Blog
Looking to print your own personal design? It is important to understand the correct way of saving and submitting a file, particularly if you would like to include a bleed (elements extending beyond the edge of the page) in your file. Check out these helpful tips for preparing and properly saving art before sending to your commercial printer so that the project can proceed as efficiently as possible, without delays or potentially added costs.
Bleed is a printing term that describes a document, which has images or elements that touch the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge and leaving no white margin. When a document has bleed, it must be printed on a larger sheet of paper and then trimmed down.
The method of adding bleeds to a document is slightly different depending on the program you're using. Please use the appropriate instructions below.
Prepare the document at the size you want the final piece to be printed. Make sure all copy (wording) is at least 1/4" (0.25) away from the edge of the document. To make a bleed on a document, extend any color or images outside of the document edges by 1/8" (0.125). This will create a bleed. Please follow the directions below for creating a PDF with bleed for print.
Since Photoshop isn't a document layout program, you'll need to use a workaround for this. You will need to build your document larger than the final size and figure the bleed into the size of the document. For instance, if you want an 8.5 x 11 finished piece, you would have to make your document 8.75 x 11.25. Place anything you want to bleed off the page in that extra 1/8” on each side. Remember, the 1/8" is bleed and you must set all text at least 3/4" from the edge of the document. Technically, the text will only be 1/4" from the edge when it’s printed. It is imperative to inform the person printing your job that you created the file in Photoshop and built the bleed into the document size.
If you're preparing your document in Canva, you'll add bleeds by going to File > View Settings and selecting Show print bleed. If you see white gaps around the design edges, you may want to resize or stretch your background to cover them. However, if the white gaps are beyond the dashed line, you may not need to make adjustments since they will be trimmed from the final printed document anyway.
You can’t have a document with bleeds, as this program was built for word processing and not for design.
When exporting or creating a DPF for print from such programs as InDesign, Illustrator, Publisher, or QuarkExpress, use these settings to be sure your PDF file is exported correctly.
If you want any images or color to bleed off the page (print to the edge of the paper) you must set-up your document to include bleeds. The bleed must be 1/8" (0.125).
Please tell the printer that bleed is built into the size of the document.
If you have any further questions, please ask them in the comments below and we will be happy to answer them for you!
asi/226343
Our sister company, Navitas Marketing, can provide and execute a marketing strategy complete with website development, online marketing, trade show marketing, video production and photography, media placement, and much more!
Cheryl Popoutsis
Posted: September 13, 2020 at 12:44 PM
I tried to export in Publisher and the only options were print quality and file type. There were no boxes for crop marks, allow bleed and bleed marks.