What’s Bleed and why do we need it?

Forget everything you learnt from colouring books. We want you to colour over those lines. By 3mm. Bleed or printers’ bleed is basically a failsafe that guarantees you don’t accidentally end up with any lily-white naked bits at the edge of your print job if paper shifts fractionally in the printer, etc. So, as the name suggests, the bleed technique is about extending your design or image 3mm beyond your intended size. For plenty of nice coverage before the guillotine trims it. Just like having your duvet slightly wider than your bed means less exposure and a comfier night’s sleep. Who creates bleed? Both bleed and trim marks are sorted by your designer as part of the design file set-up process, ready for your preferred printing establishment, us. But if you’re not sure, sing out. Here to help.