How to · Microsoft Publisher
How to export a PDF with bleeds and crop marks from Microsoft Publisher
Your flyer, postcard, or card looks right in Publisher. A printer needs one more thing: a PDF with the color running past the edge and marks that show where to cut. Here is how to make it.
- Works in
- Publisher 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Microsoft 365
- Bleed
- 1/8 inch (0.125) past each edge
- Setting to choose
- Commercial Press
- What you send
- One PDF with crop marks and bleed marks
Publisher is being retired in October 2026
Microsoft is removing Publisher from Microsoft 365. Subscribers start losing it on October 1, 2026, and after that they can no longer open or edit Publisher files in it. If you bought Publisher on its own (2016, 2019, or 2021), it keeps running, without support: Microsoft's support for the last of those versions ends on October 13, 2026. Your files are not deleted either way, but you need Publisher to open them. Microsoft's own advice is to save them as PDFs. A print-ready PDF, made the way this guide shows, is one you can still print from years from now.
Read Microsoft's noticePart 1 of 3
Set up the bleed
A bleed is color or a picture that runs past the edge of the piece, so there is no white sliver when it is cut. Publisher has no bleed switch. You make one by letting things hang off the page.
Step 1: Know your two sizes
The page size is the finished piece after it is cut. The paper size is the sheet it prints on, which has to be larger to hold the bleed and the marks. Leave your page at the finished size: a business card is 3.5 x 2 inches, a letter flyer is 8.5 x 11.
Step 2: Drag edge-to-edge items past the edge
Any background, photo, or shape that should reach the edge of the piece has to extend at least 1/8 inch (0.125) past the edge of the page, onto the gray area around it. Do this on every side it touches.
Step 3: Keep words and logos back from the edge
Cutting is never exact to the hair. Keep anything that must not be trimmed at least 1/8 inch inside the edge of the page. More is safer.
Step 4: Check your pictures
On the View tab, tick Graphics Manager. Click the arrow beside a picture, choose Details, and read Effective Resolution. Microsoft's guidance for commercial printing is 200 to 300 ppi. A picture well under that will print soft.
An easy way to get the overhang even
Microsoft's own method: go to Page Design > Size > Page Setup and make the page a quarter inch wider and taller (8.5 x 11 becomes 8.75 x 11.25). Stretch your backgrounds to the edges of that larger page. Then set the page back to its real size. Everything you stretched now hangs 1/8 inch off each side.
Part 2 of 3
Export the PDF
Step 5: Open the PDF export
Go to File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document, then click Create PDF/XPS. (In Publisher 2010 it is File > Save & Send > Create PDF/XPS Document.)
Step 6: Name the file
Type a name, and make sure Save as type says PDF.
Step 7: Choose Commercial Press
Click Options. In the window that opens, choose Commercial Press. It makes the largest, highest quality file, which is the one a printer wants.
Step 8: Open Print Options and pick a larger paper size
In that same window, click Print Options. Change the paper size from the size of your publication to something bigger. A custom size about an inch wider and taller than your piece works well. The marks only appear when the paper is larger than the page, so this is the step most people miss.
Step 9: Turn on the marks
Under Printer's marks, tick Crop marks. Then tick Allow bleeds and Bleed marks.
Step 10: Publish
Click OK, then OK again, then Publish. Publisher saves the PDF where you chose.
Part 3 of 3
Check it before you send it
Step 11: Open the PDF
The sheet should be larger than your finished piece, with thin marks at each corner showing where it will be cut.
Step 12: Look past the marks
Your background color or photo should run beyond the corner marks on every side that bleeds. If it stops at the marks, go back and drag it further off the page.
Step 13: If Publisher will not save the file
Some copies of Publisher refuse to save a PDF with crop marks turned on. If yours does, export it again without the marks, send that, and tell us the finished size. You'll see a proof before anything prints.
Checklist
Before you send it
- The page is the finished size, not a larger one
- Backgrounds and photos hang 1/8 inch past every edge they touch
- Words and logos sit at least 1/8 inch inside the edge
- The PDF was made with Commercial Press
- The PDF shows corner marks, with color running past them
Questions
Publisher questions, answered
Don't see yours? Call 419.224.8747 and ask a person.
EXCELLENT4.9 from 58 Google reviews, rated 4.9 out of 5. Opens our Google Business profile in a new tabIs Microsoft Publisher going away?
Yes. Microsoft says Publisher reaches its end of life in October 2026. It is removed from Microsoft 365 starting October 1, 2026, and support for the last version sold on its own ends October 13, 2026.
Can I still open my Publisher files after that?
If you bought Publisher on its own (2016, 2019, or 2021), Microsoft says you can keep using it and opening your files, without support. If you get Publisher through a Microsoft 365 subscription, you lose the program, and with it the way to open .pub files. The files themselves are not deleted.
What should I do with my old Publisher files?
Save them as PDFs while you can still open them. For a file you only need to look at or reprint as it is, Microsoft's steps are File, Save as, choose PDF as the file type, then Save. For anything you may want printed professionally, export it the way this guide shows so the bleed and marks are in the PDF.
Why are there no crop marks in my PDF?
Almost always because the paper size in Print Options is still the same as the page. The marks sit outside the page, so they only show when the paper is larger. Pick a custom paper size about an inch bigger each way and export again.
How much bleed does a printer need?
One eighth of an inch (0.125) past each edge is the standard, and it is the amount Publisher allows for.
Does the PDF keep my fonts?
Yes. Microsoft says the PDF includes the fonts it needs, so the text looks the same on our end as on yours.
Should I change my colors to CMYK?
You can. Under File, then Info, open the commercial print settings, choose the color model, and pick Process colors (CMYK). If that feels like too much, send the PDF as it is. Colors can shift a little going to print, which is one reason you see a proof first.
Can you print from my Publisher PDF?
Yes. Send it with a few words about what you need and how many. You'll see a proof before anything prints.
Start a print projectMenu names in this guide were checked against Microsoft Publisher on October 7, 2026. Software changes; if a step looks different on your screen, call us at 419.224.8747 and we'll walk you through it.
Also worth a look
PDF ready? Send it over.
Add the file to your request and tell us what you need. You'll see a proof before anything prints.