Print Specifications — Bleed & Trim Standards

Standard bleed and trim specifications used across client print collateral. These values apply to all printed marketing materials unless a vendor or project specifies otherwise.

Standard Values

Setting	Value
Bleed (per side)	0.125"
Total trim (bleed × 2)	0.25"

The 0.125" bleed is applied on all four sides, resulting in 0.25" of total trim area around the finished piece. This is the industry-standard "safe" bleed for most commercial and quick-print vendors.

When to Apply

All print-ready PDFs exported for vendor submission
Any file delivered to FedEx, Office Depot/Max, or similar print services
Sell sheets, intro cards, recipe cards, and other flat collateral
Files should be exported with crop marks and bleed settings enabled in the PDF export dialog

Export Checklist

When saving a print-ready PDF from InDesign (or equivalent):

Choose Adobe PDF (Print) preset
Enable Marks & Bleeds — include crop marks
Set bleed to 0.125" on all sides (or confirm it is already built into the document)
Confirm the finished document dimensions are correct before bleed is added
Save to a clearly labeled /print/ or /print-ready/ folder in the shared project drive

Minimum Font Size

Body and detail text: 10pt minimum for legibility at print size
9pt is considered too small for general marketing collateral

Vendor Notes

FedEx Office — preferred vendor; note that weekend capacity is limited and files should be submitted before end of business Friday to avoid delays
Office Depot / Office Max — acceptable backup option when FedEx is unavailable or turnaround is tight

File Delivery

Share print-ready PDFs via Google Drive link rather than email attachment (large file sizes)
Notify the client via text message when files are ready, as email has proven slower and less reliable for time-sensitive print jobs

Evidence

Confirmed and applied during the ^[1] working session. The designer confirmed 0.125" bleed on the 8.5×11 sell sheets matched the spec already used on the intro card and recipe card. Diana Henry (Didion) submitted files directly to FedEx following this standard.

^[1]
^[2]
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