Guide · updated Oct 25, 2026

Bleed and safe zone

Bleed extends your background 0.125 in (3 mm) past the cut line on every side so the trimmer never exposes white paper. The safe zone keeps text and logos 0.125 in inside the cut line so a cut that lands slightly off doesn't clip them. A correct US print file is 3.75 × 2.25 in with the TrimBox set to 3.5 × 2 in.

Why the cut is never exact

Business cards are printed many-up on a large sheet and cut in a stack. The blade lands within about 1/32 in of the line, and a stack can drift. Bleed hides drift outward; the safe zone hides drift inward. Skip either and one card in a stack of 500 will have a white edge or a clipped phone number.

TrimBox and BleedBox

A PDF can carry several page boxes. The MediaBox is the whole page (3.75 × 2.25 in). The BleedBox is the same here. The TrimBox is the finished card (3.5 × 2 in), inset 0.125 in. Automated preflight at Vistaprint, Moo and most online printers reads the TrimBox to know where to cut; a file without one is either rejected or guessed at. Cardie sets all three on every PDF, plus an ArtBox for the safe zone.

Box	US card	Purpose
MediaBox / BleedBox	3.75 × 2.25 in	Everything, including bleed
TrimBox	3.5 × 2 in, inset 0.125 in	Where the blade cuts
ArtBox (safe zone)	3.25 × 1.75 in, inset 0.25 in	Where text and logos stay

How to check a file

Open the PDF in Acrobat and choose File → Properties → Advanced, or in Preview on a Mac use Tools → Show Inspector. If you only see a MediaBox, the printer has nothing to cut to. Cardie's preview shows the trim line as a dashed rectangle so you can see what will be cut before you download.