A bleed is often missed when creating a print file.
A bleed is the part of the printing process that goes beyond the edge of where the image will be printed. In other words, the bleed is the area to be trimmed or cut off. A bleed is essential to allow wiggle space to account for the natural shifting of paper during guillotining (cutting). To increase speed and efficiency, commercial printers produce multiple pieces on one large piece of paper and cut it to order. Even though they use precise cutting tools, very minute movements may cause some overcut. Once trimmed, the bleed ensures no unprinted edges occur in the final print item.
When submitting your artwork, ensure that your bleed settings are calibrated correctly and that your images and backgrounds spill all sides of your document by 0.125” or 1/8”.
