It’s always good to have a clear understanding of industry terms. It can be the difference between contributing to a project’s success versus dropping the ball on important details.
In order to help teams (both creatives and those who work with creatives) stay on the same page, we will periodically define terms that may be encountered while working together.
Today we will define the terms and purpose of trim, crop marks, bleed and safe area.
These terms can be used in projects ranging from advertising & print brochures to screen graphics & billboards.
Trim
Trim size refers to the final dimensions of a page. If you were designing signage for a poster that as 24”x36”, the trim size for that project would be 24”x36”.
In the graphic to the right, we have placed a blue line to represent the location of the trim, however, there is usually not an actual physical line on the trim. That’s where handy-dandy crop marks come in.
Crop Marks
Crop Marks are the small lines at each corner of a page that identify where a page is to be trimmed or cut. Whether it is a large press sheet being trimmed by a machine or a small mock-up being cut by a designer, all crop marks work the same.
One line is for the vertical cut and the other is used in the horizontal cut. When you see one set of crop marks on the corner of the page, you can be sure that when you lay down a ruler or straight-edge, it will line up with the crop mark of the adjacent corner. (Tip for newbies: If you happen to be trimming a mock-up, be sure to stop cutting before the edge of the page. That way your page stays intact and it’s easier to line up the crop marks.)
Bleed
When you have artwork that extends to the edge of the page you need to add more artwork beyond the trim, this is called bleed. The reason for doing this is to make sure the artwork looks the way you intended in the final piece and there are no slivers of white at the edge of the page.
Bleed can be anywhere from .0625”-.5” but it’s always a good habit to confirm with the printer, or whatever vendor is receiving your file, as to the amount of bleed they prefer.
Safe Area
Safe Area or Safety Zone, is the area inside of the trim where you want to keep all of your important content. Headlines, text, callouts…anything that you want to make sure will be able to be read should be inside the Safe Area.
If you are creating an ad, they will give you specific dimensions to adhere to depending upon the size ad you are purchasing and how it is placed within the publication.
However, a good rule of thumb in general print design is to keep copy .25”-.5” inside the trim.
We hope this was helpful and either clarified or confirmed your understanding of these terms. If there are other terms that you would like us to cover in a future post, please let us know.
Leave a Reply