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Trimming Guidelines

Service Printers strives to produce 100% accurate products. However, as with any mechanical process there are tolerances that should be taken into account. Our trimming tolerance is 1/8" in either direction. When building your file, please follow the guidelines below to ensure your project is printed correctly.

The Green line represents the trim edge (or final size). The Blue line represents the bleed edge and the Orange line represents the Save Zone

Trim Edge

This is the edge of the final printed product. For a standard business card the trim dimensions would be 3.5" x 2"

Bleed Edge

Images should be pushed out to the Bleed Edge, 1/8" past the trim edge on every side.

Safe Edge

Text and other important elements should be placed within the Safe Edge which is 1/8" inside the Trim Edge. This will ensure that no text is cut off due to variation in the trimming process.

Examples

Correct

The background image has been extended 1/8" past the Trim Edge and the text is within the Safe Edge.

Correct Business Card

Incorrect

The background image has not been extended to the Bleed Edge. This could result in strips of white around the edges of the business card.

Incorrect Business Card - the background image has not been extended to the Bleed Edge

Incorrect

The text has not been kept within the Safe Edge. This could result in text being cut off due to tolerances during trimming.

Incorrect Business Card - Text has not been kept inside the Safe Edge. This could result in text being cut off during trimming