Bleeds & Safety Margins

Cutting Tolerance: “Cutting tolerance” is the slight variation that can occur between the printed image and the location of the cut. Our cutting tolerance is 1/16” (0.0625”) which mean the cut line can up, down, left or right by as much as 1/16“ compared to the printed image.  This means that anything within 1/16” of the edge of the label could potentially be cut off. Text or other elements that you want to ensure are not trimmed away must be placed more than 1/16” away from the expected edge of the label.

What is a bleed?

“Bleed” is printing that goes beyond the edge of a label after cutting. It is part of the background that will be cut off after the label is printed and cut to size. Without a bleed, there may be a gap in the background between the edge of the printed area and the cutline. This happens because there is a tolerance when cutting labels. The cutting tolerance is 1/16“ (0.0625”) so we recommend that you have a bleed of 0.1”

What is a Safety Margin?

Similar to a bleed the “margin” is the area inside the label that is within the cutting tolerance. It is equally important not to have critical information or design elements within the inside margin, as they could be lost due the cutting tolerance. The inner margin should also be 0.1”. If your label design has a border the border should be at least 0.2” thick to maintain border consistency on all sides. Border thickness is important because if it is too thin, the border may look uneven after cutting. The thicker the border, the less likely there will be a perceived unevenness after cutting.