producing an A4 mailer for print

[rskuse]

I've been using photoshop for some time but only recently have I been asked to produce a mailer that is to be printed.

Here's my problem.....
I have designed the mailer A4 size at 300 dpi but when printed it does not bleed to the edges (which I require). I appreciate that I will have to increase the size of the document but by how much? and do I just added colour to the edges or size the whole document equally?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thankyou,

Rachel

 

[carlow]

hi,

The edges around your document are due to the printer that you are using. A lot of printers have an area around the used paper where nothing can be printed. No matter how much bleed you give to your document there will be nothing on the paper.

hope this helps
grillhouse

 

[blueark]

Bleed depends on your printer, but an extra 3mm on each side of your A4 is usually fine (ie. add 6mm onto both the height and width and center your artwork). Image > Canvas Size... is usually the best way to do this.

As regards what you need to fill this extra space, well that depends on your artwork. If you've nothing important near the edges, then enlarging your artwork is probably ok. Otherwise, just make sure that there is no sudden transition between what is on the artwork and on the bleed area.

The important thing to remember is that bleed is a safeguard against inaccuracies in cutting. If, for example, the guillotine operator working on your artwork is 2mm off, then at least you won't be left with a white strip on the edge of your page. However, bleed works both ways. If 2mm less is cut off the top, chances are 2mm more will be cut off the bottom. Therefore you should always keep vital information away from the edges.

 

[jimoblak]

If your envelope is already folded, you can get away with increasing the canvas size any size (like .125 to .25" on each side).

If the envelope is not folded when it is on the press, you have to be more careful about keeping the bleed to a minimum. No more than .125" would be good in this case.

Remember the value you use to enlarge your canvas. You will need this again when you choose 'Bleeds' from the print dialog/setup.