What are crops and bleed?
By Jenny Wickham In information On August 30, 2015
What are crops and bleed?
A question I am asked when clients supply me with their print ready artwork.
I thought it would be great to give you some tips on providing your own {print ready artwork} over the next coming months I am going to cover the various different printing terms with you, and so you can understand what print ready artwork really is. Some of my clients provide their own print ready artwork, I don’t just offer graphic design, but provide print solutions too, if you can provide your own print ready artwork, you may already know how to do this, but for those who are not sure I am hoping you will enjoy these informative blogs that are coming up.
The diagram above should hopefully explain what is required. If your design is not on a white background, then you need to provide {bleed} – this needs to be at least 3mm, the reason for bleed, is that when the job is trimmed, this area is trimmed off, so no important information or text should be in this area. You should also allow 3mm (at least) on the inside of the trim line – the {safe area} again no important information or text inside this area. This allows for the tolerances of the finishing process, should it move 1 or 2mm, your information is not trimmed off.
Example – Business cards are 86 x 54mm finished size, the job should be supplied as 92 x 60mm to include the extra bleed area. Some software packages such as Indesign, Illustrator, Corel Draw and Quark Express have settings built in that when you save the file as a print ready PDF, you select crops and bleed – making sure you have added the extra bleed on the pasteboard of course. But if you are using Photoshop, you just need to make sure your image is oversize by 3mm all round. All images/photos/background design should extend into the bleed area. Use guides to help you see the different areas you are working with.
Crop marks – these are the marks used by the print finisher to cut your job to size. Most programs add these when creating the final print ready PDF. They are not essential, if you are supplying your artwork to a professional, they can apply them afterwards in their imposition software. The most important thing is to make sure there is bleed.
