Artwork guide for sticker sheets

Any program that exports a PDF or a high-resolution image works: Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, Inkscape, Canva, Photoshop, Procreate. Vector programs give the sharpest result because the artwork has no pixels to soften at the edges.

Send PDF, AI, EPS or SVG for vector artwork; PNG, TIFF, PSD, JPG or HEIC for images. Vector prints sharpest and scales to any sheet size. If your sheet uses several files, zip them together and upload the zip, up to 10 images per sheet.

Keep the file under the upload limit shown on the upload page. Very large files are usually a sign that images are embedded at more resolution than the sheet needs.

We print in CMYK. Artwork built in RGB is converted before printing, and very bright RGB colors, especially neon blues, greens and pinks, come out a little softer. We print your artwork as supplied and don't color match. For the most predictable result, build the file in CMYK.

Matte reads slightly flatter than gloss; holographic tints everything with its rainbow base. The sample pack shows all three on the same artwork.

Build the file at the sheet size you ordered: a 5" x 7" sheet means a 5" x 7" document, not a scaled-down version. Each sticker inside it should be drawn at the size you want it to peel off at.

If you send loose images instead of a laid-out sheet, we arrange them for you and the proof shows the arrangement before anything prints.

One file or zip is one sheet layout, with up to 10 images. Don't send a multi-page PDF for a single item. Each page is its own layout and needs to be added to your cart separately.

Send each image exactly as it should print. Don't put sizes, notes or instructions inside the artwork, since anything in the file prints. Put those in your order notes instead. PNGs should have a transparent background so we can cut to the shape of your design, not the square around it.

Raster images should be 300 dpi at the size they print. A 2" sticker needs an image about 600 pixels across; a 4" one needs about 1200. Embed linked images before exporting so nothing arrives as a gray box.

If a file is too low in resolution to print well, we say so at the proof stage rather than printing it soft.

File → Save As → Adobe PDF. Use the High Quality Print preset, keep Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities on so layers survive, and leave marks and bleed off unless we asked for them. Outline fonts or embed them; both are fine.

File → Export → PDF, preset PDF (for print). Tick Include bleed only if you built bleed into the document. Rasterize nothing unless an effect will not export otherwise; if it must be rasterized, use 300 dpi.

Download as PDF Print, not PDF Standard, and turn off crop marks. Check the document size matches the sheet size you ordered; web tools default to screen sizes.

Small type prints, but it has to be readable after cutting and peeling. Keep positive text (dark on light) at 6 pt or larger and reverse text (light on dark) at 8 pt or larger. Lines should be at least 0.5 pt so they print as a line rather than a dotted edge.

Stickers smaller than about 0.75" are hard to peel and easy to lose, and thin spikes or slivers narrower than 0.06" can tear on the liner. Keep shapes simple at small sizes; a rounded corner survives peeling better than a sharp one.

Inside cuts, like the centers of letters, need room too. Inside pieces smaller than about 0.125" are hard to lift out by hand.

Keep all artwork at least 0.125" inside the sheet edge so nothing runs off when the sheet is trimmed, and keep text and important detail 0.125" inside each sticker's cut line. Cutting has a small tolerance, and detail sitting on the line can clip.

If a sticker's color should reach its edge, extend the color 0.0625" past the cut line. Without bleed a thin white sliver can show along one side after cutting. A sticker with a white border needs no bleed; the border is the safe zone.

We don't add bleed to sheet artwork for you. If a sticker's color should reach its edge, the bleed needs to be in your file. If it isn't, ask us to cut with a small white border instead, which needs no bleed.

A cut path is a vector outline that tells the cutter where to go. On a sheet every sticker is kiss-cut: the blade cuts through the vinyl but not the backing, so the sticker peels off and the sheet stays whole. The proof shows every cut line as a dashed outline before anything is cut.

Include the cut path as a separate vector layer or a spot color named CutContour, drawn as a 1 pt stroke in a color that appears nowhere in the artwork, such as 100% magenta. Keep one closed outer path per sticker, plus a closed path for each inside cut, with no overlaps or open ends.

If you would rather not, send the artwork and ask us to trace the outer edge with a small offset. Either way you approve the cut line in the proof.

Cuts inside a design, like the centers of O, R and D, are available on request. Mention them in your order notes. If you supply your own cut path, draw inside cuts as additional closed paths in the same CutContour layer.

Because an exact cut follows the edge of the artwork, a hairline of white or a cut just inside the color can occasionally show on small shapes. Excess vinyl, including inside pieces, stays on the sheet, since we don't remove it. Tweezers make the small pieces easy to lift out.

Our holographic is a laminate, not a printed film. The artwork prints in full color on white media and the holographic layer goes over the top, so the rainbow shift moves across the whole sticker, image included, while the colors underneath stay true. Unprinted areas show white with the shimmer over it, not a silver base.

Bold, simple artwork with solid colors reads best through it. Fine detail, thin text and pale gradients can disappear into the shift, so keep anything that has to read exactly as drawn large and high-contrast, or choose matte or gloss for that sheet.

On clear vinyl anything unprinted is transparent, so white in your artwork prints as clear unless we add a white layer behind it. If part of your design should be opaque white, mark that area on a separate layer named White and say so in the notes when you upload. We are not offering clear vinyl on sheets today; this note is here for when we do.