How accurate is the cutting on printed products with narrow borders?

Commercial cutting is precise but not perfect, so every job has a small trimming tolerance. Narrow borders are the least forgiving because even a tiny shift makes an uneven border obvious. Designing with that tolerance in mind keeps the result clean.

• Always include bleed so a slight cut shift never exposes a white edge.
• Avoid very thin borders, since they exaggerate any variance from side to side.
• Keep borders even and at least about 1/4 inch wide when the look allows.
• Hold critical text and logos inside the safe area, away from the trim line.

If your project depends on extremely tight cutting, choose a material and finish suited to that tolerance and set up your file with generous bleed.