In digital printing or offset printing, bleed is printing that goes beyond the edge of where the sheet will be cut or trimmed In other words, the bleed is the area to be trimmed off. The bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Artwork and background colors often extend into the bleed area. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. It’s to make sure the prints are cut into the designated shape with a similar look of what is desired to be printed out.
Bleeds are needed as it is very difficult to print exactly to the edge of a sheet of paper/card, so to achieve this, it is necessary to print a slightly larger area than is needed and then trim the artwork like namecards, photocards, postcards, flyers, brochures, invitation cards, stickers or anything that needs to be printed out nicely. Images, background images and fills which are intended to extend to the edge of the page must be extended beyond the trim line to give a bleed.
This is an example of a postcard image with a foam board backing. This is before cutting the image.
Below is how it will look like with specifics:
Red line: Bleed
Black solid line: Trimming line
Black dotted line: Safety margin
So why is a safety margin needed for invitation cards, namecards, postcards, flyers, brochures and stickers? Simply put, we would want text or any important information to be away from the edge to look aesthetically pleasing. Thus, even after accounting for bleed, make sure to leave some spaces away from the sides to make sure your photocards, name cards, invitation cards, postcards, flyers, brochures and stickers look good.
How much bleed do I need?
Generally, for namecards or anything that needs to be printed on both sides, 3mm on each side would be optimal. Example, if your postcard is A6 size which is 105x148mm. Your overall artwork has to be 111x154mm as you need to add 3mm on each side for the prints.
What about single sided prints like stickers? You could still use 3mm as the base guideline for your prints but there is no fixed number. So it’s safer to have at least 2mm to 3 mm on each side to make sure your prints and stickers look aligned and even after you process your prints.
As for large format printing like posters, banners and large displays. How much bleed do I need? You could use more to about 1-3cm on each side to be safe.
How do I add bleed to my prints?
How do I add bleed to my namecards, invitation cards, postcards, flyers, photocards, brochures, stickers, posters and banners before sending it to my local print shop before printing? You can use softwares like Adobe illustrator or free softwares like inkscape to do so. Or, you could pay your designers and ask if your local printing shop could help you with this service. Better yet, they might be nice enough to teach you how to add it onto your print!