White edges along the side of your printed book? Then something went wrong with the bleed. Bleed and safety margin are essential to get your book printed neatly right to the edge. We explain how it works.
What is bleed?
Bleed is the bit of image or colour you deliberately let run beyond the final format, usually 3 mm all around. Because cutting machines have a tiny tolerance, bleed prevents white edges from appearing when the image runs to the edge.
What is the safety margin?
The safety margin (or safe zone) is a safe area on the inside of the trim line. Keep important elements like text and logos at least 3–5 mm from the edge so they don’t get accidentally cut off.
Rules of thumb
- Full-bleed images: extend 3 mm beyond the format.
- Text and important elements: keep 3–5 mm inside the edge.
- Supply at final format including bleed.
Not sure whether your layout is correct? Send in your file and we’ll check the bleed and margins for free before we print.
