# Bleed

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/bleed

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Typesetting & layout
Also called: Full bleed · Bleed area

Bleed is artwork extended 0.125 in (3 mm) past the trim edge so that, after cutting, colour or images reach the very edge of the page with no white sliver.

## Definition

**Bleed** is the margin of extra image or colour printed beyond the trim line and then cut away. Guillotines are accurate only to about 1/16 in (1.5 mm), so a background that stopped exactly at the trim would sometimes leave a hairline of white paper. Extending it past the edge guarantees a clean bleed-off.

The standard allowance is **0.125 in (3 mm) on each side**. A 6 × 9 in page with bleed is therefore submitted as 6.25 × 9.25 in, and a full cover wrap adds 0.125 in all the way around. Content that must not be cut — text, faces, logos — should stay inside a **safe zone** at least 0.25 in (6 mm) in from the trim.

Bleed applies to interiors as well as covers: photo books, cookbooks and picture books with full-page images need it on every page, whereas a text-only novel usually needs none and is printed with plain white margins.

## In Bindery

Bindery’s print files are validated against Lulu’s own rules — trim, bleed and spine width — before anything prints, so a missing bleed is caught in the studio, not at the press.

## Related

- [Trim size](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/trim-size)
- [Margins](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/margins)
- [Print-ready PDF (PDF/X)](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/print-ready-pdf)
- [Preflight](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/preflight)
- [Wrap cover](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/wrap-cover)
- [Photo Book Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/photo-book-maker)
- [Children's Picture Book Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/childrens-picture-book-maker)
- [Travel Photo Book Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/travel-photo-book-maker)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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