When designing, all images, areas or backgrounds that extend beyond the edge of the final format must be designed with at least 2 mm of bleed. If there is no bleed or too little bleed, machine tolerances can result in white edges - blemishes.

In addition to the bleed allowance, it is a good idea to create a safety frame. All important elements are placed within this frame.

Creating bleed in InDesign

In Adobe InDesign, the bleed is called the trim. When creating the document, the bleed is defined under "Marks and Bleed". When exporting as a PDF, Marks and Bleed -> Use document bleed settings must be selected.

Bleed without a graphic application

Without a graphic programme, the document is created 2 mm larger on each side, i.e. + 4 mm in length and + 4 mm in width.