Printing 101: What Is Bleed?

Referring to the area of a page that extends beyond the trim edge, bleed is the border at which a print job begins. Printers build in a margin called “bleed” to account for any errors or discrepancies in cutting paper to size.

In general, the amount of bleed should be proportional to the size of the print job. If you make a print that measures one inch by two inches on your computer, for example, then it will be printed out to the dimension of two inches by one inch. This is because a two-inch wide sheet of paper has some space beyond which the image cannot be printed.

What does this mean for your print design?

The standard is that the page size should not extend beyond the bleed line. If you’re printing a print that measures 16 inches by 20 inches, and your printer can only print up to 17 inches by 19 inches, then you have to account for the space at the bottom border of your page. 

This is where your logo might go, your call to action, or it might just be blank white space on your page. This is why it’s important to separate your content from the background. If your page is made up of two-inch margins on four-inch, five-inch, and six-inch paper, your content should be able to fit within those margins.

Why is it important to check your print size before you submit?

There’s nothing worse than getting a print job, having it printed up, and realizing that you will have to modify the layout. If you have a bleed, there is a discrepancy with your design. 

Different printers interpret bleed lines differently. So if there’s a border at the bottom of your page, ensure that the image doesn’t extend beyond that border and get too close to where your paper begins.

More importantly, once the print job is altered, it will be more prone to errors and misprints. The customer will be more likely to look at what they just purchased and find a mistake with the design.