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GlossaryPrinting your card

What Is the Safe Zone on a Printed Card?

The safe zone is the margin inside the cut line of a printed card where text and logos must stay clear, because cutting is never perfectly exact. It is the opposite of bleed: bleed runs outwards past the cut, while the safe zone holds important content back from it. A margin of 3 to 5 mm is typical.

Why a Margin Is Needed

The cut can drift by a millimetre or more either way. Anything sitting close to the edge risks being clipped, or looking cramped when it lands a hair off. A phone number set 1 mm from the cut can lose its last digit. The safe zone is the margin that makes that unlikely.

How Big It Should Be

Printers commonly ask for somewhere between 3 and 5 mm inside the trim line. On an 85.6 by 54 mm card, a 4 mm margin leaves a live area of 77.6 by 46 mm. Backgrounds and images are the exception: they should run out to the bleed rather than stop at the safe line.

Bleed, Trim and Safe Zone Together

Three lines describe the edge of a print file. The outermost is the bleed edge, where artwork must reach. The middle is the trim line, where the card is cut. The innermost is the safe zone, which text must not cross. Working from outside in: colour to the bleed edge, cut at the trim line, words inside the safe zone.

Cards With a Code on Them

A QR code needs its own clear margin as well, called the quiet zone, so a code placed near an edge has to respect both the safe zone and its own margin. See the quiet zone entry for the second one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between bleed and the safe zone?

Bleed is extra artwork beyond the cut line. The safe zone is a margin inside the cut line that text stays clear of. They point in opposite directions.

How far from the edge should text be on a business card?

At least 3 mm from the cut line, and 4 or 5 mm is safer. Check what your printer specifies.

Do backgrounds have to stay inside the safe zone?

No. Backgrounds and images should extend to the bleed edge. Only text and important marks need to stay inside the safe zone.

Keep reading

Related terms

BleedBleed is the extra artwork that runs past the edge where a printed card will be cut, so that a blade landing slightly off the line still finds ink and not bare paper. It is usually 3 mm on every side, which makes a card with an 85.6 by 54 mm finished size a 91.6 by 60 mm file.Crop MarksCrop marks, also called trim marks, are short printed lines at the corners of a design that show a printer where to cut. They sit outside the finished card area and are removed when the card is trimmed.Quiet ZoneThe quiet zone is the blank margin around a QR code that lets a scanner tell where the code ends and the surroundings begin. The QR specification calls for four modules of clear space on every side, and a code with less may fail to scan even when it is otherwise perfect.Business Card DimensionsBusiness card dimensions vary by country: 3.5 by 2 inches (88.9 by 50.8 mm) in the United States and Canada, and about 85 by 55 mm across most of Europe. The international ID-1 size, 85.6 by 54 mm, is the same as a bank card and is the size used for the print file here.

Put this into practice with your own card

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