Learn About: Bleeds

Here is the intended design of a finished business card. The standard size in North America is 3½" x 2". This card is set 'landscape' (wider than tall), but of course could have been designed 'portrait' (taller than wide).

The background picture extends to the very edge of the card and is a photo that does not repeat at the edges (unlike, say, a solid blue background). Now, there is hardly a printing device in the world that can print on a piece of paper that is 3½" x 2" so it is common to gang upGang-up: print multiple copies of the same art on one sheet, to be cut down later to the individual size(s). the cards on a press sheet.

Here is the card set 10-up on a page.

But, there is hardly a cutting device in the world that could slice perfectly between the cards if they were printed as shown here. This is called a 'dead-cut' and is generally avoided.

The slightest move of the page (or any pages in a stack being cut together) will leave a sliver of the image from one card on the edge of its neighbour. Or, for outside cuts, you might see a sliver of the white of the paper.

Now, you might suggest cutting just a bit in from each edge, but then your cut business cards are smaller than the standard size... even just a little bit. As well, this becomes problematic on a guillotineGuillotine: any of various machines in which a vertical blade between two parallel uprights descends to cut or trim metal, stacks of paper, etc..

Instead, the design is printed with artwork going beyond where the edge of each card will be cut, and 'double cuts' are used between each row/column.

You can see that the background image has been 'opened up' to show more of the photo; anything beyond the trim marks or in the middle of double-cuts will be cut away, leaving just the business cards with the image going right to the edge as intended.

This is a single card set up with proper bleeds.

Also shown here is a 'safety margin'. Again, regarding the possibility of slight shifts during cutting, it is wise to keep important elements (text, logo, etc.) away from the edges of the finished card.

This is also an aesthetic decision, much like text in a book, where a margin around the edges usually helps with readability. However, you are obviously at liberty to design according to your tastes.