creating guides and bleeds for your art work...

[Former_Member]

Why is this done. I am doing this tutorial to make a greeting cards and the first step is to create a safe guide and bleed for the print. Why not just set your document at 5 X 7 and design away. Please help as I am new at this stuff and am learning.

[Former_Member]

When you print professionally you print beyond the border of your final size and trim it. The bleed makes sure that your image goes to the edge and you end up with a borderless card.

[Former_Member]

Printers don't go to the edge, you'll always have a white border, so to print full bleed (ink all the way to the edges) you need to have a bleed. Allowing the printers (or you) to cut the white off, plus your bleed to insure a full bleed.

[Former_Member]

Okay but I print with white around. I don't fully color the entire page and so do I need to do this for my art print? take a look.

[Former_Member]

I would suggest not replying on a white border around your design. You never truly know where a printer will cut your design off, and you could find one side is slightly thinner or not cut on a perfectly straight line.

It's just one of the quirky things to be aware of, and embrace.