Prepare your Files with Bleed for your Color Printing Project

FILE PREPARATION and its influence in the PRINTING COST

An example will help

We will take as an example, a printed piece that once trimmed, will have an overall size of 8.5" wide x 11" tall.

On our graphic design software we will need to be set for an image size of 8.75"x11.25". The next paragraph explained how we came up with that number.

Width: Based on what was explained earlier, you should
Add 2 times 1/8" to your piece,
so the width should be set to: 8.5"+2x1/8"
which is the same as 8.5"+2x0.125" which equals 8.75"

Height: the same concept applies, so if the height of the document is to be 11", then the image in the file should be 11.25".

PRINTING COST: What does this bleed requirement mean in terms of the cost of printing with bleed:
• The paper size needed is bigger than 8.5"x11". Printing on a larger piece of paper becomes more expensive
• The paper needs to be trimmed. Trimming is a process that requires additional equipment and labor, therefore increasing the production costs.

A BIG ALERT NOTE: Keep in mind that the portion of the image that is printed outside of what is going to be the final size of the piece will be trimmed and removed. So the part of the image that goes into the bleed area should be the extra image that will go once trimmed.
What's the biggest error some designers do? Some people just expand the image that they want on their final piece. This is a mistake because expanding the image will result in trimming. Trimming removes part of the image so it results in a final piece that is different to what was expected.

Rule #1 for Bleed: Create bleed with "additional image", not by expanding your image

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