Send artwork to a printer and you will usually get one of three questions back. Has it got bleed, is it CMYK, and is it high enough resolution? If you are supplying your own files for flyers, business cards or signage, those three things decide whether the job comes back looking right. So, what is bleed in printing, and what do the other two actually mean in practice?
What is bleed in printing?
Bleed is extra artwork extended past the edge of where the paper will be cut. Printing is done on larger sheets and then trimmed down, and no guillotine is accurate to the millimetre every single time. If your background colour or image stops exactly at the trim line, a tiny bit of movement leaves a thin white sliver along the edge.
Adding bleed means the colour carries on past the cut, so if the blade lands slightly off, the design still runs cleanly to the edge. Most UK printers ask for 3mm on every side, with larger items like posters and banners sometimes needing more. Check with whoever is printing it, because their specification always wins over a general rule.
The opposite side of this is the safe area. Keep anything important, so text, logos and phone numbers, at least 3mm to 5mm inside the trim line. Otherwise a slight shift in the cut can leave your details looking crowded against the edge or clipped off entirely.
Why CMYK matters, and why colours shift
Screens make colour with light, using red, green and blue. Presses make colour with ink, using cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Those two systems cannot reproduce exactly the same range, which is why a colour that glows on your monitor can come back flatter in print.
Bright oranges, vivid greens and electric blues are the usual culprits. Nothing has gone wrong when this happens, it is just the limit of what four inks can do.
Set your document up in CMYK from the start rather than converting at the end, so you can see roughly what you are getting. If a specific colour is critical to your brand, a Pantone reference is more reliable than trusting the conversion, and it is worth having that noted in your brand guidelines. Our post on the Pantone colour of the year explains a bit more about how those references are used.
One thing worth saying plainly. Your screen is almost certainly not calibrated, so treat it as a rough guide. For anything important, ask for a proof.
Resolution, and why a website image will not print
Resolution is how much detail is packed into an image at the size you are using it. Print work generally needs around 300 pixels per inch at the final size. Images made for the web are much lower than that, because keeping files small helps pages load.
This is why pulling a photo off your own website and dropping it into a flyer rarely works. It looked fine at 400 pixels wide on a screen and falls apart when it is asked to fill half an A5 page. Enlarging it in software does not add detail back, it just spreads the same pixels over more space.
Logos avoid this problem entirely if you use vector artwork, which stays sharp at any size. Photographs cannot be rescued the same way, so always start from the original file at the largest size you have.
A quick check before you send artwork
Run through this before the file leaves your desk:
- Bleed added on all four sides, usually 3mm
- Important text and logos kept inside the safe area
- Document set up in CMYK
- Images at roughly 300ppi at final size
- Logo supplied as vector rather than a screenshot
- Fonts embedded, or the file exported as a PDF
- Spelling and phone numbers checked by someone other than you
That last one catches more problems than the rest put together.
If artwork setup is not something you want to deal with, we handle it as part of our graphic design and print work, including brochures, flyers and packaging. You can see the full range on our services page, or get in touch and send us what you have.
Frequently asked questions
How much bleed do I need?
3mm on each edge covers most standard print in the UK, such as business cards, flyers and leaflets. Larger format work can need more. Ask your printer for their specification before you build the file, since it takes seconds and saves rebuilding the artwork later.
Why does my printed colour look different from my screen?
Because a screen makes colour with light and a press makes it with ink, and the two cannot match perfectly. Very bright, saturated colours are affected most. Working in CMYK and asking for a proof are the two things that reduce surprises.
Can I supply print artwork from Word or Canva?
Sometimes, but it is risky. Those tools were not built for print, so bleed, colour setup and embedded fonts are easy to get wrong. If it is a simple internal handout it may be fine. For anything customer facing, supply a properly prepared PDF or ask a designer to set it up.
