Bleed size calculator
Add the same bleed beyond every trim edge, then translate the full document size into pixels.
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Bleed is added twice on each axis
The document extends past both the left and right trim edges, and past both the top and bottom edges. A 0.125-inch bleed therefore adds 0.25 inches to width and height.
Use the printer’s specification
The default is only an example. Required bleed, safe area, crop marks and export settings vary by printer and product; their production specification is authoritative.
Why bleed exists at all
Sheets are printed oversized and then cut in a stack, and the blade lands within a tolerance rather than exactly on the line. Without bleed, a cut that falls a millimetre outside the trim leaves a thin white sliver along the edge, which is the single most common reason a job comes back looking wrong.
Bleed gives the blade somewhere to land. Extending the background past the trim on all four edges means any cut inside that margin still produces a clean, full-colour edge. The mirror image of the rule is the safe area: keep text and logos a few millimetres inside the trim, because the same tolerance can crop them.
Frequently asked questions
How much bleed should I add?
Three millimetres is the usual European figure and 0.125 inches, an eighth, the usual US one. Both are asking for the same thing. Some products want more: large-format prints that get mounted, and anything perfect-bound, often ask for 5 mm or more. The printer’s specification settles it.
Do I need bleed if my design has a white border?
No. Bleed matters only where colour or imagery is meant to reach the edge of the finished piece. A design that stops short of the trim on every side can be supplied at trim size, though the safe-area rule still applies to anything near the edge.
What is the safe area, and how big should it be?
It is the margin inside the trim where nothing important should sit. Three to five millimetres is typical for small-format work, more on a large sheet. Text set right against the trim line looks fine on screen and comes back from the guillotine with its descenders clipped.
Should I include crop marks in the export?
Only if the printer asks. Many online services take a plain PDF at document size with the bleed included and add marks themselves, and a file that arrives with unexpected marks can be rejected or trimmed to the wrong line. When marks are wanted, place them outside the bleed, which usually means a small offset so they do not print into the artwork.
What pixel size do I make the canvas?
Enter the trim size and the bleed here, then take the document dimensions this page reports and multiply by your resolution. The pixel figures shown alongside do exactly that at the density you enter, so a 3.5 by 2 inch card with an eighth-inch bleed becomes 3.75 by 2.25 inches, or 1125 by 675 pixels at 300 PPI.