If you are working on a print design project in Photoshop, you’ll often need to add a bleed. A bleed is an extra margin outside your design that allows for a small amount of leeway when the design is trimmed after printing. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to add bleed in Photoshop.
Step 1: Create a New Document
Open Photoshop and create a new document by selecting File > New. In the New Document dialog box, enter your desired width and height. Keep in mind, these dimensions represent the final size of your printed material.
Step 2: Add Bleed
Typically, a bleed of 0.125 inches (3mm) is added to each edge of the page. To add this to your document, you need to increase both the width and height by 0.25 inches (6mm). This is because the bleed applies to all four sides of the document, thus increasing the total dimensions on both axes.
Step 3: Set the Resolution
Set the resolution at 300 pixels/inch to maintain professional print quality. This is under the ‘Resolution’ option within the ‘New Document’ dialogue box.
Step 4: Create Guides
Now that our document is set up with the bleed, we need to know where the bleed starts. We can achieve this by setting guides. Go to View > New Guide.
For this 0.125-inch bleed, you’ll need to set guides as follows:
Vertical guides: 0.125 in, (width of the document – 0.125) in
Step 5: Design to the Bleed
Now, you can start designing your document! Be sure to extend any color or image that needs to go to the edge of the finished size all the way to the bleed edge.
Step 6: Save Your Document
Finally, when you’re ready to save your document for print, make sure you include the bleed. To do this, simply go to File > Save As and choose ‘Photoshop PDF’. In the ‘Save Adobe PDF’ dialog box, make sure you tick the ‘Bleeds’ box under the ‘Marks and Bleeds’ tab.
In conclusion, adding bleed in Photoshop is an essential step for print design. It ensures that your design covers every inch of the printed material, even if the cuts are slightly off. The process might seem a little complicated at first, but with practice, it will become second nature!
