Bleed

“Bleed” describes a print where the image runs all the way to the edge of the sheet — no margin, no border. The opposite is a “bordered” print where a white margin surrounds the image, often to leave room for a signature or edition number in the lower margin.

In commercial print production “bleed” specifically means the image is printed slightly larger than the final trimmed size, with the excess trimmed away to guarantee a clean edge. In fine-art print sales the term is used more loosely to mean any print where the image extends to the paper edge with no visible border.

A few practical points worth knowing. Full-bleed prints are mounted differently — with no margin to hide behind a mount, the framer either has to crop slightly into the image (typically 2–3mm on each side) or float-frame the print so the whole sheet stays visible. Full-bleed prints can’t carry a hand signature on the front of the paper; the signature moves to the reverse, the certificate of authenticity, or a separate paper margin behind the artwork. And full-bleed prints lose a little flexibility when reframing — a bordered print can be remounted at any size that crops at or inside the original margin; a full-bleed print is fixed at its printed dimensions.

The choice between full-bleed and bordered is a deliberate aesthetic decision. Bordered prints feel traditional and museum-shaped; full-bleed prints feel contemporary and graphic. Neither is “correct” — the work itself dictates which presentation suits.

Most of our prints carry a small margin so the artist can sign and number in pencil below the image. Where full-bleed makes sense for a particular piece, the signature is recorded on the reverse and the certificate of authenticity.