How to print full bleed?

Strictly speaking, "full bleed" means printing the image on larger paper and cutting it down to the target size. That is apparently how your designer interpreted the term. You were probably looking for a "borderless" design.

vitani88 wrote:

The size of the paper is 4.5 x 6.5 and the size of the file is 4.75 x 6.75.

You can't print a larger sized file to a smaller piece of paper.

The 4.75 x 6.75 file should have crop marks in each corner, here's a sample

center the file and print out on 8.5 x 11" paper and use a paper cutter (the razor trimmer kind not the blade hack job) to trim it along the crop marks, then it will be to what size you need.

If your file has images that bleed off the edges, then these need to hang ever so slightly off the sides into the crop zone, so the image is cut and thus there is no white line on the edges in case your a fraction of a inch off while cutting.

Printers need edges clear on the paper as rollers drag the paper through the machine, thus can't print off the edges.

A "full bleed" is when the ink is completely to all edges of the finished paper.

http://www.myprintguide.org/glossary/definition.php?term=FULL+BLEED

You need to adjust the file size. Do it in the program that you used to design the invites, hopefully in a good desktop publishing software. Then export as a pdf.

Were the files designed with bleed?

vitani88 wrote:

Yes. I ordered them on Etsy and she designed them for full bleed on 4.5 x 6.5 paper.

So then is the image area at least 4.75 X 6.75 to accomodate 1/8" bleed all around?