Bleed is the area of artwork extended beyond the dimension of the document – sounds confusing doesn’t it, but, it ensures that any strips of white paper showing on the edges of your print are avoided when cut to size. All objects in the artwork that touch the edges of the document require bleed.

We ask for 3mm bleed on all small format jobs, letterheads, flyer etc., and to ensure it is added to all sides of artwork. In addition to bleed, you should also use a ‘safe area’ inside of the document artwork. This is to stop objects looking like they are about to fall of the page or even worse actually get cropped off when the document is trimmed! The amount of margin we suggest is 5mm on small format, and 10mm on posters, this will change depending on the size of the overall design.

If you have any concerns about the size of bleed, how to add bleed, or determining your ‘safe area’ give us a call, we will talk you through it.

Can Touch add bleed if necessary?
In short yes we can in many cases, but this isn’t great as if we don’t have a font you have used, or an image isn’t embedded things could end up messy! It is always best to add it from the start of the design process. Keep an eye out for templates of our ‘best sellers’ that are coming soon to make this easier for you.