What is a 'bleed', and why do I need one?

Bleed is a printing term that refers to the area outside your design that allows for a small amount of leeway when cutting it. The idea is that if you extend your background out to the edge of the bleed (but keep any text or other important elements well inside it), it allows for minor inconsistencies inherent to the badge making process.

The best way to demonstrate this is with an example.

In the images above, the pink line represents the image area - the area outside this is the bleed. On the left-hand side, the image stops at the edge of the bleed, but on the right hand side, the background extends well outside it. The main features of the image - the hut and the mountain - are both well within the image area.

This is how the final product is affected:

Front view

Side view

As you can see, even slight variations in the printing and cutting process become quite obvious. While we do our absolute best to cut your badges as accurately as possible, some very small variations are unavoidable.

In addition, because of the way that badges are constructed, the bleed will form the lip of the badge. If your image doesn't have a bleed, the side of your badge will be white.

Bleed and the Design Studio

In the Design Studio, the grey ring around the edge represents the bleed, and the dashed pink line represents the image area. Keep the important parts of your image inside the pink line, and extend your background into the grey.

If you have any questions about artwork, please get in touch via our contact page or call 1300 16 4416. You can also download artwork templates for Adobe Creative Suite at our artwork templates page.