What is trim size in printing?
The trim size is the finished size of a printed piece after it has been cut, for example 3.5 × 2 in for a US business card.
What it means for your file
A print file is set up at the trim size plus bleed on every side. Crop marks show the printer where the trim falls.
Our guide to bleed, trim and safe zone lists the trim sizes of common print pieces.
An example
A US business card trims to 3.5 × 2 in. With 0.125 in (3 mm) of bleed on every side, the file measures 3.75 × 2.25 in, and text stays at least 0.125 in inside the trim, in a safe area of 3.25 × 1.75 in. A US letter flyer trims to 8.5 × 11 in and measures 8.75 × 11.25 in with bleed.
A common mistake
Adding the bleed twice: making the page 3.75 × 2.25 in and then turning on bleed when exporting, so the card prints too big or with the art off-center. In InDesign and Illustrator the page is the trim size and bleed is set separately; only in programs without a bleed setting, such as Photoshop, does the canvas itself include it.
How to fix it
If your printer sent the file back saying “The file is the wrong size,” the fix page has the step-by-step way to do it yourself, and a fixed price if you’d rather have it done.
Where else it comes up
- “There’s no bleed”
- “The text is too close to the edge”
- “The page count must be a multiple of 4”
- “Please remove the crop marks”
- “The spine width doesn’t match the page count”
- “The PDF has no trim box”
- “The pages are different sizes”
- “The image is the wrong shape and too small for this product”
- “We need the full cover with spine and back, not just a front image”
- “KDP rejected my cover”
- “KDP rejected my manuscript file”
- “Lulu gave me a bleed warning”
- “Vistaprint says my image is low resolution”
- “Canva shows a red danger zone on my design”
- “My design doesn’t fit MOO’s template”
All print terms in the glossary, or run your file through the free print-ready checker.
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The print-ready file checklist
The seven checks every file goes through before it leaves us. Useful whether or not you ever send us a job.
Your print-ready checklist.
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Not sure what your file needs?
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