What is Bleed in printing?

In printing, bleed is printing that goes beyond the edge of where the sheet will be trimmed. The bleed is the area that will be trimmed off.

Does your design require edge to edge printing? It can be very difficult to trim a job exactly on the edge of a design which is why we require bleed. In order to achieve the best result possible you will need to extend your design past the trim lines, so the design can easily be trimmed to size.

We have Design Templates available indicating:
- Finished size
- Size including bleed

Please contact us if you are unable to find the size you require or if you need a custom size template.

Pictures:

1. Business Card Template with 2mm bleed.
2. Business Card design supplied with background extended to 2mm bleed and text within the safe margin.
3. Typical example of design supplied with text close to the edge of the background.
4. What it looks like when we extend to 2mm bleed, text too close!

Tip: Extend your background only to the 2mm bleed and keep your design/text well within the acceptable safe margins for a great print result.