Expert: Scott Valentine - 1/24/2008

Question
Hello!
I have made a bunch of different business card designs in photoshop and used an avery business card template for sizing.  But when i go to print them out the design is all outside the borders.  Amy i doing something wrong in photoshop?  '
Thanks!

Answer
Thanks for your question, Cara. It's difficult to tell without seeing the file itself, but it may be that you are using a "full-bleed" template, or that the sizing of the template was meant for a different application (Microsoft Word, for example).

Full-bleed refers to a design that goes past the technical printable area of a document, and is intended for art or designs that will cover or go to the edge of the printed material. However, due to slight errors in cutting, the print is made slightly larger so that the design always fills the right area after the cut is made.

If your template has different cropping marks (crosses at the corners) and a bleed line (solid or dashed line beyond those), then your design can bleed at least to the outside line. If you want to lay out a typical card, you will have to stay inside the inner line, and stay away from the space between the print area and the edge of the card - typically 1/8" - called the "gutter".

In the second case, you will have to shrink your design down to fit within the allowed printing area.

However, if neither of these situations fits your problem, please follow and post a link to the PSD and the template so I can give you more accurate help.

Cheers,

-Scott