You've nailed the design. The fonts, the colors, the wording. All of it. Before you send it to print, there's one thing worth knowing about: print bleed. It's just a little extra space around the edges that makes sure nothing important gets trimmed off. Without it, even a tiny cutting shift can leave a white edge on your finished card.
How bleed works
When cards are printed and cut, the trim can shift by a tiny amount in any direction. Bleed accounts for that by extending your background color or image slightly past the final edge of the card. That way, even if the cut lands a hair off-center, there's no gap between your design and the edge.
Joy uses the industry standard of 1/8 inch (0.125 inches) of bleed on all sides.
What this means for your design
Two things to keep in mind:
Extend backgrounds and patterns to the bleed edge. Any color, texture, or image that reaches the edge of your card should extend at least 1/8 inch past the trim line.
Keep important content inside the safe zone. Names, dates, and any other text or details you don't want trimmed off should stay at least 1/8 inch inside the trim line (also called the Finished Size).
Tip: Most design software will let you add guides at the trim and bleed lines. Setting those up before you start designing saves you from having to adjust things later.
Still have some questions?
Ask us directly! Click on the black and white chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of this page to ask us your questions, or you can email us at support@withjoy.com. You'll get a friendly response from someone on our team! 🙂