Print Bleed in Canva — Here’s what You Need to Know

Ooh! I’m planning to have the Canva team print this business card design I’ve made. And, they must keep things picture-perfect on that business card — no white gaps whatsoever.

But, how do I exactly relay that to the print team without attaching written instructions or a recording of it? 

Well, that’s what a print bleed is for, and we’re going to learn about it here.

 

What is Print Bleed in Canva?

Print bleed is the part of the document that’s beyond the trim edge of the page. It’s ⅛ of an inch, serving as an allowance for potential cutting misalignments. If you don’t add this allowance, you’ll risk having white gaps on the edges of the final product.

 

What Print Bleed in Canva is: Things You Should Know

As mentioned earlier, print bleed is the part of the design that goes beyond the part where you’ll trim the document. 

Technically, this print bleed they call is ⅛ of an inch from the edge of the design you have. 

With that ⅛ inch allowance, you’ll have some sort of leeway with possible misalignments during the cutting process.

Even when you hire the services of professional printing services, print bleed’s such a useful guide to have. 

It’s like a universal instruction to cut off until this part of the document, leaving no white gaps to the edge of the paper.

Also, this serves as a guide for the designer itself to extend the image or elements of the design beyond the trim line.

So, how do you make sure to keep this print bleed thing seen on my Canva design before the actual printing process?

 

How to Activate Print Bleed in Canva

Step 1: Open a design file from the All Your Designs section on the Canva home page.

Click on the design’s thumbnail for you to be redirected to the editor page.

Step 2: On the editor page, head to the File button on the menu bar and click on the Show margins option in the dropdown menu.

You will then see a faint box surrounding the safety line of the document you’re working on. 

The safety line is the part of the design where you put all the crucial elements into it to avoid being cut off during the printing process.

That said, text and other graphical elements you don’t want to be trimmed off should be found inside the safety line.

Adjust your design elements accordingly if you find some of them exceeding the safety line.

Step 3: Now, it’s time to show the print bleed on your design.

Head again to the menu bar of the editor page and select File.

Step 4: On the dropdown menu that appears, choose the Show print bleed option.

This move will now make another faint box surround the perimeter of your design ⅛ inch from the edge of the document.

So, if you see that the background of your designs extends well beyond that of the print bleed area, you’re already safe.

Step 5: But, if you find that after adding the print bleed white gaps are surrounding your design edges, you need to adjust your work.

To do this, simply stretch your background to the document’s edge to cover those white edges.

You can even stretch out some of the design elements you added if trimming some parts of them won’t affect the look of your project.

Step 6: If you’re satisfied with how your design looks after adding the print bleed, time to download the file and send it off to the printing company.

Select the Download button on the menu bar.

Step 7: In the dropdown menu, head to the File type section and select the PDF Print option.

Step 8: Before you hit the purple Download button at the bottom of the dropdown menu, tick the Crop marks and bleed box.

From there, proceed with downloading your design to your device.

And, when you check how the newly-downloaded file looks, you’ll notice the crop marks that intersect somewhere on the design.

That’s the print bleed area we’ve been talking about earlier. And, in case you find that you see white lines surrounding your design, don’t fret about them.

Those white lines serve as the guide to cut that part out up to the print bleed area.

So, you don’t need to explicitly instruct the person printing your design about where they should cut. Print bleed will do just that for you.

 

Print Bleed vs. Margin — The Difference

If you’ve been reading attentively earlier, I’ve mentioned about margins and print bleeds. 

Most of you would think they’re the same as they appear as boxes surrounding your design.

Technically, margins serve as a marker telling you or the person printing your work not to cut out that area of the design.

Print bleed tells you to extend your design’s background ⅛ inch from the final trim size to avoid having white gaps during the printing process.

 

Frequently Asked Questions about What Print Bleed in Canva is

 

Is the print bleed feature exclusive to Canva Pro users?

Showing print bleed on your Canva design isn’t exclusive to Canva Pro users. Both the free and the premium users can avail of this nifty feature by heading to the File button on the menu bar.

 

What will I do if I find white edges surrounding my design after clicking the Show print bleed option?

In case you see white edges surrounding your design, just extend the background beyond the print bleed area. You can also stretch out the elements you added if you don’t mind them being trimmed out of the design.

 

What do margins do?

Margins serve as a guide for telling anyone who’s printing your design not to cut out any element in that area.