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VellumPDF

Prepare for the print shop

Bleed, crop marks and registration marks, ready for the print shop.

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How to prepare a PDF for the print shop, step by step

Print-shop preparation adds the bleed and marks a professional printer expects, entirely inside your browser.

  1. Drop in the PDF to prepare

    Drag the file onto the drop area, or click to browse for it. The page count appears.

  2. Set the bleed

    Enter its width in millimetres on every edge — 3 mm is a common value — then choose its content: a mirror of the page edge, or a flat colour you define.

  3. Turn on the marks you need

    Crop marks appear at the four corners outside the printed area; registration marks add a cross in a circle at the middle of each edge to check colour alignment; the colour bar adds a row of indicative swatches below the page.

  4. Check the dimensions summary

    A line states the final size and the bleed width applied to every edge before you start the preparation.

  5. Click “Prepare the PDF”

    VellumPDF adds the bleed and marks at the chosen dimensions and produces a new PDF ready to send to the print shop.

Bleed accepts values from 0 to 20 mm. By default, crop marks are turned on while registration marks and the colour bar are off — turn them on yourself according to your print shop’s requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What is bleed and why add it to a PDF?

Bleed is an extra strip beyond the final trim size, meant to be cut away by the print shop. It prevents a thin white line from appearing if the cut drifts by a few tenths of a millimeter — essential as soon as any artwork touches the edge of the page.

What is the difference between "mirror" bleed and "flat colour" bleed?

Mirror mode extends each edge of the page by reflecting a thin strip taken from that same edge, to give the illusion of continuing content — a practical approach, not genuine extra photographic content. Flat colour mode simply fills the bleed area with a chosen colour, which is more honest when the page has no edge-to-edge content to extend.

What are crop marks and registration marks?

Crop marks show the print shop where to cut for the final trim size, placed at the four corners of the page, outside the printed area. The optional registration marks are used to check the alignment of colour separations on a professional printing press.

Does the tool change the PDF’s TrimBox and BleedBox?

Yes, in addition to enlarging the MediaBox to hold the bleed and the marks, the tool precisely sets the TrimBox — the final size after cutting — and the BleedBox — the area including the bleed — as a professional prepress workflow expects.

Will this prepared PDF be accepted by any print shop?

The settings offered — bleed, crop and registration marks, an indicative colour bar — cover the most common requirements, but every print shop may have its own specifications (bleed width, colour profile). Always check their specification sheet before the final submission.