If you’ve designed materials for printing, you’re probably aware of the need to design “out to the bleed.”

Because printers can’t print to the very edge of a paper (as you can see with the white edge in the example above), the project is instead designed with a trim guide (or bleed line) in mind. This trim line makes the project marginally bigger than it otherwise would have been (on average, a bleed line is 1/8 inch). The project is then  trimmed back to the design’s original size, allowing the ink to reach the project’s edge in a clean, crisp, professional manner.

The trimming of a book cover (at least in the instance of perfect bound books) occurs after the cover has been applied to the book. This makes it so that the size of the cover will perfectly match the size of the pages.

Here at Alexander’s, we trim our short run books in small stacks using our special cutting machine that creates a smooth, even edge. See our machine in action below!

Are you a publishing company looking to print and manage your company’s short run books? Or, are you a self-publishing author that needs a hand with the printing process? Contact us – we’d love to help.