Why is bleed important in my print project?

Why is bleed important in my print project?

Bleed is a term in printing that is used to describe a document which has elements that touch the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge and leaving no white margin.

It is very difficult to print and trim exactly to the edge of a sheet, so to achieve this, it is necessary to print a slightly larger area than is needed and then trim the paper down to the required finished size.

On press, the artwork is printed on a large sheet of paper and then trimmed to size. If you do not allow for a 1/8 of an inch bleed, any misalignment while cutting will result with the artwork not running to the edge of the paper.

Common bleed is extended .125 beyond the border. This will ensure any art will get trimmed properly.

The same holds true to inside the crops. Please leave a .125 margin inside when using text close to the trim edge.