Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 9/29/2010

Question
Hi Kevin,
I saw in an old post that you addressed a very similar problem that I have, except that problem was making pdfs by going through print. Here's my issue: working in Illustrator CS3, I have always made pdf files using "save as" and selecting crop marks and setting my bleeds at .25. Suddenly, although I am applying all the same settings, the bleeds are not there when I preview my pdf in Acrobat. The crops are there, but not the bleeds. I have checked all the settings I can think of and cannot find that anything has changed. Do you have any idea what may have happened and how I can fix this?
Thanks!

Answer
Hi Evi,

The issue is Illustrator CS3 does not support bleeds. You will need to make your file larger to include the bleeds in the size.

So if you have an 8.5 x 11 document with .25" bleeds, you will need to make your file size 9 x 11.5" and then set your crop mark to fit the 8.5 x 11 using guides and the make crop mark manually. You can do this by dragging a sized rectangle shape to fit your crop, go to Edit>Crop Mark>Make while it's selected.

Do not add crop marks and bleeds in the PDF dialog box and you will be all set.

Thanks

Kevin