File preparation guide
Bleed, safe zone and the trim line — what is the difference?
Print is not cut to the micron. The sheet is printed larger and trimmed afterwards, and the blade can move a little in any direction. Three lines in the file make sure a small shift leaves no white sliver and cuts no word.
The trim line
This is the finished size of the product — what your customer holds. Set the document to exactly this size: a 3.5 × 2 in card, a 148 × 210 mm flyer.
Bleed: 3 mm (1/8 in) past the line
Anything meant to reach the edge — a background, a photo, a color band — continues 3 mm past the trim line on every side. Without bleed, a tiny shift of the blade leaves a thin white line at the edge. Large signs and some products ask for more; the product specification decides.
Safe zone: 3 mm inside
Text, logos, phone numbers and QR codes stay at least 3 mm inside the trim line. In a thick booklet, or a sign with holes or rounded corners, keep them further in. A thin frame close to the edge is a trap: after trimming it comes out thick on one side and thin on the other.
How to add bleed
In layout software, set bleed in the document settings and stretch the background to the outer line. In Canva, turn on "Show print bleed" and choose "Crop marks and bleed" when you download. If the design is already finished without bleed, enlarge the background slightly past the edge — not the whole page — so the text does not move closer to the edge.
What Drapress checks when the file is uploaded
Drapress measures the bleed on every side against the product specification — even when the file declares no trim line, from the content that reaches the edge. Text inside the safe zone is marked on the page itself. When bleed is missing it can be added in one click — made by stretching the page's outermost 1 mm — and you see the result in the proof before approving.
See it in action
In this video (75 seconds, no sound) a sample file goes through the Drapress check, from upload to sending it to the print shop.
Read the video as text
The file looked fine on screen. At the press, the bleed falls short. And a photo that may print blurry. Upload your PDF. Your original is kept. Live view of every check: size, bleed, fonts, colors, images. Bleed missing on page 3: a thin white strip may show after trim. Step by step: the photo on page 5? Replace it, or accept it as it is. Screen colors (RGB): the shop converts them for print; shades may shift. Missing bleed? A few clicks build it from the page's own edge. It fixes only what is safe to fix. Before and after: the background now runs past the cut line. A warning left? You decide, then send it to the print shop.
What an automatic check cannot catch
The safe-zone check marks text only: a logo, a thin frame or a picture near the edge is not marked, because it is usually meant to run past it. And it sees where content is, not what it means. Look at the proof at full size.
