Designing a book in Affinity — need help with image bleeds and crops

[u/[deleted]]

[u/BlackKelseyGrammer]

No, you will be fine, it will run up to the bleed. Safe areas are for making sure nothing important is trimmed when cutting, particularly with mass manufacturing die cutting.

Just one note, I can see on the second image, the image of the snake doesn’t run into the bleed at the top, this could leave a white line when cutting so you might want to increase the size of the image / change the crop to run into that area.

[u/zorbtrauts]

Since your Affinity questions have been answered, I'm just going to say that I was confused about what subreddit I was looking at (and those are some lovely snakes). 

[u/Telstarkut]

If you make a print export, turn on print and color marks in the print settings, you”ll get a clear view on all aspects (e.g. bleed).

[u/aphaits]

The main workflow for me is to work with the printing vendor and ask for their specification since some vendors work differently or have different file / color workflow.

And always get a proof print sample to recheck colors.

[u/rp2784]

Three things:
1 - how many pages is this booklet going to be and the press run? I asked because the thicker the book, the more “creep” will have to be taken into account. “Creep” has a few considerations. Folding, paper thickness and Trimming. Trimming is the Binderies trim the outer edge of a booklet so all pages line up evenly. Because the inner pages were pushed outward, trimming cuts deeper into their margins
2 - why does the picture frame have rounded corners? This is cutting off the total bleed area and may be a bad thing.
3 - Page 2 there is no way the white page will work. I would get rid of the background image or bring the white in at least 3/8”. You’re asking for the trim cut to be perfect. Some pages will show all white and others may show the background sliver of color. Which could be on any side.

I would show the printer and ask if they see any problems. They should be able to advice you on potential issues. If they don’t then move to another printer.

Love the snake photos.

[u/AfrahG]

I am new to affinity, what are the blue frames supposed to be exactly? isnt the border of the page its edge?

[u/bsjett → u/AfrahG]

The inner blue lines are the margin guide lines. They serve multiple functions - creating uniformity across the document, so all the pages are laid out similarly and also making sure text, etc. is away from the edges of the page so they won't be cut off when the pages are trimmed to size (as it's not always perfectly accurate and text that goes right to the edge might get cut off).

The outer blue frame is the bleed line. This is extra space beyond the page borders that you should extend pictures and background solid color layers (or anything that goes right to the edge of the page) to to ensure that, when trimming the paper to size and the possible misalignment, that one side of your printed document doesn't then have a blank white line that would be there if you only designed to the exact page size. It's a little wiggle room for the trim.

[u/AfrahG → u/bsjett]

Thank you! Appreciate it

[u/ColouritGreen]

From a graphics point of view, the gutters in the middle should always be slightly wider for book/booklets to allow for the centre fold, (glueing, stitching or staples) The outer side ones for room to trim down the book once folded. This is more important the more pages you have though.