What is bleed?

Bleed is the extra artwork that extends beyond the finished edge of your card. It is deliberately added to your print file and then trimmed away during production.

It might sound strange to include part of a design that will be cut off, but that extra area is important. It allows backgrounds, colours and images to print cleanly right to the edge of the finished card.

Connect requires 3mm bleed

Your print-ready artwork should include 3mm bleed around the outside edges of the flat card artwork.

Why do we use bleed?

Greeting cards are printed on larger sheets and then cut down to their finished size. There can be a very small amount of movement when printed sheets are trimmed.

If a background colour or image stops exactly at the trim line, even tiny movement can leave an unwanted white edge. Extending the background into the bleed gives us a little extra artwork to trim through, helping the finished card look clean from edge to edge.

Bleed gives the trimming process a small margin for movement and helps prevent unwanted white edges.

How much bleed do I need?

For Connect artwork, use 3mm bleed around the outside edges. This means the upload file is slightly larger than the finished flat card size.

Square

Finished flat size: 300 × 150mm
Upload size: 306 × 156mm

Finished flat size: 210 × 148mm
Upload size: 216 × 154mm

Finished flat size: 297 × 210mm
Upload size: 303 × 216mm

The pink outer area represents the bleed. The centre dashed line is the fold, not a trim edge.

What should extend into the bleed?

Anything that is meant to reach the edge of the finished card should continue all the way through the bleed area.

Background colours

Extend edge-to-edge colours through the full bleed.

Images & patterns

Photos, illustrations, textures and patterns that touch an edge should continue past the trim line.

Decorative elements

Anything intentionally running off the edge should extend into the bleed too.

Do not stretch the finished design just to create bleed

Where possible, extend or continue the background itself. Stretching the whole design can distort text, illustrations and other elements.

What should stay away from the edge?

Bleed is for backgrounds and elements that are meant to run off the card. Important content should stay comfortably inside the finished edge.

Text

Keep names, messages and wording safely away from the trim edge.

Logos

Do not position logos or branding in the bleed area.

Important details

Faces, small illustrations and anything that must remain visible should sit safely inside the design.

A note about borders

We recommend avoiding thin borders close to the edge of a card. Even when the artwork includes the correct bleed, a small amount of trimming movement can make a border appear slightly uneven.

If a border is an important part of the design, keep it well inside the trim edge and make it wide enough that tiny variations will not be noticeable.

Before you upload your artwork

Use this quick checklist before adding a design to Connect.

Your file uses the correct Square, A6 or A5 upload size3mm bleed is included around the outside edgesBackground colours and images extend fully through the bleedText and important details are safely inside the trim edgeThe artwork is 300 DPI and saved as a high-quality JPG or PNG

Using our Canva templates?

Our templates are already set to the correct Connect artwork dimensions, making it easier to start with the right file size.

The simple rule to remember

If it should reach the edge, extend it into the bleed. If it must not be cut, keep it safely inside the edge.

Once your artwork includes the correct 3mm bleed, you can upload it to Connect and use the artwork preview to check the front, back, fold and bleed areas before saving the design.

Read the Upload Artwork Guide

Understanding Print Bleed