What is Print Bleed?
Imagine you’re creating an awesome poster with a colorful background that goes all the way to the edges. When you print it, you don’t want any weird white borders showing up, right? That’s where “print bleed” comes in.
Print bleed is like a little extra buffer zone around your artwork. It’s a small margin (usually about 3mm) added to each side of your design. This extra space ensures that when your artwork is printed and trimmed, the colors and images go right to the edge without any white gaps.
Why is Print Bleed Used?
Here’s why print bleed is super important:
- Avoid White Edges: When printing and cutting your design, slight shifts can happen. Print bleed makes sure that even if there’s a tiny misalignment during cutting, your design still looks perfect without any unintentional white edges.
- Professional Finish: It makes your printed pieces look polished and professional. Think of it as an insurance policy for your artwork.
- Design Freedom: You can get creative with your designs, knowing that the edges will be just as vibrant and complete as the rest of your work.
How Does It Work?
Here’s the lowdown:
- Add the Bleed Area: When you’re designing (like in Canva), add a bleed area to your project. This means extending your background colors and images beyond the actual size you want your final print to be.
- Design to the Edge: Make sure important text or images stay within the “safe zone” (inside the bleed area), so they don’t get cut off.
- Trim after Printing: Once printed, the bleed area gets trimmed off, leaving you with a flawless edge-to-edge design.
Quick Example
If your final artwork size is 127x178mm, you add a 3mm bleed around each edge. So, your design size becomes 133x184mm. After printing, the extra 3mm on each side is trimmed off, and you’re left with a perfect 127x178mm print with no pesky white borders.
And that’s print bleed in a nutshell! It might seem like a tiny detail, but it makes a huge difference in how your printed designs turn out. Happy designing!
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