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How to Add Bleed, Margins, & Crop Marks in Canva For Print Projects

January 13, 2025

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How to add bleed in Canva

Go to ‘File’ and select ‘Show Print Bleed’ to display extra space around your design. Ensure all important elements are within the safe area to avoid being trimmed off during printing. Download the file as PDF Print with crop marks.

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When preparing a design for printing in Canva, it’s essential to include a bleed. A bleed is a buffer zone around your design that ensures no critical elements are cut off during the printing process.

What is a bleed in printing, and why is it important in Canva?

A bleed in printing refers to an area outside the final size of your document where the design extends so there are no white edges after trimming. In Canva, adding a bleed ensures that your background or important elements don’t get cut off during the printing process.

Here’s a video of how to add bleed in Canva.

And a quick guide:

1. Open Your Design

Launch your project in Canva. Create a new design from scratch or open an existing design you want to print.

2. Enable Print Bleed

Go to ‘File’ -> ‘Settings’ and select ‘Show Print Bleed’. This shows extra space around your design with dotted lines.

Check that your layout fills the design and there is no white space.

In this example, I see that there is some white space above the bleed mark.

Make the image of your background bigger, and even go out of the canvas a bit to ensure that there is no white space.

Next, ensure that your crucial design elements like text and logos are within the safe area, away from the edges.

One way to know that is also to check the margins.

3. Show Margins

Again go to File -> Settings -> Show Margins.

Another grey dotted line will show inside the bleed line to indicate the margins.

Now, as you see, the CTA ‘Order Now’ is too close to the edge.

4. Adjust the Position of Elements

As you see in the screenshot above, the CTA element ‘Order Now’ is too close to the margins. It might get cut when you print.

It would be much safer to put it away from the corners, more towards the center.

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5. Download Your Design

Choose ‘Share’, ‘Download’, and select ‘PDF Print’.

Opt for ‘Crop Marks and Bleed’ to include the bleed in your download.

6. Check the PDF

Open the downloaded PDF to ensure there are no unwanted white spaces and everything looks as expected.

In the first scenario, you see the white space around the image. I have added a red background so you can see the white.

Here is how the crop marks look like when you download.

See below the adjusted design with the image size increased and the CTA moved towards the centre. There is also no white space anymore.

And here are the crop marks with no white space.

So make sure you check your design with bleed marks and margins after you design it.

Then, you can download the design to check it again.

Once you are done and the design looks good, you can safely send it to the printer.

And that’s how you create a professionally printed piece without any part of your design getting chopped off.

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FAQ: How to add bleed and margins in Canva

How do I add a bleed to my Canva design?

To add a bleed in Canva, open your design, click on ‘File’, and select ‘Show Print Bleed’. This action displays a border that represents the additional space around your design. Make sure to extend your background or other elements to fill this space.

What should I consider when setting margins in Canva?

When setting margins in Canva, ensure there is enough space around the content to prevent text or crucial design elements from being too close to the edge, risking being cut off. A good rule of thumb is to keep a margin of at least 1/4 inch from the document edges.

What are crop marks and how do they help in printing?

Crop marks, also known as trim marks, are small lines placed at the corners of your printed material to indicate where to cut the paper. They ensure that your final printed piece is cut precisely along the design’s intended borders. Adding crop marks in Canva when downloading your design as a PDF helps the printer accurately trim the printed version to match your digital design perfectly.

How can I add crop marks to my design in Canva?

To add crop marks in Canva, when you’re ready to download your design, click on ‘Share’, select ‘Download’, choose ‘PDF Print’, and then tick the ‘Crop Marks and Bleed’ option. This will include crop marks in your PDF, indicating where the paper should be cut.

Can I adjust the size of the bleed and margins in Canva?

Currently, Canva does not allow custom adjustments for the size of the bleed or margins directly within the app. The bleed area is preset, but you can manually adjust the position of elements within your design to ensure they fit within safe printing boundaries.

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