Why Stickers
Stickers are my favorite way to get art into people's hands. I have made them for streamers, for podcasts here in town, and for my own Christmas gifts with matching labels. This is the process I use for all of them.
Design the Sheet
I draw my stickers in Clip Studio Paint and export each one as a PNG with a transparent background. Give every sticker a small border of white or a solid color around the art. It looks intentional, and it forgives tiny cutting offsets.
One constraint to plan around: Design Space caps the print-then-cut area at roughly 6.75 by 9.25 inches, so lay out your sheet inside that window rather than a full letter page.
Print Then Cut
- Upload your PNGs to Design Space and arrange the sheet.
- Set the operation to Print Then Cut.
- Print on your inkjet. Design Space adds a black registration box around the page; the Cricut's sensor uses it to find your art.
- Load the printed sheet on the mat and let the machine scan the box.
- Cut with a kiss cut setting (like the washi or sticker paper setting) so the blade cuts the sticker but not the backing.
Weed and Seal
Peel away the excess sticker paper around your shapes with a weeding tool. If the stickers will live on a water bottle or a laptop that travels, add a laminate layer before cutting, or choose glossy paper, which wipes clean more forgivingly than matte.
Troubleshooting
- Cuts offset from the art: recalibrate print-then-cut in Design Space settings.
- Sensor cannot read the registration box: avoid glossy paper glare by using the mat light shield, or switch to matte.
- Blade cutting through the backing: your pressure setting is too heavy, pick a lighter material setting.