Dayton Creative Printing Inc.

Quick print-file fix

Your design is close.
Let’s get it ready to print.

If our team sent you this page, your file probably needs one small correction. Choose the note that matches our email, follow the steps for your design program, and send us a new PDF.

Many fixes take 3–5 minutes. You do not need to understand printing jargon first.

Step 1

What did we ask you to fix?

Choose the note that matches our email. If you aren’t sure what we meant, contact us before changing the file.

↔ Missing bleedColor or a photo touches an edge but stops at the finished size. ⌜ Missing crop marksThe PDF does not show the small corner marks used for trimming. □ Wrong finished sizeThe design was built on a page larger or smaller than the ordered piece. T Text too closeImportant text or logos need more room from a trimmed edge.

Most common fix

Add bleed

What it means

If a background, photo, color or shape touches an edge, it must continue 1/8 inch past the finished edge. That extra artwork is trimmed away and prevents thin white lines.

1/8"extra artwork past all four edges
  1. Keep the document set to the piece’s finished size.
  2. Add 0.125 in bleed on every side.
  3. Extend edge-touching backgrounds, photos and shapes to the bleed line. Do not stretch the whole design.
  4. Keep text and logos inside the finished edge, then use the instructions below to export the corrected file.

Nothing touches an edge? You probably do not need bleed. A clean white margin is perfectly printable.

Quick correction

Turn on crop marks when exporting

Crop marks are the small corner ticks that show where the finished piece should be trimmed. Let your design program add them.

  1. Open your original design file.
  2. Choose the program below and follow its PDF export steps.
  3. Enable the option named Crop marks and bleed, Trim Marks, or Crop Marks.
  4. Send us the newly exported PDF.

Step 2

Choose the program you used

You only need to read one set of instructions.

Canva

Your goal: Download a “PDF Print” with “Crop marks and bleed” switched on.

  1. Open the design at its finished size.
  2. Choose File → View settings → Show print bleed.
  3. Extend every edge-touching background or photo past the dotted line to the canvas edge. Keep text inside the dotted line.
  4. Choose Share → Download → PDF Print.
  5. Switch on Crop marks and bleed, then download.

In Canva, the dotted line is the finished cut; the canvas edge is the bleed edge.

If we mentioned size

Build the document at the finished size

The finished size is the size you ordered—not the larger size of the PDF after crop marks and bleed are added.

Example: For an 8.5 × 11 flyer, build an 8.5 × 11 document. Add 0.125 in bleed in the program’s bleed settings. The exported PDF will be larger, and that is correct.

If a postcard is floating in the middle of a letter-size page, resize the document to the postcard’s finished size before exporting.

If we mentioned margins

Move important content away from the edge

Bleed goes outside the finished edge. Text, logos, phone numbers and other important content move inside it.

1/4"recommended clear space on flyers and larger pieces
1/8"minimum clear space on small pieces such as business cards

Step 3

Before you resend it

Still unsure? Send us what you have.

We will open it, check it, and tell you whether anything else needs attention.

Upload your corrected file Email sandy@daytoncreative.com