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Bleed is extra background that runs past the trim line of your design, so the cut goes through colour instead of leaving a thin white edge. Most print needs 3mm of bleed on every side, so an 85 x 55mm business card is supplied at 91 x 61mm; stickers, signs and banners need 5mm. The safe area is the margin inside the trim, 5mm on most small items, where text and logos stay clear of the cut.
Trim, bleed and safe area
- Trim line: the finished size, where the item is cut. A UK business card trims to 85 x 55mm.
- Bleed: the band outside the trim line. Backgrounds and pictures stretch to its outer edge, and it is cut away. With 3mm on every side, a business card file is 91 x 61mm.
- Safe area: the zone inside the trim where everything important belongs. With a 5mm safe area, a business card has a 75 x 45mm box for text, logos and QR codes.
Our business card template shows all three: the red bleed edge of the 91 x 61mm page, the black 85 x 55mm trim line and the blue dashed safe area, as a preview, PDF and SVG.
Bleed and safe area for every product
The artwork size is the finished size plus the bleed on every side. The safe area is measured in from the trim line.
| Product | Finished size (mm) | Bleed | Safe area | Artwork size with bleed (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business cards | 85 x 55 | 3mm | 5mm | 91 x 61 |
| Leaflets A6 / A5 / A4 / DL | 105 x 148 / 148 x 210 / 210 x 297 / 99 x 210 | 3mm | 5mm | 111 x 154 / 154 x 216 / 216 x 303 / 105 x 216 |
| Folded leaflets (A4 flat, folded to A5 or DL) | 297 x 210 | 3mm | 5mm from the trim and from each fold | 303 x 216 |
| Stapled booklets A5 / A4 (each page) | 148 x 210 / 210 x 297 | 3mm | 8mm | 154 x 216 / 216 x 303 |
| Letterheads A4 | 210 x 297 | 3mm | 10mm | 216 x 303 |
| Compliment slips DL, landscape | 210 x 99 | 3mm | 5mm | 216 x 105 |
| Posters A3 / A2 / A1 / A0 | 297 x 420 / 420 x 594 / 594 x 841 / 841 x 1189 | 3mm | 10mm | 303 x 426 / 426 x 600 / 600 x 847 / 847 x 1195 |
| Stickers 50mm circle / 50 x 50mm square / 55 x 85mm rectangle | 50 / 50 x 50 / 55 x 85 | 5mm | 3mm | 60 x 60 / 60 x 60 / 65 x 95 |
| Sticker sheets 50mm circle / 52 x 52mm square / 55 x 85mm rectangle (one sticker) | 50 / 52 x 52 / 55 x 85 | 5mm | 3mm | 60 x 60 / 62 x 62 / 65 x 95 |
| Correx boards A3 / A2 / A1 / A0 | 297 x 420 / 420 x 594 / 594 x 841 / 841 x 1189 | 5mm | 10mm | 307 x 430 / 430 x 604 / 604 x 851 / 851 x 1199 |
| Foamex boards A3 / A2 / A1 / A0 | 297 x 420 / 420 x 594 / 594 x 841 / 841 x 1189 | 5mm | 10mm | 307 x 430 / 430 x 604 / 604 x 851 / 851 x 1199 |
| Aluminium composite signs A3 / A2 / A1 / A0 | 297 x 420 / 420 x 594 / 594 x 841 / 841 x 1189 | 5mm | 10mm | 307 x 430 / 430 x 604 / 604 x 851 / 851 x 1199 |
| Roller banners | 850 x 2000 / 1000 x 2000 | 5mm | 10mm top and sides; text clear of the bottom 160mm | 860 x 2010 / 1010 x 2010 |
| PVC banners | 1500 x 500 / 2000 x 1000 / 2400 x 600 / 3000 x 1000 / 4000 x 1000 | 5mm | 50mm (hems and eyelets) | 1510 x 510 / 2010 x 1010 / 2410 x 610 / 3010 x 1010 / 4010 x 1010 |
To work out any artwork size, add the bleed twice to each measurement: 85 + 3 + 3 = 91mm. On a roller banner the base can cover the bottom of the banner, so keep text and logos clear of the bottom 160mm and fill that strip with background only. On a PVC banner the edges are hemmed and eyelets go through the hem, which is why the safe area is 50mm.
Our free print templates have these lines drawn in for every size, and our artwork guidelines list the same figures.
Why 3mm, and why 5mm on some products
Print is cut in stacks, and the cut can move by a small amount from sheet to sheet. If your background stops exactly at the trim line, that movement can leave a hairline of white on one edge. Bleed gives the blade colour to cut through. Adobe's guide to setting a print bleed calls 3mm (0.125in) standard, and notes that some printers ask for more.
Stickers, sticker sheets, correx boards, foamex boards, aluminium composite signs, roller banners and PVC banners need 5mm. The production specification for these products asks for it, and it leaves more artwork under the cut if the cut lands a little outside the trim line. The safe area on stickers is 3mm.
What goes wrong without bleed or a safe area
- A thin white edge: the background stopped at the trim line and the cut moved slightly. Stretch the background to the outer edge of the bleed.
- Text cut off or touching the edge: it sat outside the safe area. Move it inside.
- Edges lost: a finished-size file was enlarged to add bleed, which pushes content outwards. Build the file at the artwork size instead.
A white background or border still needs a safe area
A plain white background still needs the safe area: text close to the edge can be trimmed whatever colour sits behind it. Supply the file at the full artwork size anyway; the bleed simply stays white.
Borders need extra care. A thin frame near the edge shows every small movement in the cut, so one side looks wider than the other. On anything smaller than A4, make any border at least 20mm wide, or leave it out. On a business card or sticker, a design with no border, or a background that runs into the bleed, usually looks neater.
How to add bleed in your software
Our guide to setting up a PDF for print gives the full export settings. In short:
Canva
Create a custom design at the artwork size with bleed, in millimetres: 91 x 61mm for a business card, 60 x 60mm for a 50mm sticker. Leave Show print bleed turned off, run backgrounds to the edge of the page, keep text the bleed plus the safe area in from the edge (8mm on a business card), and download as PDF Print with Crop marks and bleed unticked. This is the only way to get 5mm of bleed, because Canva's own bleed is fixed at 0.125in, about 3.2mm (Canva: margins, bleed and crop marks). Our Canva to print guide gives the size for every product.
Word
Word has no bleed setting, so make the page itself the artwork size. In Page Setup, on the Paper tab, choose Custom size and enter the width and height, as Microsoft describes in Page Setup paper options. For a business card that is 9.1 x 6.1cm, with 0.8cm margins (3mm bleed plus 5mm safe area).
InDesign
Create the document at the trim size and enter 3mm (or 5mm) as the bleed when you set it up. Extend backgrounds to the bleed guide, then export the PDF with the document bleed included.
Affinity
Set the bleed in Document Setup, extend backgrounds to the bleed guide, and tick Include bleed when you export the PDF, as Affinity's help on publishing PDF files describes.
Checking bleed before you pay
When you upload your file in the basket, a free automatic check looks at size, bleed, colour mode, resolution and fonts. If the page is the wrong size or the bleed is missing, it tells you straight away. The on-screen proof then shows the trim line, bleed and safe area on your design before you approve it and pay. For a person to check it too, add a manual proof; the fee is shown in the basket. Our page on proofs and file checks explains what is checked and what is not, and our business card size guide works through one example in detail.
Questions
What is bleed in printing? Bleed is extra background that runs past the trim line of your design, so the cut goes through colour rather than leaving a white hairline at the edge. On most of our products it is 3mm on every side, so a business card file is 91 x 61mm. Stickers, signs (correx, foamex and aluminium composite) and banners need 5mm.
Why is bleed 3mm? Print is cut in stacks, and the cut can move by a small amount from sheet to sheet. 3mm on every edge gives enough background to cover that movement on paper products without taking space from your design. The production specification for stickers, signs and banners asks for 5mm, so we ask for 5mm on those.
What is the safe area? The safe area is the zone inside the trim line where text, logos and QR codes belong. It is 5mm on business cards, leaflets, folded leaflets and compliment slips, 3mm on stickers, 8mm on booklet pages, 10mm on letterheads, posters, correx, foamex, aluminium signs and roller banners, and 50mm on PVC banners. Anything outside it risks being trimmed.
Do I need bleed if my design has a white background? You do not need coloured bleed, but supply the file at the full artwork size anyway, with the bleed left white, so it matches the size the automatic check expects. You still need the safe area: text close to the edge can be trimmed whatever colour is behind it, so keep it well inside.
Why is there a thin white line on the edge of my print? The background stopped at the trim line instead of running into the bleed, and the cut moved very slightly. The fix is to extend background colours and pictures to the outer edge of the artwork size, which is 3mm (or 5mm) beyond the trim on every side. Our free upload check looks at the bleed before you pay.
How do I add bleed in Word? Word has no bleed setting. Make the page itself the artwork size with bleed using a custom paper size, for example 9.1 x 6.1cm for a business card. Set the margins to the bleed plus the safe area, 0.8cm for a card, and stretch background shapes to the page edge before saving as PDF.
How do I add bleed in Canva? Enter the artwork size with bleed as a custom size in millimetres, such as 91 x 61mm for a business card or 604 x 851mm for an A1 correx board. Leave Show print bleed off, run backgrounds to the page edge, and download PDF Print with Crop marks and bleed unticked. Canva's own bleed is about 3.2mm, not enough for 5mm products.
Can I add bleed to a design I have already finished? Yes, but do not stretch it. Make the page or document bigger by the bleed on every side, keep the content where it was, then extend the background colours and pictures out to the new edge. Then check that text still sits inside the safe area.