Custom Stickers Guide: Die Cut, Decals and Bumper Stickers

How Do Die Cut Stickers Work?

Die cut stickers are printed in full color on vinyl and cut to the shape of your design, so a round logo becomes a round sticker and a mascot becomes a mascot shaped sticker. They come in packs of 10 to 250.

Pricing follows the size your design fits inside. A design smaller than 2 x 2 inches is priced as 2 x 2, and an in between size uses the next size up. A square or rectangle cut is the same price as a die cut.

One pack can cover several designs of the same size. Four designs of 25 stickers each count as one 100 pack, which makes it easy to order a whole set of designs at once.

What Sizes Do Custom Stickers Come In?

Die cut stickers start at 2 x 2 inches and go up in steps. A 3 x 3 inch sticker, which is where the product page opens, suits a logo on a laptop, a water bottle or a shipping box. Smaller sizes suit packaging seals and thank you notes; larger ones suit car windows and toolboxes.

Choose the size from where the sticker will go and how far away it is read. A sticker on a coffee cup sleeve is read from arm's length, so 2 inches is plenty. A sticker on a truck window is read from across a parking lot and needs to be far larger, which is where a vinyl decal comes in.

What Makes a Bumper Sticker Different?

A bumper sticker is long and rectangular, sized for a car bumper or rear window, and printed on removable vinyl with a gloss laminate. The removable adhesive means it peels off clean when the event, the campaign or the season is over.

Bumper stickers can be a rectangle or cut to your shape. The product page opens on ten 3 x 11.5 inch stickers. They suit campaigns, schools, charities, clubs and businesses that want customers to carry the name around town.

Which Finish Should You Choose?

Choose by how the sticker will be used. Stickers that will be handled, washed or left outside benefit from a laminate, which protects the print from scuffs and sun. Bumper stickers and window decals carry a gloss laminate.

Gloss makes colors look rich and wipes clean. It can reflect light on a window, which a matte finish avoids. For a sticker handed out at a counter and stuck on a laptop, gloss vinyl is the usual choice.

How Should You Design a Custom Sticker?

Design a sticker to read at its real size. A logo that works on a business card works on a 2 inch sticker; a full paragraph does not. Keep text large, use bold shapes, and leave a little space around the design so the cut line has room.

For die cut stickers, the cut follows the outline of your design. Very thin points and narrow gaps are hard to cut cleanly and can tear when peeled. A simple outline, or a white border around a complex shape, cuts and peels better.

Send the largest, sharpest file you have. A logo saved from a website looks soft when printed several inches wide.

Think about the background, too. A sticker goes on surfaces you do not control: a black laptop, a silver bottle, a white box. A design with its own solid background color, or a white border, reads the same on all of them. A design with no background can vanish on a surface close to its own colors.

How Do You Apply Stickers and Decals?

Apply small stickers by hand to a clean, dry surface: peel, place, press from the center out. Apply larger decals with the hinge method: clean the surface, tape the decal in place, peel the backing from one half, squeegee from the center, then the other half, and lift the transfer tape slowly.

For window decals, see how to apply a window decal without bubbles.

Where Do Businesses Use Custom Stickers?

Businesses use custom stickers anywhere a customer touches the brand after the sale. A sticker in the bag, on the box or on the receipt travels home with the customer and ends up on a laptop, a water bottle or a car.

• Packaging: a logo sticker seals a bag, a box or tissue paper and turns plain packaging into branded packaging.
• Giveaways: stickers at the register, a booth or an event cost little per piece and get kept.
• Products: a sticker on a jar, a candle or a handmade item works as a simple label.
• Vehicles and equipment: larger decals mark trucks, trailers and toolboxes with the business name.
• Windows and doors: decals carry the logo, hours and payment marks.

For campaign ideas by business type, see sticker marketing ideas for small businesses.

How Many Stickers Should You Order?

Order for how fast the stickers will go out, plus a little extra. A shop putting a sticker in every bag needs about as many stickers as orders in a month or two. An event giveaway needs about as many as the visitors you expect at the booth.

Larger packs cost less per sticker, so a business that knows it will use them steadily saves by ordering a bigger pack. A business testing a design for the first time can start with a pack of 10 or 25 and reorder once it knows the sticker works.

Keep the artwork file, so a reorder matches the first run exactly.

What Should You Check on Sticker Proofs?

Check first for text too small for the sticker size. A phone number on a 2 inch sticker is unreadable. Put a web address or a QR code on a larger sticker, and test the code with a phone before you approve.

Next, check for a die cut design with thin, spiky edges that will not cut or peel cleanly. Add a border or simplify the outline.

Also check for a decal meant for the inside of a window that was not reversed. Say which side it goes on.

How Do You Order Custom Stickers?

Pick the type, the size and the quantity, and send your design. Artwork prep is $14.99 per item if you send a phone photo or a ChatGPT image, and a free proof comes with every order.

Stickers, decals and bumper stickers print in 48 hours after proof approval and ship for a flat $10 per product to any US address.