Layout for
Printing
Bleed
When preparing a document to send to a printer,
there are several specifications and elements to
include in your layout. These specs help to ensure It is often necessary to have images and other
that the printer will provide your final project as
design elements extend all the way to the edge of
intended.
your printed page. If in your layout these elements
only extended to the edge, and not beyond, you
would risk a tiny bit of white space showing up on
the edge of your paper if it was not cut exactly on the
trim marks. For this reason, you have bleeds. Bleeds
Trim marks, or crop marks, show the printer where
are images that extend beyond the live area of the
to cut the paper. For a standard layout, such as a
page (and beyond the trim marks) to guarantee
business card or poster, trim marks are small lines
clean edges. Background colors are an example of a
located in each corner of the document. One line
shows the horizontal cut, and one shows the vertical common use of a bleed.
Trim marks
cut. Since you don’t want these lines to actually show The amount that your images need to extend beyond
up on your printed piece, trim marks are placed
the trim marks is referred to as the bleed. Be sure
outside of the final visible, or “live,” area.
to consult your printer at the start of a job to find out
the required amount of bleed, which is often around
When working in graphics software such as
one-eighth of an inch. In your graphics software,
Illustrator, you can set your trim marks to be
shown on screen and automatically placed in your you can use guides to mark your bleed area, which
does not need to show up in the final document that
final document export, such as a PDF. If you have
you deliver. Just make sure any image that needs to
downloaded templates from a printer, the trim
extend to the edge of the page actually extends to
marks will often already be included.
your bleed guides.
Trimmed page size
The trimmed page size is the final intended size of
your pages, after being cut along the trim marks. This
size is important to supply to the printer because it will
determine what machines will be used to print your
job, which will affect the final cost. When starting
a project, the size you create your document at in a
graphics program is the trimmed page size.
Margin or safety
Just as images that should bleed should extend
beyond the live area of your layout, images that you
don’t want to risk getting clipped should stay within
a margin, sometimes referred to as a “safety.” Again,
consult your printer for these measurements. Just
as with bleeds, you can set up guides to help stay
within your margins.
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