What is bleed in printing?
In short
Bleed is extra background or image that runs past the trim line, so there is no white edge if the cut is a fraction out. It is 3mm on most print and 5mm on stickers, correx boards and banners.
Bleed is the part of your design that extends beyond the finished size and is cut off after printing. Items are printed on larger sheets and trimmed down, and the cut can move a fraction. If a background stops exactly at the edge, that small movement leaves a thin white line. Bleed gives the blade colour to cut through.
How much bleed to add
| Product | Bleed on each edge | Example artwork size |
|---|---|---|
| Business cards | 3mm | 91 x 61mm for an 85 x 55mm card |
| Leaflets, folded leaflets, booklets, letterheads, compliment slips and posters | 3mm | 154 x 216mm for an A5 leaflet |
| Stickers | 5mm | 60 x 60mm for a 50mm circle |
| Correx boards and roller banners | 5mm | 430 x 604mm for an A2 board |
The artwork size is the trim size plus bleed on both sides, so 3mm bleed adds 6mm to each measurement and 5mm bleed adds 10mm.
What goes in the bleed
Extend backgrounds, photos and coloured panels right to the bleed edge. Keep text and logos out of it: anything in the bleed is trimmed away. Important content belongs inside the safe area, a margin inside the trim line.
If your design has a white border
If the edge of your design is plain white, the bleed can stay white too. A narrow border, though, shows any small movement in the cut, so on items smaller than A4 make borders at least 20mm wide or let the colour run into the bleed. Our bleed guide shows how to add bleed in common design programs, and the free automatic check looks for bleed on every file you upload.