This article will walk you through the specifications for full bleed and how to ensure your images and colors reach the very edge of the page without unwanted white borders.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is Full Bleed?

Bleed is a printing term describing a document with images, lines, or colors that extend to the edge of the page. If we printed ink over the edge of the paper, the extra ink would be transferred to the next pages through the press. To avoid this, we print on sheets slightly larger than your book’s size and then trim off the extra paper in the bindery. This ensures your content reaches the very edge after manufacturing.


All files you upload to Lulu must meet these bleed specifications to look their best. Any images or colors you want touching the edge of the page must fill the bleed area, which extends 0.125 in (3.18 mm) past the trim edge on every side. Even if you choose not to include bleed content, your file still needs to be sized with this 0.125 in (3.18 mm) margin to account for the natural movement of the paper during the printing and trimming process.


Please Note: Text and other important elements should be placed within the Safety Margin, which is 0.5 in (12.7 mm) inside the Trim Edge.


With Bleed Content

A photo book open to a two-page spread titled "Best Places to Snorkel." The background image of a coral reef uses a full-bleed layout, covering the entire surface of the pages to the trim edge.


Without Bleed ContentA two-page book spread titled "Best Places to Snorkel" showing a standard margin layout. The photographs do not extend to the trim line, resulting in a visible white border around the entire composition on both the left and right pages.

Setting Up Bleed in Your Interior PDF

When you choose your desired book size, you download a template package for the appropriate size. The template includes all the elements from the interior and cover files in their proper sizes and placements. The bleed area is represented by the light blue area at the outside edge. Any bleed image, lines, or backgrounds must completely fill this area.


Lulu book interior template showing the relationship between the Total Document Size (5.75" x 8.75"), the Book Trim Size (5.5" x 8.5"), the Safety Margin (0.5"), and the Bleed Area (0.125").


Note: If you are using Adobe InDesign for your layout, be sure to extend your image or background content to the outside pink Bleed Guide.


BOOK INTERIOR

US Trade Trim Size | Document

Full-page bleed measurement

A 6.25 x 9.25 inch print-ready book cover design with full-bleed artwork. A text overlay specifies a 0.125-inch bleed area required for the final 6 x 9 inch trim size.


Bleed trimming (left) and finished page (right):

Comparison diagram of a full-bleed book cover. The left version includes a 0.125-inch bleed margin with a scissor icon on the trim line; the right version shows the finished cover after it has been cut to the final size.


When you upload your file, our system looks for your trim size plus 0.125 in (3.17 mm) on each side. If the system recognizes that your PDF does not include the bleed, it automatically adds the missing bleed area. Because the system cannot generate new content, this results in a white 0.125 in (3.17 mm) border around your page.

Trim Variance

Ideally, when the pages and cover of your book are trimmed, exactly 0.125 in (3.17 mm) of paper is removed from each edge. Because binding is a mechanical process, you may see a trim variance. Your book will remain the same finished size, but images can shift up to 0.125 in (3.17 mm) in any direction.


If there is trim variance during binding, the white border from the non-bleed file will show at your book’s edge. Since variance does not occur evenly, the border will likely result in thin white slivers on one or more sides.

 

PDF with missing bleed, showing white borders:An example of an incorrect book cover layout where full-bleed was intended but not applied, resulting in unwanted white margins around the artwork.

 

Examples of books with trim variance:

Examples of "white slivers" on book edges, illustrating why artwork must extend into the bleed area to account for trim variance.

Interior File Setup With Bleed Specifications

  • Page size must be 0.25 in (6.35 mm) larger in both width and height than the book’s trim size 
    • Example: A 6 x 9 in (152.40 x 228.60 mm) book requires a PDF with pages sized 6.25 x 9.25 in (158.75 x 234.95 mm)
  • Export as a single-page layout, print-ready PDF with all pages created at the same size and orientation
  • Do not include crop marks or registration marks
  • If your book is intended for our Global Distribution service, any text within an image must be positioned within the safety margin, or at least 0.5 in (12.70 mm) from the edge of the finished page size
  • Although we make every effort to provide high-quality, consistent books, manufacturing variance can result in very slight variations in the actual trim size of your work. Allow for a printing trim variance of 0.125 in (3.17 mm).

Interior File Full Bleed Setup Using Adobe InDesign

To create your document using bleed before adding content:

  1. Start a new document and set the page size to your book’s trim size (do not include bleed in these dimensions)
  2. Select the Print tab
  3. Click Bleed and Slug to expand the panel. Enter 0.125 in (3.17 mm) in the four bleed boxes and click OK
  4. Create your interior, ensuring any artwork that needs to be full-bleed extends to the red line. The page will be trimmed at the black line after printing

 

To adjust existing pages to add bleed or to edit the bleed settings:

  1. Go to File > Document Setup
  2. Select Bleed and Slug
  3. Enter or adjust your bleed settings and extend images to fill the area

 

When adding your images and elements to the document, be sure to snap the object to the bleed guideline. For recommendations on exporting your interior print PDF from Adobe InDesign, please see our InDesign help article.

 

For information on creating your interior print-ready PDF, please review our instructions here.

Troubleshooting

White Edges

If your printed book has a white border instead of your intended content, your page was likely set up without bleed. The first indication of this is the warning message generated during the Design step in the Project Creator:


A screenshot of print warning notifications on Lulu. A red box highlights a "Full Bleed" warning, which explains that a white bleed margin was added to the file because the uploaded PDF was not properly sized for full-bleed printing.

Cause of Bleed Warnings

The most common cause of a missing bleed is a file document size set up at the trim size, forgetting to add 0.125 in (3.17 mm) on all sides to account for bleed. If you upload your interior file without a bleed, our system recognizes the missing bleed and adds it as white space since it cannot create content. We allow this so that your book creation can continue, whether you decide to fix the issue or not. However, you may have white edges that will show up with any trim variance.


Examples:


Source file for a US Letter-sized Landscape book created without bleed:

Close-up of a document layout where the background pattern stops at the trim edge, demonstrating a "no-bleed" setup error.

 

Print-Ready PDF after the system adds the bleed (resulting in white borders):

Close-up of a PDF showing an incorrect white bleed margin caused by artwork that does not extend to the red bleed line.

 

If you have created your own artwork and your upload generates a bleed warning, the problem is usually an incorrect document size or an empty bleed area. You must extend that content to the very edge of the bleed area.

Correcting Missing Bleeds

To correct the problem, adjust the size of your original document to add 0.125 in (3.17 mm) on all four sides and extend the background or content to the new edge on all pages.

Common Bleed Error in Adobe InDesign

The most common InDesign bleed error is forgetting to extend your content to the bleed guides, even when you created them properly in the Document Size panel. This is a very common mistake, as it is a manual process. 

 

Incorrect Bleed Content

The document’s red bleed guides were created, but the image is not extended out to the red guides:The document’s red bleed guides were created, but the image is not extended out to the red guides.

 

Correct Bleed Page Fill 

The image content is extended out to the red bleed guide:The image content is extended out to the red bleed guide correctly.