Guide to Printing Bleeds and Graphic Design

A bleed as it pertains to graphic design, is the area outside of a graphic, image, document, etc. that extends beyond the edge of planned printed page. For example:

You want some graphic element of your printed design to extend beyond the edges of a page. Giving the effect of of actually falling off the constrains of the printed piece itself.

Bleeds within a graphic design or document can create very beautiful effects, and make your design look professional. See the picture associated with this article to illustrate exactly how a bleed works and an example of when it can be used.

It's important to note that most printers cannot create a natural bleed because the rollers that print the ink need a large enough piece of the part to grasp on to. So, there will always be a margin of some kind if you intend on using a printing service such as: Kinkos, Staples, OfficeMAX, etc. If you want to fully achieve the print effect of a bleed, you should find a professional printing service in your area, or purchase a professional printer for your business needs.

To get the bleed effect without going to a professional printing company, you can print your document on 11x17 or any size bigger than the document you wish to create. Then, use a paper cutter to accurately resize the document.

TIP: Office Depot, Kinkos, OfficeMax do not have the capabilities to print bleeds.

If you've ever been involred with graphic design or graphic printing, you have probably been given specs that involved bleeds as well. With Adobe Photoshop you can create bleeds by simply offsetting the design a specific set distance from the margin, most of the time you can use guides. Adobe InDesign has an option to create bleeds very easily and exactly in a more precise way, as InDesign is specifically made for dealing with document handling and desktop publishing.

When preparing a set document, booklet or graphic, you will want to make sure your design is offset to bleed more on one side than the other. Because, once the pages are printed they will be bound together, thus taking extra paper on the inside or outside of the page document when it is binded with the other pages.