The 4 Biggest Business Card Design Mistakes! - Part 2

And we're back! Yes, we're knuckling down into the second Biggest Design Problem. In fact "Knuckling down" may not be that far off topic! Cause we're gonna talk about drawing some blood…

Or more accurately "bleeding your document"!

Design Problem #2 is "No Bleed in the Document"!

Come on dude I get queasy easy! Yes we know, some of the terms in the industry can be a little baffling! Bleed is when the background graphic or image of a document extends outside the finished size of the printed product to allow for variance in the cutting process.

Guilotines and Book Cutters ("Old Junk" or "New and Improved") can't cut every printed product in precisely the same place. Variations occur. To compensate for this variation we bleed the background over the edge of the document, so if the cutter, cuts slightly bigger you won't get the unsightly effect of 'white paper' on the edge of it!

So how to do it?

Well, If your document has a background which you want to go all the way to the edge of the paper, then you will need to extend it even further past the edge of the document. It needs to be at least 3-5mm. For business cards and brochures 3mm is all that's needed, however, magazines require 5mm. 5mm would be fine for all products. (you can't have too much bleed!)

You need to know that this is for EVERY SINGLEedge of the paper! So you would have 5mm going past the TOP of your document, 5mm going past the BOTTOM of your document, 5mm going past the LEFT SIDE of your document, 5mm going past the RIGHT SIDE of your document.

Piece of Cake huh?

Yeah we think so! But weirdly enough many people overlook it or misunderstand it.

But you're now a member of the 'informed'! (wink, wink, nod, nod!)

A hint for the next article is…The reverse of bleed….

This article was proudly brought to you by Hollands Print Solutions! They produce high quality Business Cards, Brochures and Printing Flyers at affordable prices with excellent service! Visit their easy-to-use site at www.hollands.com.au

- Dwane Hollands