How to Print Crop Mark - Illustrator CS3

Selecting a printer description file

The set-up for separations and other options occurs in the Print dialog box.

Important: To be able to continue with this section, your computer must be connected to a PostScript printer. If you are connected to an ink-jet printer or not connected to a printer, the separation options will be dimmed in the Print dialog window.

1. Choose File > Print. The first pop-up window labeled Print Preset is left alone at this point.
   
   
   
2. First, make sure that you have a printer selected in the Printer pop-up box. If not, select a Postscript printer at this point.
   
3. Select a PPD.
   
   PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files contain information about the output device, including available page sizes, resolution, available line screen (frequency) values, and the angles of the halftone screens.
   
4. In the PPD pop-up window, choose Other.
   
5. Navigate to the General.ppd file, located in the Lesson15 folder, inside the Lessons folder within the AICIB folder on your hard drive. Click Open.
   
   The Print dialog box is updated with general printer parameters, and a preview of your artwork is displayed on the lower left side of the dialog box. (The preview of your artwork depends on the page size selected in the Page Size menu. Each output device has a variety of page sizes available; select the desired page size from the Page Size menu in the Print dialog box.)
   
6. Choose US Letter for the paper size in the Media section.
   
7. Click on Marks and Bleed in the options window on the left.
   
   In this window you can choose which printer's marks are visible. Printer's marks help the printer align the color separations on the press, and check the color and density of the inks being used.
   
   Add all printer's marks, or select just the ones that you want.
   
   
   
8. Click the checkbox to show All Printer's Marks.
   
   The preview shows the crop and other marks in the preview.
   
   Select printer's marks if not already selected.
   
   
   
   A. Registration mark.
   B. Page Information.
   C. Crop mark.
   D. Color bar.
   
   

Specifying the bleed area

Bleed is the amount of artwork that falls outside the printing bounding box or outside the crop marks and trim marks. You can include bleed in your artwork as a margin of error—to ensure that the ink is still printed to the edge of the page after the page is trimmed or to ensure that an image can be stripped into a keyline in a document. Once you create the artwork that extends into the bleed, you can use Illustrator to specify the extent of the bleed.

Changing the bleed moves the crop marks farther from, or closer to, the image; however, the crop marks still define the same size printing bounding box.

Small bleed.

Large bleed.

1. Specify a bleed of 18 pt by typing it in the Top bleed text field. If the Link button does not have a square surrounding it, click it now to activate equal bleed settings on all sides.
   
   Add a bleed equal on all sides using the Link button.
   
   
   
   This means that the artwork extends 18 points beyond the crop marks on your film. The maximum bleed you can set is 72 points; the minimum bleed is 0 points.
   
   The size of the bleed depends on its purpose. A press bleed (that is, an image that bleeds off the edge of the printed sheet) should be at least 18 points. If the bleed is to ensure that an image fits a keyline, it needs to be no more than 2 or 3 points. Your print shop can advise you on the size of the bleed necessary for your particular job.