Crop marks are short lines at the edges of a print design indicating the desired print dimensions. Safety, trim and bleed lines are guidelines that prepare the design layout for printing. As insignificant as they may seem, these marks guide the transition from a digital design to a successful print.
It’s easy for novices to overlook these technical guides, especially when using a printing service. But print guidelines will impact how your print file turns out, regardless of how well-designed it is. Luckily, crop marks are easy to use once you understand what they are and how they work.
Key takeaways:
- Adding crop marks is ultimately the designer or client’s responsibility so the printer knows exactly where to trim a print document. These thin lines won’t appear on the final print product.
- Safety, trim and bleed lines frame a design document and inform where the crop marks are placed, impacting the final print result. The trim line should be kept visible during the design process because the edge of the document may become hidden when the bleed is added.
- The bleed is an easy way to ensure that a noticeable white line doesn’t appear at the edge of the final print product by extending background graphics beyond the trim line, “bleeding” off the edge of the document. So although crop marks and bleed are always recommended, they are needed most when the design extends to the trim line.
What are crop marks?
Crop marks are a type of printer mark used on any design file that will be sent to a professional service for printing. This includes posters, product packaging, business cards, signage, flyers, books, magazines and brochures.
Print designs are generally printed on a larger sheet than is necessary, allowing printers to use the same-sized sheets for any project size. Once the design is printed, a machine or technician cuts it out of this larger sheet using small ticks in the corners of the design document, known as crop marks.
Multiple smaller designs printed on a larger sheet. Source: via Depositphotos
When to use crop marks for printing
Any design that needs to be trimmed after printing will need crop marks—for example, apparel would not require them. If you’re unsure whether you should use crop marks for your print project, check with your printing service ahead of time.
Who is responsible for adding crop marks?
Some printing services may add crop marks to designs that are missing them. However, the printer is not the designer—they can make a guess but they don’t know how the design is intended to turn out.
That’s why adding print crop marks is ultimately the designer or client’s responsibility. The client must communicate the dimensions for their final print product to the designer, who must size the document by adding printer marks onto the design file as necessary.
Safety, trim and bleed lines
The print guidelines that frame a design document are the safety, trim and bleed measurements. While predominantly used for the design and setup of the document, crop marks take their cue from these lines, making them an important—if indirect—consideration for printing.
The “slug” is an area outside the design containing notes such as titles, dates, design version numbers or special instructions for the printer. Including a slug with print guidelines is optional, but if you decide to use one, ensure that it lies beyond the crop lines so that it’s cut away after printing.
Bleed, trim and safety line on a business card. Source: by kendhie via 99designs by Vista
What is a safety line?
The safety line is added to a print file to create an inner margin between the edge of the paper and the design content. Essentially, anything that you don’t want to run to the edge of the document should be kept within this safety zone. Although not necessary for the printing process, the safety line keeps the borders around the design consistent and the inner content centered.
The exact placement of the safety guideline depends on how big you want the inner margins to be, but it should be at least 0.125 inches (3mm) from the edge of the document.
This border extends beyond the safety line. Source: by M A D H A N via 99designs by Vista
What is a trim line?
The trim line is added to a print file to mark the edge of the print document, where it will be cut. Because crop marks are aligned with trim lines, these print guidelines are essential for both printers and designers.
It’s important to keep the trim line visible throughout the design process because the edge of the document may get covered up when the bleed is added.
The placement of the trim line is the same as the dimensions of the final print product. Most printing services have standard dimensions for each type of print product, while some offer custom dimensions for unique marketing materials.
Business card graphic extends to the trim line. Source: by Bojana via 99designs by Vista
What is a bleed?
The bleed is added to a print document to indicate the margin for background color and graphics. This is one of the more challenging guidelines for novices to wrap their heads around, but once you understand how printing and cutting work, adding the bleed becomes second nature.
Packaging graphics extend to the bleed line. Source: by Mj.vass via 99designs by Vista
Print designs are generally printed on white paper. That means that if you have a solid color background or graphics intended to run right up against the edge of the document, human or machine error when cutting can leave a white border from the underlying printer paper—even minute misalignments between the cutting device and the document edge can leave a noticeable white line.
The bleed is an easy way to ensure this doesn’t happen by extending background graphics beyond the trim line. It’s called the bleed because the graphics “bleed” off the edge of the document.
While adding a bleed to print documents is always a good idea, it’s imperative for projects involving graphics that extend to the edge. The bleed line is commonly 0.125 inches (3mm) beyond the trim line. Once the bleed line is added, the designer must stretch the background graphics to meet it.
What are the standard measurements for print guidelines?
The measurements for each print guideline will vary depending on the document type. Also, different countries use different standards, so it’s important to check with your printing service and research the standard print dimensions for your specific region.
These are the commonly used measurements for print projects in the US:
| Print document | Safety | Trim | Bleed |
| Business card | 1.875” x 3.375” | 2” x 3.5” | 2.125” x 3.625” |
| Letter (flyers and brochures) | 8.375” x 10.875” | 8.5” x 11” | 8.625” x 11.125” |
| A4 | 8.175” x 11.575” | 8.3” x 11.7” | 8.425” x 11.825” |
| A5 | 8.175” x 5.675” | 8.3” x 5.8” | 8.425” x 5.925” |
| A6 | 5.675” x 3.975” | 5.8” x 4.1” | 5.925” x 4.225” |
| Tabloid (posters and brochures) | 10.875” x 16.875” | 11” x 17” | 11.125” x 17.125” |
How to add crop marks and print guidelines to your design file
Adding print guidelines to your design document is a technical issue and each creative software will have specific instructions. Read on for basic tutorials for the most common software, but first here are the general steps for adding print guidelines to your document:
- Ensure you have the right file type: Ideally, guidelines should be added to the original file (or source file) created in the design software. Check with your printer about which image file type they require and ensure that the exported file contains the print crop marks.
- Add print guidelines in the correct position: Follow the recommended measurements to place the safety, trim and bleed lines. Or for more precise measurements, input the guidelines by entering numerical values in the dialogue box rather than using the drag-and-drop tools.
- Extend graphics to the bleed line: Extend all edge graphics to the bleed line using the resize tools. If your design includes a background image, make sure it’s big enough to extend to the bleed (stretching a photo beyond its original dimensions will lower the resolution).
Source: Packaging design by JianBranding™ via 99designs by Vista
Most creative software uses print guidelines that appear only in the editing window and disappear after exporting. This is ideal for print guidelines. If the print guidelines are created with actual graphics, such as a dotted rectangular box, these will be printed onto your document. Check the exported file and hide any print guidelines before sending it to the printer. The crop marks, however, should appear in the ready-to-print file so that the printer knows where to cut the final print product.
Here are the common ways to add print guidelines to design files using different software (note that “safety” is often referred to as “margins”):
| Software | Margins, trim, bleed | How to add crop marks |
| Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop | File > Document Setup | File > Print > Marks and Bleed |
| Affinity Publisher | File > Document Setup | File > Print > Show Details > Bleeds and Marks |
| Microsoft Publisher | Page Design > Size > Page Setup > “Target paper size” options | File > Print > right click on printer > Advanced Output Settings > Marks and Bleed tab > select the “Crop marks” box |
Begin your print project with crop marks
Crop marks should never be an afterthought. At the start of the design process, size the document, add the trim, bleed and safety guidelines in the correct positions, and fit the design elements within them to avoid making last-minute adjustments. Although these guidelines are technical requirements, they all come down to simple measurements. If you take care of these first, you can focus on the more creative aspects of bringing a stellar print design to life.
Crop marks FAQs
Why are crop marks important for printing?
Crop marks are thin lines placed at the corners of a design to indicate where the final printed document will be trimmed. They are essential for ensuring accuracy during the cutting process, especially when you want to extend the design beyond the trim line to avoid unwanted white borders.
How do you set up crop marks for printing?
Most design software, like Adobe Illustrator or InDesign, includes options to add crop marks and set bleed margins. You can find these in the “Print” settings. Adding print crop marks is ultimately the designer or client’s responsibility, but check the printer’s requirements for best results.
What is another name for crop marks?
Print guidelines also include the bleed, safety line and trim line. The trim line is where the design file will be trimmed after it is printed, which is also what crop marks indicate to the printer.
Can I print without crop marks and bleed?
Printing without crop marks and bleed is not recommended for designs that go up to the edge of the document or have a background color. Without print guidelines, the final print might have thin white borders or inaccurate trims, affecting the overall quality of the print product.
