(If you're amending an existing design that was incorrectly supplied for printing without bleed, skip to the end of this article to fix your artwork!)
What is bleed and do I need it?
You only need to add bleed if your design goes right to the edge of the page. If it does, you need to include an extra 3mm on all sides of your artboard/document and extend your design into this area. This is to stop white edges of the card showing when the card is trimmed to size after printing.
If your design requires bleed, you'll need to follow these steps whether you're ordering digital printing, Letterpress or Hot Foil Press with or without die cutting.
Step 1. Get it right at the start!
When you create a new artboard (Illustrator) or document (InDesign) you can add 3mm bleed in the settings. (If you're using Illustrator make sure your Color Mode is CMYK for printing at the same time! 😃)
New artboard in Illustrator | New document in InDesign |
Create your design - for simplicity we've used a photograph that's to the edge of the design, and therefore requires bleed.
It's the same idea if you're creating a border to the edge of your design - the border must be a minimum 5mm wide and extend into the bleed.
Step 2. Saving or Exporting your PDF with bleed
The final step is to make sure you Save As (Illustrator) or Export (InDesign) your PDF with bleed and crop marks included. Make sure you check the correct check boxes!!
Save As PDF in Illustrator with correct settings for high quality printing, (Trim) crop marks and bleed. |
Export PDF in InDesign with correct settings for high quality printing, crop marks and bleed. |
Fixing your artwork in Illustrator if you've supplied your artwork without bleed:
1) Open your Illustrator document.
2) Go to File/Document Setup
3) Change bleed settings to 3mm - click Ok
4) Extend/scale/move your artwork into the bleed area.
5) Save as PDF with correct settings. | |
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