This guide details the exact spread dimensions needed for creating Folio Albums. It’s particularly useful as a reference for checking trim dimensions and finished book sizes, especially when using third-party design software. While we highly recommend our free Folio Designer, this document ensures accuracy whether you’re designing independently or verifying your layouts.
Key concepts
Trim and Bleed:
- To achieve a clean, professional finish, the outer edge of your printed spreads will be trimmed during production.
- The trim ensures any images placed to the edge of your spreads fully ‘bleed’ off the page.
- When designing your spreads, always keep important image content and text within a safe area, away from the edges.
File requirements
- File Format: JPG
- Resolution: 300 dpi
- Colour Mode: RGB
- Colour Profile: sRGB
How to read the album specifications table
Spread Width × Height (pixels)
The exact pixel dimensions your exported JPG spread must be. This ensure your files are correctly sized for printing. Use these measurements when setting up your canvas in your album design software.
Spread Width × Height (mm)
The physical size of the untrimmed spread, including the outer bleed area. This represents the printed sheet size before any trimming takes place during production.
Trim (mm)
During production, a small amount is trimmed from each outer edge to achieve sharp, clean edges on every page. This number shows how much is removed per edge. Any image content extending into this zone will be cut off, so only edge-to-edge images should enter this area. The trimmed area is also known as the bleed.
Final trimmed spread Width × Height (mm)
The final visible size of the spread after trimming. This is the final spread size in the finished album.
Recommended safety margin
This measurement defines a buffer area between the trim line and the safe zone.
- Avoid placing important content here.
- It ensures that text, faces, or key design elements don’t sit too close to the edge.
Trim and safe zones
The image below is an example of how to set up and layout a spread with trim zones in red, safety margins in white and the safe zone in green.
The areas shown are:
- Trim Zone – Shown in red. If images are placed in this area, they will be trimmed. We recommend that only images that are to bleed off the edge of the spread are placed in this area.
- Safety Margin – Shown in white. We recommend that images are not placed in this area if white space is wanted around the images, to avoid them being too close to the trim zone.
- Safe Zone – Shown in green. It is safe to place images in this area, without the risk of them being trimmed.
