Re: [Gimp-user] How to use bleed and cropping

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 10/19/2015 02:23 PM, nishu92 wrote:
> > Hi, 
> > I am trying to print some files for a game I made, but I have told
> > for them to print I need to fix a few things which I have never done
> > before such as:
> > - my board needs to be 19.75" x 19.75" with a black boarder, currently
> > it is 20" x 20"
> > -  My  cards need be on 12" x 18" sheets. They need to be at least
> > 1/2" from all edges. Crop lines need to be on the fronts. They should
> > have 2-4mm bleed. All the backs need to be on one sheet, mirroring the
> > fronts on another.
> >
> > It is possible for someone to help me with this? I can send all my
> > files.
>
> I have been told: The easiest way is making the back ground all black. The art
> then should be 2mm inside the crop mark, so you'll have a black border around
> all our cards.
>  How though?

I use Inkscape to prepare images for commercial printing:  This is a
Free desktop publishing program.  Sorry about the "first get this
other program and learn how to use it" answer, but if you do you
will be glad you did.

Open Inkscape and start a new file, open File > Document Setup, and
select double sided.  Set the width & height, etc. as the job
requires, to match the dimensions of the stock it will be printed
on.  Save the file early & often, of course.

Set up guide lines to position your images on the pages, and for
each image do Insert > Insert Image Frame.  Right click inside the
resulting frame and select Get Image.  (I typically export my images
from the GIMP as PNG files, after building them to scale so that at
full size they are 300 DPI; i.e. an image 2" x 2" would be 600 x 600
pixels.)  Once you have got the image in the frame, right click in
the frame again and select Adjust Frame To Image.  Then drag and
drop the frame into place as indicated by the guide lines you set up
earlier.

You can add cut marks using guide lines and the simple drawing tool
in Inkscape.

When both pages are done, save the file then export it as PDF @ 300
DPI (or whatever the native resolution of your images is).  Open it
up with a PDF viewer, check your work, and if possible print a
double sided test sheet to verify alignment of the two sides.

That's about all there is to it.  If your print vendor has other
specifications, Inkscape will be able to accommodate them - but PDF
is pretty much universal and expected.

:o)

Steve