Do I still need bleed without crop marks?

Yes. The marks only show where to cut; the bleed is the artwork past the cut that stops a white edge. Printers who don’t want marks still want the 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed.

Why do some printers want crop marks and others don’t?

Printers who cut each job by hand use your marks to line up the blade. Online printers that combine many jobs on one sheet add their own marks for the whole sheet, so yours only get in the way.

Can I just crop the marks off in a PDF editor?

In Acrobat Pro, setting the crop box to the bleed box hides them. Cropping hides content rather than removing it, so if the printer’s system still reads the larger page, export again from the original design file.

My file has no bleed at all. What then?

Removing the marks then leaves a file at the trim size with nothing past the edge. Add bleed first: the no-bleed page shows how, or we fix both for $10.

The printer said

“Please remove the crop marks”: How to export a print PDF without crop marks

Short answer

Many online printers want the PDF at the trim size plus bleed and nothing else: no crop marks, color bars or page information around the outside. Their system places your page automatically and adds its own marks, so marks in your file make the page the wrong size or end up printed. Export again with printer’s marks turned off but the document bleed still on, so the file keeps its 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed.

Updated November 8, 2026 · by Azaan Ali, print designer

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Why printers ask for this

Crop marks are drawn outside the bleed, a small distance away from it, so exporting with marks makes the PDF page bigger than the job. A 3.5 × 2 in business card with 0.125 in bleed should be a 3.75 × 2.25 in page. With marks it comes out noticeably larger, with the marks in the extra space around it.

Online printers put many jobs on one big sheet and add the marks for the whole sheet themselves. Their upload checks compare your page to the product size. A page bigger than trim plus bleed gets rejected, or shrunk to fit, which shrinks your design and can leave a white edge after trimming, or placed as it is, so your marks can print as part of the artwork.

Other printers, especially those who trim each job by hand, ask for marks. So it’s a preference, not a rule: read the printer’s file spec. “No printer’s marks”, “trim + bleed only” and “no crop marks” all mean the same thing, and none of them means removing the bleed.

How to export a print PDF without crop marks

Check the page size the printer wants: the trim size plus bleed on every side, such as 3.75 × 2.25 in for a 3.5 × 2 in card with 0.125 in bleed.
InDesign: File → Export → Adobe PDF (Print). Under Marks and Bleeds, untick All Printer’s Marks and Crop Marks, and keep Use Document Bleed Settings ticked, with 0.125 in (3 mm) on every side.
Illustrator: File → Save As → Adobe PDF. Under Marks and Bleeds, untick All Printer’s Marks and keep Use Document Bleed Settings ticked. With several artboards, check each one is the trim size.
Canva: Share → Download → PDF Print. Canva adds bleed and crop marks with one “Crop marks and bleed” checkbox, so ask the printer whether their upload accepts that file.
Only have the PDF? In Acrobat Pro, choose Crop pages, drag a box and double-click it to open Set Page Boxes. Tick Show All Boxes and set the CropBox margins so it matches the blue BleedBox, for all pages. This hides the marks rather than deleting them; if the printer still flags the size, export again from the original file.
Open the new PDF and check the page size under File → Properties: it should be trim plus bleed, with the background running right to the edge on every side.
The free print-ready checker measures the bleed in your browser. If the file never had bleed, the free add bleed tool adds it, with crop marks switched off if your printer doesn’t want them.

Do it free in your browserAdd bleed to a PDF, free Printer says there’s no bleed? Get the PDF back with bleed on every side, the trim set and crop marks.

Or send it to us

Export a PDF at exactly trim plus bleed, with no marks, color bars or slug
Add the bleed first if the file never had it, extending backgrounds past the trim
Split front and back into separate pages or files if the printer’s upload asks for that
Check the size, bleed and safe area before it goes back

Fix my file · $10 Same day, fixed price, one round of changes included. Or ask a designer first.

Questions

Do I still need bleed without crop marks?: Yes. The marks only show where to cut; the bleed is the artwork past the cut that stops a white edge. Printers who don’t want marks still want the 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed.
Why do some printers want crop marks and others don’t?: Printers who cut each job by hand use your marks to line up the blade. Online printers that combine many jobs on one sheet add their own marks for the whole sheet, so yours only get in the way.
Can I just crop the marks off in a PDF editor?: In Acrobat Pro, setting the crop box to the bleed box hides them. Cropping hides content rather than removing it, so if the printer’s system still reads the larger page, export again from the original design file.
My file has no bleed at all. What then?: Removing the marks then leaves a file at the trim size with nothing past the edge. Add bleed first: the no-bleed page shows how, or we fix both for $10.

Terms on this page: Crop marks, Bleed, Trim size, Safe area (safe zone).

Sources: Adobe InDesign: export PDFs for printing, Adobe Illustrator: add printer’s marks and bleeds, Adobe Acrobat: crop pages and set page boxes.