# Bleed, Safe Zone & Crop Marks

Run backgrounds past the Trim, keep text inside the Safe Zone.

Printdash artwork guideline. Illustrated version: https://printdash.io/artwork-guidelines#bleed

*(Diagram: bleed - see the illustrated version at https://printdash.io/artwork-guidelines)*

**Bleed** is artwork that runs past the edge where the product is trimmed. Paper moves a fraction during cutting, so anything that stops exactly at the edge can leave a thin white sliver. Extend every background, photo and colour that touches an edge by the Bleed amount on all four sides.

The **Safe Zone** works the other way: keep text, logos and anything that must not be clipped at least 3mm inside the Trim.

**Crop Marks** are welcome and help us confirm the Trim, but they are optional. What we read is the Bleed - a PDF exported with Bleed carries its own Trim Box. If you add Crop Marks, offset them by at least the Bleed amount so they sit clear of the artwork.

> **Note:** Nothing touching the edge? Then no Bleed is needed. A design with a white margin and everything inside the Safe Zone prints fine without it.

### Common mistakes

- A thin coloured border running to the edge - every fraction of cutting variance shows as an uneven border. Make borders at least 5mm wide, or run the colour off the edge instead.
- Scaling finished-size artwork up to fake Bleed - this also enlarges the text and pushes it toward the edge.
- Crop Marks placed inside the Bleed area, where they print on the product.