks on your PDF, you need to make a few selections when exporting your file for print.
In InDesign, go under File > Adobe PDF Presets > [High Quality Print]...
In Illustrator, go under File > Save As... > Select Adobe PDF as File Type.
You will then select the place you want to save your file.
You’ll be brought to the Adobe PDF window. Select the [High Quality Print] preset.
You will need to click Marks and Bleeds on the left side and turn on “Crop Marks” and “Use Document Bleed Settings”*.
*If exporting your PDF from InDesign for booklet printing, you will want to ensure you have bleeds only on the Top, Button, and Outside edges. You should also exclude Crop Marks.

Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Word & Publisher

Bleed allowance must be manually added to the document size and is not a defined field. Create your file 1/4” (0.25”) larger in both dimensions and increase your margins to account for the bleeds. I.e. 4x6 final size document should be created at 4.25x6.25”. You should select CMYK color space (when available) for printed items.

Adobe Express

Bleeds and Margins can be shown under the Margins menu in the toolbar.

When downloading your file for printing, you will want to choose PDF Print as the File Format. For non-wide format items (anything other than posters, banners, yard signs, etc.), you will want to turn the toggles ON for "Add crop marks" and "Show bleed".

Canva

We highly suggest showing Margins and Print Bleed under File > Settings, this will allow you to ensure elements are properly located on your design for printing

If your design is for a printed item other than a poster, there is an option to download your file with crop marks and bleed. Once your design is ready, go to the “Share” option and select “Download”. Here you should select “PDF Print” as the file type; then check the “Crop marks and bleed” and “Flatten PDF” check boxes to have the best print options.
*If you have Canva Pro, select CMYK as the color profile before downloading your file.