Key facts
- Bleed is artwork extended beyond the trim line, usually 3 mm per edge
- It allows for small movement when sheets are cut
- An A5 flyer with 3 mm bleed is 154 × 216 mm
- A business card with bleed is 91 × 61 mm
- Keep text inside a safe zone of 3 to 5 mm from the trim
- Only items with colour or images running to the edge need bleed
Why bleed exists
Printers do not print one flyer at a time on a flyer-sized sheet. They print many items on a larger sheet, then cut them out with a guillotine. Paper shifts slightly as it runs through the press and when stacks are cut, so the cut can land a fraction of a millimetre away from the intended line.
If your design has a background colour or photo running to the edge, and it stops exactly at the edge, any small shift leaves a thin white sliver of unprinted paper. Bleed solves this by extending the colour past the cut line. If the cut moves slightly, it still lands on printed colour.
Three lines to know: bleed, trim and safe zone
- Bleed line: the outer edge of your artwork, typically 3 mm beyond the trim. Everything between the bleed and trim lines is cut off.
- Trim line: the finished size of the item, where the guillotine is meant to cut.
- Safe zone: an inner margin, usually 3 to 5 mm inside the trim, where all text, logos and important details must sit so they are never cut or crowded against the edge.
Think of it as three boxes inside each other. Background colours and photos fill to the outer box. The finished item is the middle box. Anything that must be read stays inside the inner box.
Common sizes with bleed
| Item | Trim size | Size with 3 mm bleed |
|---|---|---|
| UK business card | 85 × 55 mm | 91 × 61 mm |
| A6 flyer | 105 × 148 mm | 111 × 154 mm |
| A5 flyer | 148 × 210 mm | 154 × 216 mm |
| DL leaflet | 99 × 210 mm | 105 × 216 mm |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 216 × 303 mm |
| A3 poster | 297 × 420 mm | 303 × 426 mm |
Large-format items such as banners, exhibition graphics and packaging often need more bleed, and some printers ask for 2 mm or 5 mm. Always check the printer's spec sheet.
Notice that bleed adds 6 mm to each dimension, not 3 mm, because it is added to both opposite edges. Setting up a business card at 88 × 58 mm is one of the most common mistakes printers see.
How to add bleed
In professional layout software such as Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, set the bleed when creating the document, extend background elements to the red bleed guide, and tick "use document bleed settings" when exporting to PDF. Add crop marks if your printer asks for them.
In Canva, switch on the print bleed option from the file menu and tick crop marks and bleed when downloading a PDF for print. In Microsoft Word and most office software there is no true bleed, which is one reason printers struggle with Word files.
If you have finished artwork without bleed, extending a flat colour is easy. Extending a photograph is harder: the image needs to be enlarged, or the edge rebuilt in Photoshop, which a designer can do. Avoid simply scaling the whole design up to cover the bleed, because that pushes text closer to the trim and can break the safe zone.
Bleed on folded and bound items
Folded leaflets need bleed on the outer edges only, not at the folds. Booklets and brochures need bleed on the outer edges of every page; the printer handles the spine. For saddle-stitched brochures with many pages, inner pages are trimmed slightly more than outer ones because of creep, so keep text well inside the safe zone near the outer edge. Read how to prepare print-ready artwork for the full checklist.
When to call dijitul
Every piece of print design from dijitul is supplied with correct bleed, crop marks and safe zones for your printer's spec: flyers and leaflets from £95 + VAT, business cards from £75 + VAT, brochures from £295 + VAT. If a printer has rejected your file for missing bleed, we can fix it at £45 an hour + VAT. Get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
How much bleed do UK printers need?
3 mm on every edge is the standard for most UK printers on flyers, leaflets, business cards, posters and brochures. Some large-format and packaging printers ask for more, and a few for 2 mm, so always check the printer's specification before exporting.
Do I need bleed if my design has a white border?
No. Bleed is only needed where colour, images or graphics run to the edge of the finished item. If everything sits inside a white margin, the printer can trim without any risk of white slivers. Many printers still prefer the bleed area set up anyway.
What happens if I send artwork without bleed?
The printer may reject it, or print it and trim slightly inside the edge, cutting into your design, or leave thin white edges where the cut drifts. Some printers will add bleed by stretching the artwork, which can distort it.
What is the difference between bleed and the safe zone?
Bleed extends outward past the trim so colour reaches the edge. The safe zone is an inner margin, usually 3 to 5 mm inside the trim, that keeps text and logos away from the cut. Print-ready artwork needs both.
What size is a business card with bleed?
A UK business card is 85 × 55 mm trimmed. With 3 mm bleed on each side, the artwork should be 91 × 61 mm. Keep text at least 3 mm inside the trim. dijitul designs business cards from £75 + VAT set up this way.
Can you add bleed to my existing artwork?
Yes. dijitul can extend backgrounds and images, set crop marks and re-export a print-ready PDF to your printer's spec. Small fixes like this are charged at £45 an hour + VAT, and we will tell you if anything else in the file needs attention.
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