How to add and apply a bleed in Adobe Illustrator - Design for Print Tutorial

How to add and apply a bleed in Adobe Illustrator.
0:00 What is Bleed
01:26 How to Apply Bleed
03:12 How to save your file as a PDF with bleed & trim marks
04:50 How to set up a new artboard that includes bleed
This is a question I've been asked on the channel a few times, and when one of my subscribers asked it again, rather than writing a lengthy explanation (again), I decided a video would probably help everyone in the long run.
So here it is, a video that gives you a quick explanation on why bleed is needed and how to actually add bleed to your artwork and then export a PDF with the bleed applied.
Stay Creative!
Col
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[@Queengeek]

For pre-existing artboards, you can click "document setup" and turn on bleeds from there.

[@RockYourBrand]

Yep. A good additional tip :)

[@iPhake]

This is what I think I need

[@user-zw3rg2go4o]

Thank you. I was confused as to why we need bleed in the first place and your explanation clarifies it all.

[@marty9404]

My salute to you Dear Sir. This video was informative, concise, short, to-the-point and dealt with mistakes a newbie would do. This saved my life. Thank you so much!

[@IqqImal]

I appreciate what you have done here, this video helped out a lot. Good video quality, simple instructions, easy to understand.

[@tnbethel78]

This was super helfpul for me. Today I had to design an redesign an invitation set to a specific size and having bleed and this helped me TONS!! You have no idea. The printer told me it needed to have a 3mm bleed...thank God for Google and this video. I think I nailed it.

[@KrishnaDhaneswara]

Thank you so much for the amazing tutorials and explanations, the perfect way to show how bleed works, appreciate it sir!

[@RockYourBrand]

Thank you Krishna.

[@lidens5672]

Clear and understandable! Finally I found this info🤩 Thank you!

[@pdatnc]

Thank you so much! This was very helpful. Clear, concise, and easy to follow!

[@felipef6516]

Amazing video. No bs & straight to the point. Thank you

[@RockYourBrand]

Thanks Felipe. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment :)

[@rameezsuleman5543]

Thank you, Sir! Your pace is perfect, really helped me grasp all the things!

[@RockYourBrand]

Great to hear that Rameez. Thank you for leaving a comment :)

[@jasonng3239]

Clear instructions . Can't wait to learn more from u.

[@seemondebnath3365]

This was the simplest way explained. Thanks a lot.

[@apzeoifjpazeough]

That's a good, solid answer. Great stuff.

[@riziaquintana2920]

Thank you so much!! This is so helpful and straight to the point

[@sandiledlamiini2133]

Thanks a lot man! The small details that go a long way...🕺

[@nnyv0040]

Thank you so much - this was really helpful! I've saved this video for future reference. :)

[@cook5989]

Thanks a lot! You helped me in my degree project!

[@r5toijr913]

Thank you! Very easy to understand!

[@mahismadriya6918]

thank u so much for making this video!

[@muhammadhasan4689]

Thank you very much it's really helpful.

[@sivan204]

thank you. I've finally got it!

[@simbamadungwe]

Thanks for the tutorial it was so helpful

[@sofisofia7838]

Thanks a lot! That was so helpful!

[@steezytrout3768]

Dude, you're awesome. Thanks!

[@debayanroy1963]

after watching so many videos at last I got what I want. really thanks for so useful tips.

[@RockYourBrand]

Glad the video was useful for you Debayan :)

[@jneathomas6785]

Very useful! thanks so much!

[@user-gu1fw3jf4w]

Just what I needed! Thanks a lot

[@RockYourBrand]

Glad I could help out :)

[@clairea8310]

Very clearly explained. Thankyou

[@RockYourBrand]

Thanks for taking the time to leave a reply Claire :)

[@be7956]

thanks that was awesome!!!

[@JohnCourtenayLewis]

brilliant! What an excellent teacher you are, sir.

[@RockYourBrand]

Thank John :)

[@ruciokas]

Awesome! Thank you :)

[@redziak1810]

you saved my lifee thank you

[@leekspinner]

tysm! you've explained it that so well!

[@RockYourBrand]

It took me a moment to work out what TYSM meant 😂 You are very welcome :)

[@SUPERkuroNEKOchan]

Thank you for the vid! Amazing content :)

[@RockYourBrand]

Thank you Deborah.

[@shounaksane2293]

Nice one, man!

[@venus_333]

thank you very much for this , I was stumped on how to include bleedlines until I came across this video.

[@RockYourBrand]

Glad to have helped you out Venus :)

[@thulcandran]

I work as a graphic designer in a small print shop and you’d be amazed how many “professional” designers come in who have no idea what a bleed is.

[@RockYourBrand]

I can very well believe it!

[@cmykimberly]

Cheers Col, made a total rookie mistake of having a clipping mask on and exporting 😅

[@lotus209]

thank you so much this was really helpful

[@RockYourBrand]

Glad to help you out Malka.

[@dassiriwardhana6029]

Good one bro... Thanks

[@jessicaliona2761]

Well explained!

[@ZUYOdesigns]

Thank you very much! Very much.

[@Bondhio]

Thanks appreciate it!

[@WaqasKhanSwati]

thank you, you are a such a good teacher

[@RockYourBrand]

Thank you! 😃

[@adilahazhar306]

thank u for this, im struggling as a design student so this really helped me alot

[@OFFTOROADVLOG]

Nice. Thanks you

[@anammorar]

thanks for helping

[@lantechbd]

Thank you!

[@sajidhussain100]

Thanks a lot Man

[@gaparena4274]

well explained 👍

[@joacoxable]

Than you so much!

[@galeelraglen]

Thank you :)

[@milkibearmilkibear]

Thx a lot!!!

[@RAJANKAR31]

Thank you

[@curtispatterson5385]

thank you.

[@greennature1045]

ty nice :)

[@huynguyennhat3350]

thanks!

[@urbexdrw8400]

Are Bleed Marks also necessary or do Printers only need Trim Marks? Thank you, you have a new subscriber

[@avinashsurve2898]

Thanks

[@arshadpgmh87]

thanks mhn.. it helps me in an emergency situation

[@markov.2467]

Great dawa brother. Keep up the good work!

[@Ariefikadosendesain]

Halo.. thank you for your explanation that was very clear. I am a college teacher who teach pre press. I wanna ask about the preset, why it must at X 2001? Why not we choose custom?

[@kdxyt547]

thnx sir

[@antjamnow1286]

Do you have a video on creating a bleed when using someone's complex, irregular shape of their design art? Aka - creating an offset?

[@hikmatullahatif7251]

Thank you, Dear sir i have added 3mm bleed and after i printed the page, it again bring the white border in the edge, is there any other setting to set first?

[@RockYourBrand]

Bleed is only really used when you are sending artwork off to a commercial printing company where they will be trimming down the artwork after printing. If you are printing on a home/office printer then many of those printers will not be able to print right to the edge of the paper and you will always have a white border.

[@_casg]

So I am making a business card, does it make sense to put text around the bleed area? Between the artwork’s edge and the red lines that signifies the bleed limit? I just don’t know how to composite the text I am typing weather I should focus on the bleeds Line edge or the artboards line edge

[@ChillzKent]

Thank you saved my ass

[@hackyroots8707]

Hello sir, I have to set our konw setting (for example :- In which I can set my own shortcut keys for Die Cut and Bleed) settings, so My question is that...how to create our own setting so that every time i didn't need to create cut line and bleed. and also can you show us, how to create shortcut key for this. Please help me out off this.

[@RockYourBrand]

I personally am not aware of how to create shortcut keys to do that. Sorry. I would more likely create a series of template documents at various sizes that have bleed and cut lines as layers and then open up the template size that I need when starting a new document.

[@ashishmalhotra6195]

Thanks for tutorial as I am trying to add 10mm bleed but to fill 10mm have to add 20mm like 297X210mm the bleed i add 10mm but to make it proportion 317X230 than it fill bleed bar.. any suggestion

[@RockYourBrand]

hey Ashish, that is correct. if you want 10mm bleed you need to add 10mm to each side of the document, so 317mm x 230mm is correct.

[@ashishmalhotra6195]

Pixels Ink I see thanks for your feedback.. cheers

[@TheMastersYouTubeChannel]

what software are you using to bleed your pdf file

[@unRottenemSpines]

👏

[@Rajsinghvlog77]

can we reduce crop mark length while making pdf, im talking about mark and bleed section in export pdf panal. now default length is .25in i want .125in.

[@RockYourBrand]

Hi Raj, I've never looked into that myself. Is there a reason that you need to shorten the crop marks? They are trimmed off in the cutting process and so they don't appear on the final printed product, so I am curious as to why you are looking to shorten them?

[@Rajsinghvlog77]

@@RockYourBrand my pre press printing unit want short cutting mark, that's why

[@muhammadusamaadeem3938]

@Rock Your Brand® Hey, How are you doing, I am confused. is there any formula where I should put my bleed and the size of the document? For instance, I want to apply 0.125 in bleed to A4 size (8.3 x 11.7 inches), so I added 0.125 to 8.3 In and 11.7 In respectively. (8.3+0.125) In x (11.7+0.125) In. Idk what I am doing wrong :(

[@RockYourBrand]

You need to apply the bleed to each side of the artwork. I don’t work with inches, but if I want to add 3mm bleed to an A4 document then that would be 210mm + 6mm and 297mm + 6mm which gives you 3mm to each edge of the A4 document. I hope that helps.

[@muhammadusamaadeem3938]

@@RockYourBrand Thank you very much, cleared my mind.

[@HakiimHafizKD]

Long time not use ai... Tq sharing... Hahaha

[@kontrast3460]

Pal, did anyone ever told you that you sound a lot like Tyson Fury? :D Thanks for the video

[@RockYourBrand]

I can’t say that they have! I’m off to see what Tyson Fury sounds like. 😂

[@classicbeverage6578]

Why don't you select "High Quality Print" when saving your PDF? Is there a difference? I've always been curious about that. I don't have a particular reason why I save it in High Quality Print. I guess because it just sounds good lol. I typically go to print on my HP Latex 570 printer. I use ONYX.

[@isabelt.3377]

Thanks for giving a sense of normality in this insane NWO year 2020

[@RockYourBrand]

You are welcome Isabel. Glad to bring some normality 😁

[@lanquinseyer]

So we multiply the bleed amount x 2 since there are 2 heights and 2 widths?. In this case from 3mm it became 6mm since from 85mm it became 91mm? Is that right?

[@RockYourBrand]

Hi, sorry for the delay in replying to your comment. Yes, you are correct.

[@ImTash]

Am i going totally batty or was there not an option fo creating an artboard with a bleedguide from the setup? i've been out of the design loop for a few years now so a bit rusty but i really thought there was a auto setting for this.. or is it a classic case of new update where adobe removes something people use every day for absolutely no reason

[@RockYourBrand]

Yes, when you set up your document you can specify the bleed amount, but it doesn't automatically apply crop marks for when you export the file as a PDF. So this video was more for explaining what bleed is and then how to make sure you add crop marks when exporting as some printers require them :)

[@ckaisermomx3]

Why when I add this there are marks all through the center of my piece?

[@Momofmany74]

I need to do the opposite, the publisher is asking for no bleed and to keep all “live” material 1/4“ from edge

[@JenniferBoddam]

what if youre still getting a white line along the right side and have included a large bleed?

[@RockYourBrand]

Hmmm, you shouldn't be getting any line at all if you have bleed applied. Is the white line on the actual print or is it something that you are seeing onscreen Jennifer?

[@JenniferBoddam]

@@RockYourBrand I think its with the actual print, when I go to upload it to the place that prints the business cards it says the white line is there. I had to extend the background colour wayy past the artboard/bleed area even when i have it about an inch out it still has a white line

[@patrickthenomad]

Skip to 1:36 if you already know what a bleed is.

[@callumharper3281]

If I extend my artwork beyond the red bleed guide lines, the PDF doesn't have the white border around the edge, is that normal?

[@RockYourBrand]

Hey Callum, As long as your artwork goes up to or beyond the required bleed you are good to go.

[@callumharper3281]

Thanks you sir, I think it's because I was working on a much larger document size, and didn't include trim marks.@@RockYourBrand

[@user-qq9qi5xw2r]

How would one apply to this "Size: 170mm (w) x 180mm (h) (there will be a 10mm overlap/bleed)"

[@RockYourBrand]

Hey there, it really comes down to what printer you are using requires. If there is a 10mm bleed requirement, then I would presume that means 10mm to each side, and so your supplied artwork including bleed would be 190mm (w) x 200mm (h).

[@user-qq9qi5xw2r]

@@RockYourBrand thank you so much!

[@muhammadusamaadeem3938]

@@RockYourBrand Hey, How you doing, I have confusion, why 190mm (w) x 200mm(h) why not 180mm(w) x 190mm (h) as he said (there will be a 10mm bleed). I mean is there any formula where I should put my bleed and the size of the document? For instance, I wanna apply 0.125 in bleed to A4 size (8.3 x 11.7 inches) so what I did is add 0.125 to 8.3 In and 11.7 In respectively. (8.3+0.125) In x (11.7+0.125) In. Idk what I am doing wrong :(

[@hanes2]

Surprised u didn’t do this in InDesign.

[@RockYourBrand]

To be honest, I don't really do much work in InDesign.

[@maliksweethome1025]

how much we take bleed ares in centimetres? please reply soon

[@RockYourBrand]

The standard amount of bleed on each side is 0.3cm Some printers require more, and some require less.

[@maliksweethome1025]

@@RockYourBrand thank you sooooooo much . you solved my problem😊

[@RockYourBrand]

@@maliksweethome1025 I am very happy to help :)

[@maliksweethome1025]

@@RockYourBrand weldon😊

[@Thewanderingpenofficial]

so then my artboard needs to be smaller than my art?

[@kevinberador357]

CAN YOU HELP ME HOW TO CHANGE COLOR BLEED? IS IT ALWAYS RED BLEED? HELP ME HOW?

[@RockYourBrand]

The red line you see in my vide is just a guide, it isn't something that will be printed. The bleed will be whatever colour/image you have that crosses the edge of the artboard.

[@KappaPi_logos]

3:32

[@patrickthenomad]

skip to 2:30 to get to the part where he actually starts to apply the bleed

[@RockYourBrand]

Great suggestion Patrick. I've gone back into the video description and added some time stamps.

[@patrickthenomad]

@@RockYourBrand I've got a BUNCH more

[@RockYourBrand]

Yeah. I’m aware there are a lot of my videos that need time stamps :) I’ll get round to them when I get time. Real busy with client work and that takes priority as it’s what pays the bills.

[@davielias4404]

Nice beard.

[@RockYourBrand]

Thank you for the compliment 🤘🏻

[@patrickthenomad]

Are we? are we really going to take a look at how to apply bleed in Adobe Illustrator? Cause thats what my search was for, and thats what the title of the video says, yet I still have to listen to you say it. How many millions of hours of video is on youtube? Stop wasting subcribers time with redundancy.

[@RockYourBrand]

Appreciate the feedback.