Most true graphic designers feel that they understand when to use crop marks and bleed. We learnt these best practices in school, but what do our print-houses’ staff say? Are we giving the staff more work or less work? Read more to find out if you have been using your crop marks and bleed properly!
What are crop marks and bleed?
First, let us define what are crop marks and bleed.
Crop marks are the eight short lines in the corners of your file. They tell your printers where to trim the print. These are also referred to as trim marks.
Bleed extends beyond the crop marks. It is the area of the paper that will be trimmed off after the job is printed. See the image below.
What is the correct way to send your file to the Printers?
It was not until I worked at a local print shop myself that I learnt what is the correct way to send your file to the printers. Some of my graphic design best practices really annoyed the print shop staff. I felt so confident that I understood the concept of ‘the bleed’. However, one day the printer guy was having a problem with my business card file, so I went in to sit with him. I was in shock when we said to me…
“I actually preferred if you did not have those crop marks!”.
Since then, I spent 6 months working in a print shop, which really opened my eyes to the world of print. In this example, the print guy had to remove my crop marks as he used his own templates with crop marks for the imposition of business cards. His template gets an optimal amount of business cards on one sheet for trimming. As such, he wanted me to absolutely include the bleed (the additional .125” all around the design), for my full-colour design but my marks reduced his efficiency, adding a few seconds to his imposition process as he removed them. As such, I thought to share my knowledge on when to use crop marks and bleed marks.
When to use crop marks and bleed
Full white designs
- Full white designs. Where there is no colour or images that extends off the page, no crop mark or bleed is necessary. Your printers will complete imposition (for example, place 24 business cards on an 11”x17” cover sheet (aka 24 Up) for efficient printing and trimming)
Full colour designs
- Full-colour designs. Where there is colour or images that extend off the page and a large number of prints are required – add the bleed but the crop marks are not necessary.
- Recommendation – send one file with crop marks (to show that the bleed is there) and another with the bleed but no crop marks. The one without the crop marks may speed up imposition. Explain to your printers through email, what you have done.
NB. Where you only need one or two prints of your flyer and no imposition is needed – i.e. you are printing on a standard size – 8.5” x 11” or 11”x 17” – you will need to add the crop marks, as your printer may manually trim your artwork instead using a machine.
Large format prints
- Large format print (larger than 11”x17” / 12”x18”). No bleed or crop marks are needed. These are printed on large format printers that cut to the exact edge of your file size.
Visit your local print shop
If this is confusing to you, It may be best to ask your local print shop for the way they would like to receive the file. If you are a regular customer, ask for a tour and see how things are done. They in love you for getting it right and saving them time and money.
If you work in a print-shop, please comment below and tell us about your experiences with receiving files from graphic designers. Include a solution if your experiences have created more work for you.