How to set up your design for a Gate Fold leaflet
A Gate Fold leaflet has an impressive look and is especially favorable for menus and price lists. There are a few extra steps you need to take to ensure that the folding works correctly and needs to be considered during the design process. The bleed on a Gate fold tends to be set up incorrectly and sometimes results in an undesired print. Let us show you exactly how to set up the bleed on your Gate fold, so you have the perfect print every time.
Why is setting up your bleed crucial when designing a Gate Fold?
Bleed is important on all printed artwork, but it is especially important on a Gate Fold leaflet. If the bleed is done incorrectly, the issue will be the first thing you notice when you look at the front of the leaflet.
Often, people don’t set up the bleed on the outer panels of the design, therefore when the outer panels fold in and meet in the middle, there is a harsh white line where the bleed is missing.
Alternatively, if the front design is not positioned correctly, then some elements cross over the gap and don’t look seamless.
Setting the Bleed for a Gate Fold leaflet.
There are countless techniques you can use to achieve bleed on your design. Whatever way you choose to add bleed to your artwork is fine, however, you need to consider the following when adding bleed onto the outer panels.
Bleed is an extension of elements over the trim line and gets removed during production. There can be slight movement when the artwork is cut down, so please keep this in mind when creating your design.
Please don’t drag your elements over the trim edge into the bleed zone. As this does not result in the desired alignment. You are effectively cutting off 3mm of the joining panels on each side, resulting in a 6mm gap of missing artwork when the print is complete.
Ideally, what you should be doing is letting the graphic continue over the trim line without it being cropped or stretched. What this means is, when the 3mm excess bleed is removed, where the graphic stops at the cut line, will continue onto the next panel. Leaving you with a seamless graphic over the front two panels when the leaflet is closed.
Repeat this process on both joining panels. For the rest of the document, it's just a traditional bleed on the edges as there are no further joins being made.
When set up correctly, the final print will have a seamless front gate panel and no imperfections will be visible.
