Artwork Bleeds

What is a “Bleed”? A bleed occurs anytime that your art is designed with a background color or pattern (i.e. anything other than a plain white background) that extends all the way to the edge of your label. In this case you should create your art so that the background actually extends beyond the constraints of the label you want to print so that the design is not inadvertently cut off during the die-cutting process. We require 1.5mm of bleed on all sides to avoid this happening.

Example 1

This label example is to be a finished label of 25mm x 50mm.

The artwork on the left shows an image created without the requisite bleeds.

The artwork on the right shows an image created with proper bleeds.

Remember: Bleeds need to be 1.5mm beyond the finished size on all sides. The artwork on the right is actually created with a total size of 28mm x 53mm.

Example 2

The label in this example is to be a circle with a finished size of 40mm.

Again, the image on the left is created improperly, without bleeds.

The image on the right is set up with the proper amount of bleed.

When dealing with circles, ovals, and unique shapes, it is important that you remember to size your art with 3mm larger overall to cover the requisite 1.5mm bleed. For example, this circular label to be finished at 40mm needs to be sized during creation at 43mm.