Bleeds in Printing

Bleed is a printing term used to describe a document with images or elements that touch the edge of the page, extending beyond the trim edge. If your piece requires the ink to print to the edge of the paper with no white space, it is said to have a bleed. A bleed is the area of your image that will be trimmed away after printing. This may require that your image be created slightly larger (.125″ on all four sides) to accommodate the trimming. It is usually less expensive to print a non-bleed product.

COMMON DOCUMENT & THEIR MEASUREMENTS WITH BLEED

• 3.5” x 2“ business card  —>  3.75” x 2.25”
• 4” x 6” postcard      —>       4.25” x 6.25”
• 4.25” x 5.5” postcard—>      4.5” x 5.75”
• 5” x 7” invitation     —>        5.25” x 7.25”
• 5.5” x 8.5” sheet     —>       5.75 x 8.75”
• 8.5” x 11” sheet     —>        8.75” x 11.25”
• 11” x 17” sheet      —>        11.25” x 17.25”
• 12” x 18” sheet      —>        12.25” x 18.25”

Bleed (printing) – Wikipedia