What Does “Full Bleed” mean?
Understanding the concept of a “full bleed” is important if you want color on your labels that extends right over the edge. Let’s take a look at the label below to get a better understanding of what we are referring to. We are looking to create a 5” x 6” beer label indicated by the black die-line. For this complete coverage of color that extends over the edge of the label, we actually create art that is slightly bigger than our label. We can see how the art extends beyond the black die line.
When your label is being created on the press, it passes through a series of color stations, hot stamp units, embossing tools, varnishes even laminates before it reaches the end of the press where it is die-cut. The die is a metal roller with the shape of your label engraved on it. By extending the art over the edge of the die line you are ensuring that your label will have a full bleed and that there will be no white space between your art and the edge of the label.
