Last updated: May 2026  ·  Originally published 2019  ·  7 min read

What Is Full Bleed Printing?

Full bleed printing means your design — background color, image, or graphic — extends all the way to the edge of the finished page with no white border. The word “bleed” refers to printed content that intentionally extends slightly beyond the trim edge. When the page is cut to its final size, there’s no visible white margin even if the cut isn’t perfectly precise.

In professional print production, the standard bleed is ⅛ inch (0.125”) on all four sides. That means if your final document is 8.5” × 11”, the file is prepared at 8.75” × 11.25”, with artwork extending into that extra ⅛” on each edge. When the document is trimmed, the result is a clean, edge-to-edge print.

Full bleed is commonly used for marketing flyers and brochures, posters and event materials, business cards, presentation covers, photo prints, menus, certificates, and any PDF with a full-color background.

Method 1: Zero Margins (Quick Office Setup)

Word’s default margin is 1 inch on all sides. For a fast full bleed setup, reduce those margins to zero. This works for Word 2016 and later, including Microsoft 365.

Method 2: Professional Bleed Setup (Recommended for Print Materials)

If you’re producing materials that will be trimmed after printing — flyers, brochures, postcards — the industry-standard approach is to build in a ⅛” bleed by making your document slightly larger than the final size. This is what professional print shops expect.

The Important Limitation: Most Office Printers Can’t True Bleed

Here’s something worth knowing before you spend time designing a full bleed document: most standard office laser printers and desktop inkjet printers cannot print to the physical edge of the page. They require a small non-printable zone around the perimeter — typically 0.1” to 0.25” — because of how paper feeds through the machine. Setting margins to zero tells Word to ignore that zone, but the hardware constraint still applies. The result is often a thin white border at one or more edges regardless of what you set in Word.

Word vs. Dedicated Design Software: When to Use Which

Word is a word processor first and a layout tool second. For basic full bleed documents it works fine — but there are real limitations worth knowing before you invest time designing something complex.

Troubleshooting Common Full Bleed Issues in Word

Quick Reference: Full Bleed Settings in Word

Scenario	Document Size	Margin Setting	Best For
Office printing — quick setup	Standard 8.5×11”	All margins: 0” → click Ignore	Internal documents, simple flyers, fast turnaround
Professional print vendor	8.75×11.25” (add 0.25” each dimension)	All margins: 0.125”	Brochures, marketing materials, anything being trimmed
Safety-first / unknown printer	Standard 8.5×11”	All margins: 0” → click Fix	When you’re not sure what your printer can handle

When Your Printer Is the Real Problem

If you’re regularly running into print quality issues — white borders you can’t eliminate, color accuracy problems, or output that just doesn’t match what you see on screen — the document settings may not be the bottleneck. The device itself might not be suited to what you’re trying to produce.

Colorado businesses printing high-quality marketing materials, full-color documents, or anything that represents the brand externally should be on equipment that can handle it. ABT’s authorized lineup includes Canon and Kyocera devices known for consistent, professional color output — and our managed print services program ensures your devices stay calibrated and your supplies stay stocked automatically.

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