There are three terms that you will hear a lot when getting your book ready for print: bleed, trim and spine width. They may sound technical, but they are all about ensuring that your book prints clearly and neatly as well as lines up properly.
Bleed (the extra edge)
Bleed – the portion of artwork that extends beyond the final page edge. Stacks of pages are cut by printers, and little imperceptible shifts occur. Border-bottom – If your background colour or image stops exactly at the edge, you might end up with a thin white line. For advice from Book Printers Cheltenham, visit https://wheatleyprinters.co.uk/printing-services/marketing-materials/book-printers/cheltenham/
Bleed means your design is ‘off-page’ so that there is space for colour to go right up to the edge of where it will eventually be cut.
Trim (the final size)
Trim is the size of finished book after cutting. For instance, your book could be reduced to A5 or 6×9 inches.
The ebook is a scaled completed version of your trim size design (with bleed, if necessary). Important content, such as the text here should ideally stay in a “safe” margin to ensure it doesn’t get cut off.
Spine width
The portion size is the width of the spine, which generally depends on:
Page count
Paper thickness (gsm)
If pages are colour or black and white (this can impact paper type also)
If you are designing your own cover, this is critical to the book because of its spine width.
Quick takeaway
Bleed: The bleed is the area that extends beyond your final cut size, which prevents white edges. Spine width (the thickness of books) ensuring your cover fits with spine text properly if any. If you are not certain, the printer can do this for you with minimal specs from your end.
