There are a number of practical considerations to keep in mind when creating your documents.

. For offset print jobs, you must provide 3/8" gripper space. This means the sheet of paper your job is to be printed on must have a clear area of 3/8" along the side the press will grab while pulling the paper through the press. For example, if you intend your print job to be run using 8.5" x 11" paper, make sure at least one of the sides has no image within 3/8". (Which side should be kept clear depends on a number of factors...call for advice before committing to your design, if you are unsure.) Yes, you CAN design your piece to have printing close to all the edges, or even "bleed" over all the edges. However, you increase your printing cost this way, because the piece must be printed on oversized paper to gain gripper and bleed space, and then cut down to your intended finish size after printing. The simplest, least-costly, and most foolproof approach is to design a 3/8" (or more) white border all the way around the piece.

. If you are designing a brochure that will letterfold, meaning the 3rd panel will fold inside the 1st and 2nd panels, you must provide gripper space and allow for the fact that letterfolding makes the last panel a different size. For example, for an 8.5x11 letterfold brochure, the 1st and 2nd panels will measure 3 11/16" and the 3rd panel will measure 3 5/8". To accomodate the different sizes, but still keep the content of each panel centered, you must size and position the layout area of the last panel differently. Here is a basic layout for 8.5x11: left margin=3/8", 1st column=2 15/16", 1st gutter=3/4", 2nd column=2 15/16", 2nd gutter=3/4", 3rd column=2 7/8", right margin=3/8". (If this seems confusing, just try it, you will see.) On most papers, these are good guidelines. In some cases, depending on design of piece and how thick the paper is going to be, some adjustment may be necessary.