On a roll label, let any color or background that reaches the edge run 0.125" (1/8") past the cut line. On a vinyl sheet label, run it 0.06" past, the same as our stickers. Then keep text, logos, and anything that mustn't be trimmed inside the safe area:
- Roll labels: at least 1/8" (0.125") inside the cut. If you'd like your design closer to the edge than that, tell us and we can cut with a smaller edge.
- Vinyl sheet labels: at least 0.09" inside the cut, the same as our stickers.
Bleed and safe area matter more on labels than on most stickers, because labels usually have color right to the edge and text packed close to it.
How close the cut lands
Roll labels are typically cut within 1/16" of where they should be, and we reprint a roll label that's off by more than 1/8". That's why the roll-label safe area is 1/8": text kept inside it stays clear of the cut even then. Vinyl sheet labels are cut like our stickers, within 1/32". Why a border can look uneven explains the tolerance.
Setting up the file
Here's a 3" × 2" rectangle roll label:
| Area | Size | What goes there |
|---|---|---|
| With bleed | 3.25" × 2.25" | Background colors and images, carried past the cut |
| Cut line (the label's size) | 3" × 2" | Where the label is cut |
| Safe area | 2.75" × 1.75" | Text, logos, barcodes, and anything that must survive |
In Illustrator or InDesign:
- Make the artboard the label's size.
- Set a 0.125" bleed in "Document Setup", or 0.06" for a vinyl sheet label.
- Add guides 1/8" (0.125") in from each edge, or 0.09" in on a vinyl sheet label.
- Export with the bleed included. Exporting a print-ready PDF shows the settings.
If you can't add bleed, we add it where it's needed, and your proof shows what's printed past the line.
Frames and lines near the edge
A thin frame running close to the cut is the riskiest thing you can put on a label. Print and cut are separate steps, so the cut can land a hair off, and a frame near it makes that show as one side wider than the other. You have three choices: drop the frame, move it well inside the safe area and make it bold enough to look deliberate, or let a solid background run to the edge instead.
Round, oval, and rounded-corner labels
The safe area follows the shape. On a circle or oval, text set around the edge needs to stay inside the curve by the safe area (1/8" on a roll label, 0.09" on a vinyl sheet label), not inside the corners of an imaginary square around it. On rounded-corner labels, keep content out of the corners, where the curve cuts in.
If your packaging supplier sent a dieline
A dieline is the supplier's drawing of the label's exact shape and size, sometimes with their own bleed and safe lines on it. Design on it and send it with your artwork. If its margins differ from ours, use whichever is larger.
If you don't have a dieline, send us the label size: its width and height. Our own downloadable label templates are coming, as sticker and label templates explains.
Curved containers need a second margin
The safe area protects your design from the cut. On a bottle or jar, the curve is a second margin: the sides of a label wrap away from view, so keep the most important text toward the front. How to measure a jar or bottle for a label and sizing a wine label to the bottle cover the curve.
Required text is what gets squeezed
Ingredient lists, warnings, and contact details are what gets pushed toward the edge when space runs short, which puts the text you most need right where the cut is closest. Compliance text on small labels has ways to fit it.