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Graphic Design vocabulary · Print Production

Bleed

Meaning in graphic design, with examples

/bliːd/nounCore term

In graphic design, bleed means: Extra image or background that extends past the edge of the final page, usually 3 mm, so that no white edge appears when the printed sheet is trimmed.

In Turkish: taşma payı, kesim payı

How it is used

Used in every print job and printer specification. You add, include or set up bleed; files are sent ‘with 3 mm bleed’. Images that run to the edge are said to bleed off the page. In the US 0.125 inch is standard.

Example sentences

  1. Please resend the flyer with 3 mm bleed on all sides; the background stops exactly at the edge.

  2. The photo bleeds off the right side of the spread.

Common collocations

  • add bleed
  • 3 mm bleed
  • bleed area
  • with bleed
  • full bleed
  • trim sizeThe final size of a printed piece after it has been cut, for example 148 × 210 mm for an A5 flyer, not counting the bleed.
  • crop marksThin lines printed at the corners of a sheet, outside the design, that show the printer exactly where to cut the paper to the final size.
  • print-readyDescribes a final file that meets the printer's requirements and can go straight to press, with correct size, bleed, colour mode, image resolution and fonts.
  • marginThe empty space between the content and the edges of a page or screen. It frames the content and keeps important text away from where the paper is cut or bound.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Print Production

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