Bleed, trim, type and crop marks are the most common terms used for doing an artwork for magazines or other type of print ads. All this will be illustrated in the image below.

specifications-MensHealth

This is a sample print advertisements specifications are from MensHealth Magazine Singapore.

Terminology used in doing an artwork for print ads as as follows:

  • Bleed – Excess part of your artwork. all this will be cutout after printing. Normal size for this is 3mm on all sides.
  • Trim mark/Crop marks – Guides that serves as the cutting lines between printed area and the cutout area.
  • Type area – All text must be inside this area.