Need help on page size of A4 paper with 0.125 in bleed!

[emmanuels92058415]

The printing company needs an 8.39 x 11.94 inches document (A4 size, plus the 0.125 inches bleed).

So I have an A4 (8.2677 x 11.6929 in ) document with a 0.125 inch bleed on all sides; when I export it via PDF (with 0.0833 inch offset) the page size becomes 8.85 x 12.28 inches. I don't know why, or how it results to that page size; I tried reducing the offset to zero but it still is the same size and does not abide by the specs the printing company needed. What do you think is the culprit, or what should I do to get this size?

[Derek Cross]

When you set up your New document InDesign page, choose A4 then add the bleed measurement so they are in addition to A4 (you  set the bleed in the InDesign set-up panel). When you export the document to PDF ensure Use Document Bleed Settings is ticked in the dialogue box.

I think the Offset you’ve mentioned is adjusting the trim marks position, this function adjusts the trim marks position in relation to the edge of the page.

[emmanuels92058415]

Hello Derek,

Thanks for the reply, but what I mean is that I want the exported size to be 8.39 inches in width (A4 width = 8.2677 + the 0.125 inch bleed) and 11.94 inches in height (A4 height = 11.6929 + 0.125 inch bleed). I know the procedures on setting up bleeds, but what only troubles me is that I could not get the size that I want, it always results to a bigger size than I expected (it becomes 8.85 x 12.28 instead of 8.39 x 11.94).

[emmanuels92058415]

I also tried to reduce the bleed size to half (0.0625 inch) with 0 offset but still the page size is bigger than the preferred size. It exported as 8.68 x 12.11 inches.

[Derek Cross]

The trimmed page size (TPS) of an A4 sheet measures 210 × 297 millimeters or 8.27 × 11.69 inches, to these measurements you add 3mm or .125 inches to each edge for bleed.

[Doug A Roberts · Accepted solution]

emmanuels92058415  wrote

Hello Derek,

Thanks for the reply, but what I mean is that I want the exported size to be 8.39 inches in width (A4 width = 8.2677 + the 0.125 inch bleed) and 11.94 inches in height (A4 height = 11.6929 + 0.125 inch bleed). I know the procedures on setting up bleeds, but what only troubles me is that I could not get the size that I want, it always results to a bigger size than I expected (it becomes 8.85 x 12.28 instead of 8.39 x 11.94).

an 0.125 in bleed on all sides would add 0.25 in to your dimensions, not 0.125.

when i make a doc like that in indesign and export to PDF, i get an 8.52 x 11.94 in PDF (according to Acrobat).

i presume you're adding trim (crop) marks. adding these to the PDF export, i get a size that tallies up with your results. so: don't worry about it. presumably if you need a bleed, you want trim marks too.

'offset' relates to how far the trim marks sit from the trim box edge, as Derek said.

[emmanuels92058415]

Thank you Doug!

This solved my problem! Yes, Crop Marks were checked (I thought these would benefit the printing company so they could determine the bleeds - but turns out it isn't a requirement, and it adds an extra 0.16 inch to the size) so I just unchecked it, made the offset to 0, and remove the bleed on the Inside (so there are bleeds on Top, Bottom, and Outside only)

Thank you so much!