Bleed & Margins Explained

Ever had a print come back with a thin white line down one edge, or text cut off at the side? It nearly always comes down to three simple terms: bleed, trim and safe area. Once you know them, your artwork prints exactly the way you see it on screen.

A trimmed print on a workbench beside a steel ruler and scalpel
A finished print, trimmed to size.

The three terms, in plain English

BleedExtra artwork that runs past the edge of your design, so there is no white sliver if the cut moves a fraction of a millimetre.
TrimThe finished size of your print. This is where we cut it to.
Safe areaThe zone inside the trim where your text and logos should stay, so nothing gets clipped.

Why the cut is never perfect

We do not cut one card at a time. Sheets are stacked and cut together on a guillotine, then trimmed again after printing. Paper can shift by a fraction of a millimetre as the blade comes down, and that is completely normal. Bleed is how we make sure that tiny movement never shows.

Colourful offcut strips beside a stack of printed sheets on a guillotine
Those coloured strips on the cutter bed are the bleed. It is meant to be cut off.

What it looks like

Here is a standard business card, 85 x 55mm, with 3mm of bleed on every side. In our design editor, the red line marks the bleed and the green dashed line marks the safe area.

Bleed line
Trim: 85 x 55mm
Safe area
Your Name
Your Company
Full artwork size with bleed: 91 x 61mm. Finished card: 85 x 55mm.

Colour and background should run all the way to the red line. Text and logos should stay inside the green dashed line.

Bleed and no bleed, at the cut

The black marks in the corners are crop marks. They show where the blade goes. Left, the artwork runs out past them. Right, it stops on the line.

Your NameYour Company
With bleed
The pink dashed line is the bleed edge. Colour runs past the cut, so a small shift is invisible.
white edgeYour NameYour Company
Without bleed
Colour stops at the trim. If the blade drifts, a white edge can show.

What happens without bleed

If your colour stops exactly at the trim line, even a hair of movement leaves a thin white edge down one side. On a dark background it stands out a mile. Pushing your background past the edge gives the blade somewhere to go.

Stack of printed sheets under a guillotine blade with offcuts
A stack lined up under the blade. The cut happens on the line, with the bleed falling away.

The slips we see most

  • Text too close to the edge. It looks fine on screen, then the cut clips a letter. Keep it inside the green dashed line.
  • Background stops at the trim. This is the classic white sliver. Run it out to the red line.
  • Borders near the edge. A thin border only 2mm in will look lopsided if the cut moves. Keep borders well inside, or leave them out.
  • Logos right on the edge. Same problem as text. Give them space.
  • Bleed added by stretching. Stretching your whole design to fill the bleed pushes your text towards the edge. Extend the background only.

Good and bad

Good

Your Name
The background runs right to the bleed edge and the text sits well inside. Whatever happens at the cut, it looks clean.

Bad

Your Name
The background stops at the trim line, so a white edge can show. The text is too close to the edge and can be clipped.

Your 3-step checklist

  1. Size it right. Set up your artwork at the finished size plus 3mm of bleed on every side. For a business card that is 91 x 61mm.
  2. Push the background out. Extend colours, photos and patterns right to the bleed edge.
  3. Keep text safe. Keep text, logos and anything important inside the safe area, away from the edge.

Product-specific bleed and safe-area sizes shown on a template or product page always take priority, so check yours before you upload.

Setting it up in common tools

CanvaWhen you download, choose PDF Print and tick crop marks and bleed. Keep text away from the edge.
InDesign and IllustratorSet the bleed to 3mm in Document Setup before you start, then export as a print-quality PDF.
Word or PowerPointThese do not handle bleed well. Save as a PDF and send it over. If in doubt, ask us before you order.

Not sure which one applies to you? Send us your file and we will take a look before anything goes to print.

Need a hand getting set up?

Our free templates already have the bleed and safe lines in place. For file formats, colour and everything else, see our Print File Guidelines. Still not sure? Email us before you order and we will take a look.