Custom Bleeds
Bleed is the term used to describe items that are printed to the edge of a finished page. Custom Bleeds functionality provides enhanced bleed functionality for QuarkXPress, giving you more control over how items will bleed.
To create a bleed in QuarkXPress, simply create items that extend past the edge of the page onto the pasteboard, and then specify how much of the area beyond the edge of the page should be printed. There are three types of bleeds:
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A symmetric bleed extends the same distance from each edge of the layout page.
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An asymmetric bleed specifies different bleed amounts for each edge of the page.
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A page item bleed prints all items that extend beyond the page edge in their entirety.
The bleed rectangle is the distance the bleed extends beyond the page boundaries, and is defined by the bleed values you enter. For example, if you create a symmetric bleed with a value of 2 picas, the bleed rectangle encompasses everything that is within 2 picas of each edge of the page. It is important to note that the Custom Bleeds feature automatically creates the bleed rectangle, but it does not automatically extend items into that area. You must position items so that they extend beyond the layout page edge to create the bleed.
Before you output a layout to film, take a moment to preview the layout to make sure the bleed will output as you expect. Choose File > Print > Summary. The graphic page icon on the top-right side displays the bleed area for the first page of the layout, and indicates whether any of the layout or bleed is outside the imageable area. Remember to add the bleed area to the layout dimensions when comparing the layout size to the imageable area.
Large Pasteboard Integration with Bleed
In QuarkXPress, whenever Pasteboard height is increased, Bleed values specified in Layout Bleed settings will be honored in addition to it.
If the specified pasteboard length exceeds the max spread height, max possible height will be used (i.e., Page Height + Bleed + Pasteboard length should not exceed 225").
Using Custom Bleeds
You can use Custom Bleeds to create bleeds when printing, saving a page as an EPS file, exporting a layout as a PDF file. The procedure is similar for all of these output options, but some bleed options are only available for certain output methods.
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Print: The Bleed Type drop-down menu is in the Bleeds pane of the Print dialog box.
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EPS: The Bleed Type drop-down menu is in the Save Page as EPS dialog box. When you save a page as an EPS file, the Page Items and Clip at Bleed Edge options are not available. This is because these options create a bounding box that includes any item extending off the page. This could result in a different bounding box for every page in a layout, which could lead to inaccurate output.
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PDF: The Bleed Type drop-down menu is in the Export as PDF dialog box.
Using Clip at Bleed Edge
When creating a symmetric or asymmetric bleed, you can use the Clip at Bleed Edge check box to define whether QuarkXPress uses the bleed value to clip items:
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If Clip at Bleed Edge is checked, QuarkXPress prints all layout page items and pasteboard items that are at least partially within the bleed rectangle, and QuarkXPress uses the bleed values to clip items.
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If Clip at Bleed Edge is unchecked, QuarkXPress prints all layout page items and pasteboard items that are at least partially within the bleed rectangle, and does not clip such items unless they extend beyond the limits of the printing device's imageable area. Pasteboard items that are not within the bleed rectangle do not print.
If you store items on the pasteboard, make sure they are placed outside the bleed rectangle when using a symmetric or asymmetric bleed. If they are within the bleed rectangle, pasteboard items may print on final output.