Actually, that’s the last thing we want to do, but it happens far too often. More than a few times, I’ve gotten emails from Album Builder customers saying, “my sample album is ruined, all the heads are cut off.” I ask them, “Did you pay attention to the bleed lines and check to see the bleed line requirements from your album company?” The response, “Bleed what?”
Each and every album company on the planet, takes your images and binds them into a book block. This is the inside of the book without the cover. Then they take it into a giant guillotine cutter and lop off three sides faster than you can say “off with her head!” They do this so that the edges of all the pages match up perfectly and you have a nice smooth book block inside of the cover.
The problem is that each album company is different. Some are 1/4″, some are 3/8″ and some are obscure millimeter measurements that can make it a whole lotta fun. Here I have a perfectly nice portrait album design. It’s great! Wonderful! I love it! Ummm, that head is pretty close to the edge of the album top…
Now let’s look at it with some bleed lines super-imposed.
See all of those blue lines going right into the top of her head? Not so good. Let’s take a close up.
If I’m printing at an album company with an 1/8″ cut line, then I think I’m OK. I could probably even live with a 1/4″ cut. But anything beyond that and I don’t think the client would be very happy.
But wait, there is even more fun. These lines are for an 8×8 album. Let’s say grandma wanted a copy and you reduced it to a 5×5 album. Now the fun really begins.
The smaller your album gets, the more you need to be careful. These big cutting machines that the album companies use need the same amount of cut regardless of the size of the album. So the smaller your album gets, the more it is going to cut into the design.
Also, remember to check the sides too.
So, be careful, make sure you check the bleed lines before printing. Personally, I’ve never made this mistake 
Fundy
Fundy is the creator of Fundy Album Builder and Album Proofer. You can try out the brand new Super Ninja Layout in Album Builder, which allows you to design custom spreads in seconds, right here
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