17 March 2008

Bleeds

Printers cannot print right to the edge of a paper sheet. To create that effect, the printer must use a sheet that is larger than the document size. Then, the printer prints beyond the edge of the document size (usually 0.125 inch) and cuts the paper down to the document size. For example, let’s say you are creating artwork for a 4x6 post card and that you have a picture that is going to bleed all 4 sides. You would create you document at 4 x 6 inches, then you would import your picture but instead of placing it exactly within the 4 x 6 document, you would make the picture 4.25 x 6.25 and place it so that it extends 1/8th of an inch beyond the documents edge on all 4 sides. This would give us enough room to bleed your post card.