Bleed Explained
At Cup Sleeve Printing, we use professional grade paper cutters, known as print guillotines, to ensure clean and accurate cuts for up to hundreds of cup sleeve sheets in one go. We use two different blades: tungsten steel and high speed steel blades, both of which are regularly sharpened. Despite this, there can still be some micro movement as the paper is cut and the edges are pushed away from the blade. To prevent any white areas appearing on the corners of your cup sleeve print, you will need to add a little overprint or ‘bleed’ around the edges of your artwork.
How much bleed do i need?
We recommend that you add 3mm of space around your document, making sure that any images or background colors / patterns extend to the edge of this area.
Document set up with no bleed
Document set up with 3mm bleed
Exported PDF with bleed and crops
How do i add bleed to my document?
Indesign
Under File > Document set up in the dialog box that says bleed and slug click into the bleed part and add 3mm on each side.
Illustrator
Similar to indesign except File > New will bring up the document dialog box, add 3mm to all sides.
Photoshop
Photoshop does not have a bleed setting so we recommend setting up your document 3mm bigger all around, so if document is to be printed A4 (210x297mm) set up as 216 x 303mm.
Illustrator bleed dialog box
Safe Area
To keep your artwork looking crisp, clean and aesthetically pleasing, it is important to work with a safe area or ‘margin’ when designing cup sleeve prints. This area sits within the artwork and should not be confused with bleed. This margin is generally used for text, headings or important information on top of your background area.
Your type layout on screen may appear to be fine if it is a couple of millimetres in from the edge, however, once it is printed onto the cup sleeve it will look cramped and uneven. For smaller cup sleeve prints, we recommend a margin of at least 5mm and for larger cup sleeve prints, such as banners, go up to around 25mm.
Safe Area
To keep your artwork looking clean and aesthetically pleasing we recommend working with a safe area or ‘margin’, not to be confused with bleed this area sits within the artwork and is generally used for text and headings or important information on top of your background area, your type layout on screen can look fine if its a couple of millimetres in from the edge but once it is printed onto its chosen material it will appear cramped and uneven.
We recommend a margin of at least 5mm for smaller printed items and for larger items such as banners go up to around 25mm.
If you are unsure about bleed and your artwork or have any questions then call us on 023 8087 8037 or email us.