Artwork Bleeds and Borders: A Guide for Commercial Printing

When designing artwork for commercial printing, it's essential to consider artwork bleeds and artwork borders. These terms refer to important aspects of the printing process that can ensure the final product looks as intended. This guide will provide an overview of artwork bleeds and borders, and explain why they are important to commercial printing.

What is Artwork Bleed?

Artwork bleed is the part of an image or design that extends beyond the final trim size of the printed piece. When artwork bleed is added, it ensures that the final print appears without any white borders or margins. This helps to ensure that the final print has sharp, clean lines and a professional look.

Why is Artwork Bleed Important?

If artwork bleed is not added to an image, it increases the possibility of white borders or margins appearing on the final print. This can lead to unprofessional looking materials and make the artwork seem incomplete. By setting up the artwork to include bleed, the final printed piece appears as intended.

Setting Up Artwork Bleed

When designing artwork, it's essential to set up the artwork bleed before finalizing the design. When printing with Bryant Graphics, we ask that you set your artwork bleed to 0.125 inches. To set up artwork bleed, create an additional guide 0.125 inches larger than the final trim size. Ensure that the artwork extends to the edge of this guide. When printing is complete, the extra 0.125 inches of the artwork will be trimmed off, leaving a clean and polished final product.

Adobe Photoshop doesn't have a default bleed setting, so you need to do some math to set up the correct document size. For instance, if you want to create an 8.5" x 11" document with a 0.125" bleed on all four sides, the document size should be 8.75" x 11.25".

What is Artwork Border?

Artwork borders refer to the margins included in the design that surround the visual elements of the design. In other words, the amount of whitespace included in the design.

Why is Artwork Border Important?

Artwork borders play an important role in balancing the design and supporting the visual elements in the design. If the design is too crowded, it can make the artwork appear unprofessional. In contrast, if the design leaves too much empty space, the artwork may appear unbalanced and unengaging.

Setting Up Artwork Borders

When setting up artwork borders, it's essential to consider the final design and intended aesthetics. For most designs, it's recommended to create a small margin of whitespace to ensure that the design elements have enough breathing room