Trim marks not including bleed converting to PDF from Illustrator

[sugarcoated293]

Hi,

I have included a 3mm bleed in my Illustrator file (A4 size) and added trim marks because I want it to be 8inx 10in so I created a rectangle 8x10in. Then I added trim marks on them to be this size. I have two questions:

1) My trim marks are never exactly 8inx 10in. I have to move the trim marks to get it as close to 8inx 10in as possible since it doesn't automatically do this. Is there some function that I haven't unlocked?

2) When I convert my file to PDF and showing trim marks. The trim marks show up but there is a white border around this area. Since 8x10in is much smaller than A4 size, there should still be some bleed left. Why does it not show up? I am confused about how to fix this.

Thanks for the input in advance !

[Doug A Roberts]

why didn't you create an 8 x 10 in document if that's the size you want?

do you want the bleed around the A4 or around 8 x 10 in?

how did you create the crop marks? effect > crop marks? can you show what you mean when you say they're never exactly 8 x 10?

[sugarcoated293]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your quick response! I created a 8x10 since I wanted both A4 and 8x10 so I saved the 8x10 as one layer by adding a rectangle 8x10 around it and crop marks around that.

So for the A4, I want the bleed around the A4 and for the 8x10 I want the bleed around the 8x10.

The trim marks were created by selecting the 8x10 rectangle and then aligning it on the page, then object->create trim marks. Sometimes when I do this, the crop marks don't show up at all. I have tried this with effect>crop marks and there are no crop marks that show up.

[Danny Whitehead.]

Will this file be sent to another company to print? If so, don't manually create trim marks. Printers usually want the invisible TrimBox, and that requires your artboard to be the trim size. If they do want trim marks, they're better added as a setting when you save as PDF.

So you'd be better off either creating a separate artboard for each size, or changing the artboard size before saving as each PDF.

[sugarcoated293]

Yes it will be sent to be printed. Thank you for the advice!

I tried resizing it to 8x10 in artboard. I added a 3mm bleed but when I exported to jpg, there is a white border around it which I assume is the 3mm bleed. How do I fix this because it seems to defeat the purpose of a bleed.

[Doug A Roberts]

do you have to use a JPEG for print for some reason? if you don't, use PDF instead.

maybe a silly question, but is there anything actually overlapping the trim box/artboard into the bleed?

[sugarcoated293]

I am trying to use both jpg and pdf so I would like to work out how it works with jpg. The preview image for pdf is also the same with a white border around it.

Yes there is the background that overlaps the trim box (I made it 8.25x10.25 board with a 0.25 bleed)

[Monika Gause]

Without having seen the file(s) and without knowing exactly the options you set when exporting, everything can only be wild guesses.

[Danny Whitehead.]

Why the JPG? It's not an appropriate format for print artwork.

[Anna Lander]

create 2 artboards, A4 and 8"x10" with bleed if you actually need it.

and save the final artwork as PDF using "Use the document bleed" and "Trim marks" options in "Marks and bleed" tab. Then the program will add all needed items automatically, and each part will have its own settings.