What is bleed?

Bleed is artwork that runs past the trim line, so a slightly off cut never leaves a white edge. Here's how bleed, trim, and the safe area fit together.

Know the three lines

Printers usually print on a larger sheet, then cut it down. The cut can drift slightly from sheet to sheet, so your file plans for it with three lines:

• Bleed edge: the outer edge of your file. Backgrounds and images that touch the page edge extend to here, and this strip gets cut off.
• Trim line: where the blade cuts. This is the finished size of your piece.
• Safe area: a margin inside the trim. Keep text, logos, and anything important inside it.

Add 0.125 in or 3 mm of bleed

The typical bleed is 0.125 in (1/8 in) per side in the US, and 3 mm per side in most other countries. Some products, such as packaging and large-format prints, need more. Your printer's spec wins.

Add bleed to every edge, so the file grows by twice the bleed in each direction:

Then stretch every background, photo, and shape that touches the page edge out to the bleed edge.

Keep text inside the safe area

A typical safe margin is about 0.125–0.25 in (3–6 mm) inside the trim line. Anything closer to the edge risks being cut or looking cramped.

Bound documents, such as books and booklets, need a wider margin on the bound edge, called the gutter.

Add crop marks only if asked

Crop marks (or trim marks) are short lines outside the bleed that line up with the trim line. They show where to cut, and are cut away with the bleed.

Many printers, especially online ones, prefer files without crop marks. A print-ready PDF can record the trim size in the file instead.

Set up bleed in your design tool

• InDesign: set bleed in File > New > Document under Bleed and Slug. When you export the PDF, turn on Use Document Bleed Settings under Marks and Bleeds.
• Illustrator: set bleed in File > New, or later in File > Document Setup.
• Canva: turn on File > Settings > Show print bleed. When you download as PDF Print, tick Crop marks and bleed.
• Figma: there's no bleed setting. Print for Figma adds it when it creates your page. See Bleed & Crop Marks.

Avoid common mistakes

• No bleed at all. Backgrounds stop at the trim line, and a small shift leaves a white edge.
• Bleed on some edges only. Every edge that artwork touches needs bleed.
• Scaling the whole layout up to the bleed size. That pushes text toward the cut. Keep the layout at trim size and extend only the edge artwork.
• Text in the bleed. Anything past the trim line is cut off.