Sticker Printing File Setup

Stickers are a normal print job plus a cutting operation, and nearly every problem comes from the cut rather than the printing.

Cut Types

• Die-cut — the sticker and its backing are both cut to the shape. The finished sticker is the shape itself.
• Kiss-cut — only the vinyl is cut, leaving a rectangular backing sheet. Easier to peel, common for sticker packs and sheets.
• Sheet / sticker sheet — several kiss-cut stickers on one backing.

Both die-cut and kiss-cut need a cut path: a vector line telling the machine where the blade goes.

Supplying the Cut Line

Two common conventions, and your printer will specify which:

• A named spot-colour path (often called CutContour or ThruCut) drawn as a vector line in a PDF or AI file, set to overprint and 100% of a spot colour.
• Automatic contour from transparency — you supply a transparent PNG and the printer generates the cut line by offsetting your artwork's edge. Simpler for you, less control over the exact shape.

Practical rules for the path:

• Keep it simple. Every notch and thin spike is a place the blade can tear the vinyl. Simplify tight interior curves.
• No sharp interior angles or very thin protrusions (below ~3 mm) — they lift and peel over time.
• One closed path per sticker; open paths and stray anchor points confuse cutters.

The White Border

Most die-cut stickers have a white (or coloured) border of 2–4 mm around the artwork. It exists for a practical reason: cutting has a tolerance of about 1 mm, and a border absorbs that drift so the blade never slices into your design. It also makes stickers more durable, since the edge is the first place peeling starts.

If you want a borderless sticker, you must still supply bleed: artwork extending 2–3 mm past the cut line so a drift outward doesn't expose bare backing.

Resolution and Colour

• 300 DPI at final size. Stickers are small and examined closely: a 7 cm sticker needs about 830 px across.
• CMYK for most printers; check whether they want RGB.
• Avoid very fine text — under about 6 pt, ink spread on vinyl makes it mushy.
• Beware neon and metallic brand colours; CMYK can't reproduce them without a spot or special material.

Materials Change the Result

• Matte vinyl — muted colours, no glare, writable.
• Gloss vinyl — vivid colours, most common.
• Transparent vinyl — anything white in your artwork becomes see-through unless the printer lays a white ink layer. If you want opaque white, you must usually specify a white underbase layer explicitly.
• Holographic / metallic — the design interacts with the substrate; light areas show the effect most.

Final Checklist

Vector cut path (or clean transparent PNG), simple shape, 2–3 mm border or bleed, 300 DPI at size, colour mode as specified, text outlined, and a note to the printer about white-ink layers if you're printing on clear material. Order a small test batch before a large run — cut tolerance and material feel are things you can only judge in hand.