How I Create Waterproof Stickers

I have been making stickers for over five years now, so I get asked a lot of questions about how I do it. Do I make my own stickers? What programs do I use to draw them? Where do I print them? How do I cut them?

I am going to use this blog to walk you through my entire sticker-making process in hopes of answering any questions you might have for your own sticker business or just out of curiosity.

Notice how I didn’t name the blog “How To Create Waterproof Stickers?” There is no right or wrong to make stickers. What works for you is what I recommend for you to do. This blog is just going to walk you through my process to help you get an idea of one way to do it.

I will be honest; I don’t just sit down and come up with sticker designs for the next few months. I feel like that kind of force me to come up with ideas, and I prefer quality over quantity. When I’m forced to be creative, I get burnt out. I have more authentic ideas when I feel inspired.

“Your Worth Is Not Measured By Your Productivity” sticker design

Most of my sticker ideas came from real-life experiences. When I am experiencing any kind of hardship or emotion, I tell myself things I need to hear. For example, there was a period of time when I worked myself way too hard and I got incredibly burnt out. I felt like I needed to work as hard as I could to produce new products and that just wasn’t working for me. I told myself that my worth was not determined by how much I could do in a day. I started believing it when I sat down and started making it into art that I could look at every day. These ideas are so important to me, and sharing them with the world makes me feel like I am doing something right.

Paper Sketch

When I think of an idea, I sketch it on paper before I do anything else. During this step I come up with several ideas I think might work well and enhance them as I go. Sometimes it takes 5-10 different sketches before I find “the one.”

If I didn’t sit down and sketch out my ideas, my artboard would be a mess and I would spend so much more time finalizing designs I’m not sure I’ll be happy with until I see them laid out. Sketching is just a more efficient way for me to see how things will look visually than trying to design them all quickly on a computer.

Adobe Illustrator Artboard

When my sketch looks good, I will open Adobe Illustrator and create a new file.

My Adobe Illustrator new document details and specifications.

When my sketch looks good, I will open Adobe Illustrator and create a new file.

I typically create a 12” x 12” document because it’s several times larger than my stickers which are a 3”x 3” squares. When my file is meant to be printed like a sticker, I will make the color mode CMYK (print) and not RGB (web). I make the PPI as large as possible at 300. This means that there are 300 pixels per inch versus 72 PPI for the Web.

After I come up with a sketch I really like, I will scan it into Adobe Illustrator, and I will create an outline based on the image. Obviously, the sketch is not perfect, but is a great starting point.

I prefer to use Adobe Illustrator versus Adobe Photoshop or Procreate because it is a vector program, while the others are rasters. Put simply, vector files can be scaled without losing quality, while the larger you scale raster files, the more likely you will be able to see pixels. No hate for the other programs because I still use them, but for more appropriate projects.

Drawing the Sticker

I’m not going to teach you how to use Illustrator, but I felt this part was still needed in case you are considering the program.

Left: Outline of my tattoo design Right: Colored in tattoo design

I’m not going to teach you how to use Illustrator, but I felt this part was still needed in case you are considering the program.

When I start drawing on top of the image of the sketch that I’ve added to a locked, opaque layer, I always use Illustrator’s Pen Tool. It is a vector-based drawing tool that allows me to create paths by placing anchor points around the shapes that I need. It is very customizable and gives me control over shaping things exactly as I need them. I can create perfect shapes, straight or curved lines. It is by far the tool I use the most in Illustrator.

After I have finished drawing the basic outline of each shape, I can proceed to add color and other embellishments. There are many creative options for colors, gradients, and brushes to create stickers in Illustrator.

Sticker Border

I am just going to briefly explain how I get the border around my stickers because it’s been asked, and I think others might find it helpful.

Offset Path settings for my sticker designs

After my design is finalized, I will select it all, and I’ll go to Object > Path > Offset path, and adjust as needed.

After you click ok, you notice a weird layer over your original design. I click on the top layers that it created and move them over so I can better see what I’m working with. Next, I click Window > Pathfinder to bring up the pathfinder settings. With these paths selected, I click on Unite. This makes those paths all one layer to make it easier to work with. I then turn this white and use the Direct Selection tool to remove the tiny holes in the middle that occur when the path isn’t thick enough to create one solid area. This is completely normal and easy to fix. After I’m satisfied with the background layer, I move it under the original design layer and align them. That’s it!

Please note: The settings shown above are for my sticker designed at 12” x 12” and your settings will change based on the sizing you use.

Exporting

Document Raster Effects Settings

When I have everything as I like it and it’s finalized, I select my design and outline and click File > Export As and save it as a png file, so there is no background. Before exporting, I double-check that all of my settings are correct. To do that, click Effect > Document Raster Effects Settings.

Printing Process

When I have finalized my design, it’s time to print. Before I send my files off to the printer, I always perform a test print on my own printer at home. This ensures that there will be no surprises, and it will look how I want it to when printed vs. on my computer.

Now the part you’ve all been waiting for…

I use the company Stickermule to print my stickers. I have used them the entire time I’ve been making stickers and I’ve never had a single bad experience with their stickers. Their customer service is helpful, their prices are fantastic, and their quality is unmatched.

“The World Is A Better Place With You In It” Sticker

Stickermule prints their stickers on thick, durable vinyl, which makes them waterproof. I could print stickers on waterproof paper or regular sticker paper, put a waterproof top layer over them, and cut them with my Cricut. I decided to use Stickermule because their quality is much better than I could provide, and it saves me a lot of time. I create all of my own products by hand so having someone else print my artwork takes a load off my plate.

However, my favorite thing about them is that they offer custom samples. You can order 10 stickers in the sample pack for $9 before ordering the full order of 50+ stickers. It is more expensive per sticker to order in samples, but it also saves a lot of money. Sometimes certain stickers do not sell as well, and I’m not stuck with a ton of stickers I cannot get rid of. For people just starting out, this is an incredible offer I have never found anywhere else.

While this blog was not meant to persuade you to choose a certain sticker printer over another, I did want to offer a discount code to those who may be interested in trying them out.

You will get a $10 store credit when you spend $10 or more using this link here to order your new stickers.

Also, as a special thank you for reading this blog, take 10% off your next order with promo code: “BLOG10”!