How to Make a Sticker Design for Printing

How to Make a Sticker Design for Printing

Read Time: 3 Minutes

instantprint

08 Jan 2021

Personalised sticker printing is a great way to add your brand to basically everything – from your product to your packaging. With wall, sticker and classic paper stickers all available to choose from, getting started with your design might feel a little overwhelming (but it needn’t!). Once you’ve read this handy little sticker design blog, you’ll be well-equipped for designing a sticker for print from scratch.

 

What Type of Sticker Should You Print?

As we mentioned above, there are loads of options to choose when it comes to printing stickers online. Here are the options we offer and a little bit more about each kind to help you come to a well-informed decision on your next print job. 

Classic stickers

These are your standard silk paper stickers that peel off a white satin sheet and are sticky on one side. Generally small sizes, they work great for logo stickers, sale price stickers, delivery labels and bottle and jar labels. 

Available in circle, square and rectangle shapes.

 

Floor vinyl stickers

These super sticky removable floor vinyls are just the ticket for queue management, social distancing and directional stickers. They’re scuff, scratch, face and slip-resistant as well as easy to clean, meaning they’ll last as long as you need them to.

Available in circle, square and rectangle shapes.

 

Wall & window stickers

Removable window vinyls are a great way to announce a store re-opening, opening hours or a sale. They’re made to last but can be removed without damage to the window or wall – plus they’re cleanable so you can keep them looking fresh!

Available in circle, square, rectangle, A3 and A2 shapes.

 

Window clings

If you’re not after a permanent sticker, our window clings are the best option. Completely reusable, they use static to cling to the window rather than an adhesive glue like other kinds of stickers, meaning you can stick, peel and re-stick them into place in no time at all.

Available in circle, square, A3 and A2 shapes.

 

How to Design a Square or Rectangle Sticker

Square and rectangle-shaped stickers are arguable the easiest to set up for print because you can set your canvas up to the correct size easily. To set up your design:

  • Set the sticker size you want and add 3mm bleed to each side
  • Change colour mode to CMYK if possible
  • Save it out with a resolution of at least 600dpi for standard stickers or 300dpi for floor and wall stickers
  • Save it as a PDF or JPEG to flatten fonts and images

 

How to Design a Circle Sticker

Don’t get us wrong; circle stickers are easy to set up too! But, instead of setting your document up as a circle (which is more effort than needed!), set it up as a square instead. For example, set up a 30mm x 30mm square for a 30mm circle. The extra room around the corners then acts as your safety area so you don’t even need to think about setting that up!

Then, follow the same steps as above for bleed, colour, resolution and font flattening.

 

How to Check Your Artwork Proof

When you upload your artwork, you’ll be shown a proof – this is what the final design looks like. The green line on your proof shows where the sticker will be cut, so make sure any important information is well within that line. 

The dotted red line shows the bleed area – if you want to avoid an unwanted white border after we’ve trimmed your sticker down to size, make sure your background extends over this area.

Although our team will always check for set up issues and resolution, one thing we can’t check for is spelling. Make sure any brand-specific words like your business name and address are correct as well as another other possible spelling mistakes before approving your proof for print.
When you’re happy, tick to say you approve and place your order – we’ll check your design and send it to print ASAP!

 

5 Sticker Design Tips 

We’ve seen a lot of incredible sticker designs during our 10+ years as an online printer, meaning we’ve picked up a fair few tips along the way. Here’s what we recommend.

 

1.    Use your logo

If you’re not sure what design you’d like on your sticker, your logo is your best bet! Stickers are an easy way to add your brand to envelopes and tissue packaging to make sure customers get a seamless and memorable experience of shopping with your business.

 

2.    Avoid using borders

The high-tech machines we print your classic stickers on are as accurate as they come, but all it takes is 0.5mm here or there to offset your sticker’s border design because they’re so small. 

 

3.    Make sure text is big enough

Remember to zoom out of your design every now and again to check that text is legible, especially on our small stickers. 

 

4.    Go bright!

We offer full-colour sticker printing as standard, so make sure to go for it with your colours! Keeping your brand colours in mind along the way, of course.

 

5.    Think context

What are you going to be sticking your stickers to? Keep this in mind as you create your design – you’ll ideally want your stickers to contrast with whatever background they’re going on so they’ll stand out more.


And there you have it – everything you need to know to create your own sticker design for print! Before you make a start on printing stickers, why not check out our free design templates for extra inspiration? Or get in touch with our team if you have any further questions.
 

Hollie

About the Author

Hi, I’m Hollie. I’m one of instantprint’s Artworkers. I create content to support our clients to create professional print, no matter their experience.