Bleed for Printing

Bleed is the extra artwork outside the final Trim Size. It is cut away during production, allowing images, colors, and patterns to reach the finished edge without leaving an unprinted line.

For most book files, use 3 mm or 0.125 inch on each side, unless the production template specifies another value. 

Bleed Size Calculation

Add the bleed twice to both the width and height:

Artwork width = finished width + left bleed + right bleed

Artwork height = finished height + top bleed + bottom bleed

In InDesign and Illustrator, keep the document or artboard at the finished size and enter the bleed separately. In Photoshop, the canvas itself usually needs to include the additional area.

Bleed on Interior Pages

Bleed is required on any page where an image, illustration, background, or color block reaches the top, bottom, inside, or outside edge.

A page with white margins and no edge-to-edge artwork does not need the background artificially extended. Important content should remain within the Safe Area.

For two-page illustrations, keep the left and right pages aligned as designed. Do not manually arrange the interior into printer spreads; the printer handles imposition after the pages are approved.

Bleed on Book Covers

For a paperback cover, bleed runs around the outside perimeter of the complete back-cover, spine, and front-cover spread. There is no bleed between the back cover, spine, and front cover because those divisions are folds, not trimmed edges.

For example, a 6 × 9 inch paperback with a 0.5 inch spine and 0.125 inch bleed requires:

• Width: 6 + 0.5 + 6 + 0.25 = 12.75 inches

• Height: 9 + 0.25 = 9.25 inches

Hardcover turn-ins, joints, board gaps, and dust-jacket flaps are structural allowances rather than standard bleed. Use the final Book Cover Template instead of adding 3 mm around each individual panel.

Set Bleed in Adobe InDesign

1. Open File > Document Setup.

2. Expand Bleed and Slug.

3. Enter 3 mm or 0.125 in and keep the link icon active if all sides use the same value.

4. Extend edge-to-edge objects to the red bleed guide.

To export, choose File > Export > Adobe PDF (Print). Under Marks and Bleeds, enable Use Document Bleed Settings. Add crop marks only when they are specifically requested.

Set Bleed in Adobe Illustrator

1. Open File > Document Setup.

2. Enter the bleed values for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right.

3. Extend the artwork from the artboard edge to the red bleed boundary.

4. Save the file as Adobe PDF.

5. In Marks and Bleeds, enable Use Document Bleed Settings.

Illustrator keeps the artboard at the finished size while including the defined bleed during PDF output.

Set Bleed in Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop does not use a separate page-bleed field like InDesign. Create the document at the full size including bleed, then use guides to mark the finished edge.

For an A5 page:

• Canvas size: 154 × 216 mm

• Trim guides: 3 mm from each outer edge

For an existing A5 file:

1. Open Image > Canvas Size.

2. Select Relative.

3. Add 6 mm to the width and 6 mm to the height.

4. Keep the anchor in the center.

5. Extend the background or image into the added canvas.

The Canvas Size command adds working space around the existing artwork; it does not automatically create new image content.

Set Bleed in Canva

Turn on the bleed view while editing and extend all edge-to-edge elements past the displayed boundary.

When downloading:

1. Select Share > Download.

2. Choose PDF Print.

3. Enable Crop marks and bleed when required.

4. Download and check the exported PDF.

Canva’s PDF Print option supports bleed and crop-mark output.

Bleed and Crop Marks

Bleed is the printed artwork outside the trim. Crop marks only show where cutting should take place.

Adding crop marks does not create bleed, and many printers add their own marks during imposition. Include them only when the production instructions request them. In Illustrator, the crop-mark offset should be greater than the bleed value so the marks do not sit inside the artwork.

The exported PDF should retain the required bleed before it is included in the final Print-Ready File.