Update: My old way of setting up print bleeds was costing me paper and time

For years I'd just add a 0.125 inch bleed manually in my design files, which meant redoing the whole layout if a client changed the document size. Last Tuesday, I finally tried setting up my master page in InDesign with the bleed and slug built into the document preset itself. I made a preset for a standard 5x7 postcard with the bleed already there. Now when I start a new file, it's done. It saved me from reworking three jobs this week alone. Has anyone else found a better preset system for different print shops, since they all seem to want slightly different margins?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy_clark15d ago

Your point about different print shops is so real. My buddy wasted a whole day because his preset margins were off by like an eighth of an inch for this one place. He just keeps a list of their specs in a text file now.

riley5815d ago

Wait, so we're all just out here building our own little encyclopedia of printer demands? It's like every shop has a secret handshake but for margins, and you only find out by wasting a whole pack of paper. I keep a folder of presets named after the shops, like "Valley Print - don't mess with their slug" lol. Feels silly but it beats that panic when you realize your file is wrong.