Set Up Bleed in InDesign Document

[@Kelsbenoit]

As a printer I love that you explained this so simply for people to understand!!

[@MichaelBullo]

As a non-printer I'm very happy to have your seal of approval. Thanks mate.

[@LaureenQuahMH]

This was an absolute lifesaver. Thanks for making this so easy to understand. I feel like a wizard now!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Happy to hear it helped.

[@eternoamor7511]

So well explained!!! Thanks so much!!! I just started a new job and they were asking me to prepare files to send them to the printer!!! THAAANKS!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

I've been there. Great to hear this helped you out. Thanks and best of luck with the print job.

[@jamesonmao]

thank you, soo much im at work needed to know this information quickly. big help

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey that's great to hear. Thank you. Good luck with the project.

[@BishwaOakes]

Thanks Michael, I wasn't sure if I need to add 3mm on each edge for bleed when setting up the document size, but as you've explained, InDesign does this in the background.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. I hope you are creating some cool documents in InDesign. Later.

[@BishwaOakes]

@@MichaelBullo Most of my work at the moment is adjusting pdf or jpg poster designs and sizes ready for print. Typically I receive art that has no bleed and/or needs converting to cmyk. I'd be interested in how you best handle rgb to cmyk conversion b.t.w.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@BishwaOakes Any RGB images I have get dropped straight into InDesign. I use the [Press Quality] PDF preset when exporting which converts everything to CMYK.

[@BishwaOakes]

@@MichaelBullo Yep, pretty much what I've been doing. I do notice the output is less vibrant and wonder if the pdf colour handling is having an effect. I'm not sure how to set the colour handling in the pdf export?

[@MichaelBullo]

@@BishwaOakes In case you don’t know, CMYK supports far fewer colours than RGB. It's very common for a CMYK image to look washed out in comparison to its RGB equivalent. Personally I don't change anything to do with colour in the export.

[@selvanathan1629]

Nice , clear and short way of explanations, presentation is good

[@MichaelBullo]

That's great to hear. Thank you.

[@munounom8991]

By far the best video on this Ive seen.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Hope it comes in handy.

[@bensipos9842]

Great video!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Ben

[@bhabukp]

thanks for the help man , you earned a sub

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey thanks mate. Welcome to the channel.

[@theresahutch168]

You are so helpful. Thanks for all of the tricks! ☺

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Theresa. Happy to have helped you out.

[@Sal4Ro]

This is awesome, thank you for sharing!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. Hope it proves useful.

[@pamelaharrell4596]

Excellent! Very well done and easy to follow. Thank you.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Pamela. Best of luck with your designs.

[@akaasshh]

Thanks you so much. That was really helpful

[@MichaelBullo]

That's great to hear. Thank you.

[@bhonorable_]

thank you very much Michael

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. Best of luck with your designs.

[@leecy1268]

Hello, Michael, that really did help! thanks a million

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey thank you. I appreciate that.

[@prestongallacher964]

Thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks Preston

[@missfoufa4938]

That was really helpful, thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

That's great to hear. Thank you.

[@prathivanaram9701]

Thank you Michael

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Hope you're printing some cool stuff :)

[@aileenludovico6836]

Thank you so much. That helps a lot!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks Aileen. Appreciate that. Have fun printing :)

[@spanishlanglovers]

thank youuu

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@onaechan5159]

This was really helpful, thanks so much for making this type of content. Easy to follow along and understand.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you very much. I appreciate the feedback. Great to hear it's helped you out.

[@medesignstudio3732]

Awesome, thank you so much.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Hope you're printing some cool designs.

[@shivanandsonavale7366]

Really good video

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate

[@TheLittleFangirl]

This tutorial was so well done! I had a question though, if I want to print an image at, let's say, A4 size, am I always going to end up getting a smaller image because of the bleed that's occupying part of the document? Is there a way to calculate what the real image size is going to be if I have to make the document fit the page?

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Much appreciated. Now let me put your mind at rest. Let's say you had 3 different A4 documents with bleeds of 0mm, 3mm and 10mm. All 3 documents would end up exactly A4 in size. This is because the bleed is added to the outside of the document. The area of each of the PDFs may be different, but that's to accommodate the different amount of "stuff", such as bleed/slug, that sits outside the A4 document.

[@Monish3107]

But the actual size of the file changes right? We croped off the edges from the file itself right?

[@MichaelBullo]

There are two elements to a placed image in InDesign. The image and the frame that contains the image. When you crop an image you are merely adjusting the size of the frame surrounding the image. This is why you can easily "un-crop" an image at any future point by altering the frame. The overall file size won't change. The same logic applies to the Bleed.

[@TheBgirl1996]

I really like the way you explained it! However I have a question! I am printing a multi page document with facing pages… should I have bleed on the inside as well? Because then the bleed would be part of the page right next to it… won’t that mess it up? Thank you :)

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. It's unlikely you'll need a bleed on the inside for the printing of a regular book. However, there are some forms of printing where you might. The best thing to do is chat to the company that will be doing the printing and ask what they need. If you wanted to do some reading on this topic, you could start with something like "perfect bound vs saddle stitch". I went through this stage and got myself terribly confused. The good news is that what InDesign does by default is generally a great call.

[@melissal7984]

Thank-you!!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@harryl7143]

Does the bleed have to consist of the original image, or can it just be a blank colour, like white or black?

[@MichaelBullo]

You can have whatever you like in the bleed. Just keep in mind that if you have an image aligned with the edge of a page you actually need it to extend all the way to the edge of the bleed (to allow for issues with trimming).

[@leonkutryk]

What I wanna know is how do you set your bleed background to the dark setting I can only change the normal interface!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Is this what you are looking for? Windows: Edit > Preferences > Interface Mac: InDesign > Preferences > Interface In the Appearance section, click on the different options for Colour Theme.

[@cedricmartinacosta1371]

Hi I love the guide but I have a different question, I've been working with PS and AI and my first time working with InDesign and how do you activate the drag zoom or "scrubby Zoom"? Thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

The link below is for a Photoshop video but scrubby zoom works the same in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign... How to Zoom Crazy Fast in Photoshop (Scrubby Zoom) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHfaiKJpa9idgdE

[@dolwolfianphotography]

What about photo on double spread? Some part of the photo will be missing in the middle ?

[@MichaelBullo]

Parts of the photo will be duplicated on the bleeds on the corresponding page sides with the spine. Create yourself a test document with a massively oversized bleed and export it out to confirm what I said. We all go through the bizarre learning process of bleeds and spines on spreads. I know I certainly did :)

[@dolwolfianphotography]

@@MichaelBullo Thank you, quite confusing and I guess will get all my answer after receiving my first print 😋

[@MichaelBullo]

@@dolwolfianphotography As long as you follow what I show in the video you should be ok. When you send something off for professional printing be sure to ask for a proof of what the final output will look like before they commit to printing. That way you and your bank account can get a good night sleep ;)

[@dolwolfianphotography]

@@MichaelBullo 👌😀👍will do and thx for all your help 👍

[@MichaelBullo]

@@dolwolfianphotography Thank you. Hope it all goes well.

[@pasionesdelalma]

Hello, I loved this video, it is very didactic. I have a doubt. I'm putting together a book that only needs three pages with bleeds on three of them. Is it possible to do that? Or should I make them all contain bleeds?

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. I appreciate that. Are you having this book professionally printed? If so, I think you want to have that conversation with them. Why do only three of your pages need bleed? Do no graphics reach any edge on the other pages? Personally, I would just have the bleed on all of the pages. All bleeds are trimmed away anyway.

[@alternit]

when sizing your graphic to the bleed, should the red bleed mark always be present, or can the graphic edge actually cover the bleed mark? In other words, the blue edge of your graphic superseding the red bleed mark.

[@MichaelBullo]

Your graphic can happily extend as far beyond the bleed as you like. Go crazy. Just make sure that the graphic at least gets to the bleed and you'll be fine. You may not know that if you are using the Selection Tool (has a black arrow for an icon) you can resize the frame that holds your image. The image will remain in place while you effectively crop it. I mention all this as a lot of designers like to resize their frames to hug the bleed. While this creates a "cleaner" design, you absolutely do not need to do this. Just in case you are a little OCD like I can be ;)

[@patriciamatsueda967]

I am working on a book, and when I export the PDF file for the printer, the bleeds on pages extend over to the facing pages. How do I avoid this? Or does it need to be avoided?

[@MichaelBullo]

Generally, as long as you've included the Bleed in the export, the default PDF that you get out of InDesign is suitable for printing. However, things can be complicated if you are using specific kinds of book binding. Can you talk to your printer about what they need? This would definitely be the best course of action if you can. This topic can get pretty intense, as the forum post in my link below shows. I'm reluctant to include this link but it does contain some terms and ideas that could potentially help. I want to emphasise that what you are getting by default is probably fine. Don't let this post freak you out ;) community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/exported-pdf-displays-the-bleed-of-the-previous-page-encroaching-on-the-next-page/td-p/10979262?page=1

[@patriciamatsueda967]

@@MichaelBullo Great; thanks so much. Your presentation was very good--better than the one I initially watched. The main difference was your pacing, which allowed for absorption of the information--so important in teaching.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Very kind of you to say. Best of luck with the project.

[@hzubovi1]

When I have more than one page the bleed from one image goes to another page. How can I avoid that?

[@MichaelBullo]

I don't quite understand your issue. Could you please describe it in more detail?

[@hzubovi1]

@@MichaelBullo I figured it out. Had to turn off facing pages

[@MichaelBullo]

@@hzubovi1 Excellent. Nicely done.

[@johnbayman6102]

Sorry this does not work for my book cover, I would love to know why. It also would have been v-e-r-y helpful to indeed have the artwork reach all four corners--like most covers, and then execute the necessary tasks.

[@MichaelBullo]

Hi John. I'd like to offer some help but you'll need to give some more specific information about the problem.

[@johnbayman6102]

@@MichaelBullo Hi Michael, That would be amazing--almost impossible to find a competent consultant. I am unable to “stretch” "enlarge” "re-size” or whatever the correct terminology is my cover, i.e., Front, Back, and Spine. I see the perimeter of the bleed marked (0.125) meaning the gap between the red background (in my specific case) and the outer bled line, but no matter what I select or “make active” I am only able to get one or the four sides to move. If possible, I’m at: [e-mail] My publishing deadline is coming like the proverbial freight train.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@johnbayman6102 Hi John. Sorry but I'm not available to consult. However I am happy to try and help you here. So it sounds like your issue might be just the resizing of images. I have a whole video on that… How to Resize an Image in InDesign kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6bVd5hqhsifkMk You might also consider posting this issue on the Adobe InDesign forum. A lot of experts hang out there. You can also post screen shots which you can't do here. If you do post there, feel free to post a link to it here... community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/bd-p/indesign Please let me know how you get on.

[@johnbayman6102]

@@MichaelBullo Again, thank-you so much for the suggestions and all of the work you put into these tutorials. I have watched your re-sizing video, and still no success. The area between the page and the bleed simply will not display any, well, “bleed.” Also just to be clear, I really would prefer to not re-size--meaning that if I have a 1” square that is 1” away from the page edge--that’s exactly where I would like it to stay. I just want the background color (in my case red) to fill the area mentioned previously. Complete mystery, frustrating, and running out of time--and you can’t even pay someone to help--very odd times. I’ve been working with Ai for going on two years, and doing relatively sophisticated graphics for my book, wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any stretch, and I am confident there are countless “things” Ai will do that I am unaware of, however, I am navigating it quite well for my purposes. This is only to say that I am not a complete neophyte within the Adobe architecture and GUI. I’m sorry that you cannot offer consulting--I have noticed an aversion for consulting or helping clients directly among Adobe “experts,” perhaps that is the culture? Nevertheless, thank-you for your time.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@johnbayman6102 Thank you John. I appreciate the compliment and the feedback. You mentioned page background colour. I'm wondering if you are changing the Paper Swatch colour. If so, this could be the source of your problem. Check out this video of mine that may help… Change Background Colour in InDesign kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zmi2iaN3a7iFeZo Have you tried resetting the InDesign Preferences? When an Adobe program starts acting weird this is often a fantastic general solution... How to reset Preferences in InDesign kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6bRf5d-e92getk Hope this helps mate.

[@hb888]

Such a great breakdown of this information! Thank you for sharing this content ! (REALLY helped !!)

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Great to hear and much appreciated.

[@treasad1494]

Does this work to create Fore-edge printed pages?

[@MichaelBullo]

Are you talking about printing on the side of the pages of a bound book? If so, I have no experience with this.

[@BlueBrainapp]

Super helpful! Thank you. Well explained.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Happy it helped.

[@trip221]

Very nice explanation. It was helpful, thanks.

[@MichaelBullo]

I'm happy to hear that. Thank you and best of luck with your layouts.

[@Itsnobjdy]

Im importing a a1 sized graphic i did in photoshop? when i add the bleed and extend the image i now lose parts of image and text i wanted to keep? does that mean i now have to go and redesign all of my images so that its essentially got a border around the outside?

[@MichaelBullo]

Yes. You need to factor in the bleed in all of your graphics at all stages of your design. The graphic you create in Photoshop should be "A1 + Bleed on all sides" in size. Hope it's a quick shuffling of elements and not a major redesign.

[@Raflyster]

thank you

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you :)

[@imrankhan-ij9ig]

Thanks this was very Helpful

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Best of luck with your designs.

[@yazara7646]

The amount of videos i had to watch to get this!! this is so beautifully taught thank you so much!

[@MichaelBullo]

That's very kind of you to say. Great to hear it helped you out.

[@noviesmusic482]

hi can you help me how can i set up the format of 0.3mm bleed and crop marks in A4 CMYK COLORS

[@MichaelBullo]

I just reviewed the video and it looks like I covered everything that you are asking. Is there anything that you are having specific issues with? Also, are you sure you need to set up a 0.3mm bleed and not a 3mm bleed? Cheers.

[@noviesmusic482]

@@MichaelBullo hey i think my client is the format is not for A4 is for greeting card, i try your format and exactly for A4

[@noviesmusic482]

i am illustrator for books and comics

[@MichaelBullo]

@@noviesmusic482 Hey mate. I'm happy to try and help but can you please be very clear and specific about what you are trying to achieve and the problems you are having.

[@klaidas6824]

This has been so helpful!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. Great to hear.

[@kliphkent3413]

Thank you

[@MichaelBullo]

Cheers

[@thelambsource2691]

Legend, I started a new graphic design job with all of the skill requirements (Indesign, photoshop etc) but I’d never printed through a pro printer before with a bleed. This has potentially saved my job 🫶🏼

[@MichaelBullo]

Wow. Thank you. I'm happy to have helped and best of luck with the new job. Congrats.