Bleed (printing)

The bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for natural movement of the paper during guillotining,[1] and design inconsistencies.

Failing to provide bleed information and crop marks can result in finished pieces showing a thin area of white on the edge.

Bleed is most commonly set up in artwork for print using professional graphic design software.

Full bleed is printing from one edge of the paper to the other without the standard borders by which most personal printers are limited.

Often the paper is trimmed after printing to ensure the ink runs fully to the edge and does not stop short of it.