How to make clear background stickers – Sticker it

There are plenty of ways to create clear stickers: from ordering them online to designing them yourself or making them yourself from scratch.

But what's the best way to make clear background stickers? Let's take a look at each step:

Creating a transparent background

The clear background that gives clear stickers their name is the most essential part of creating your sticker. At Sticker it we use a transparent, 50-micron thick polypropylene film that we print onto.

Calendaring is a manufacturing process. It describes how the material is made. You can think of it like a big mixing bowl of ingredients that get kneaded in an extruder. The mixture is then rolled over gigantic heated rollers to produce a long, thin vinyl film.

If you want to dive a little deeper into the world of vinyl, have a look at this article: "Cast or calendered vinyl; what's the difference?"

Designing clear stickers

To design your own stickers with a transparent background, start by creating your artwork in any standard graphic design software. Make sure to use the CMYK color mode and save your file as a PDF.

If you have never worked with a design software before, do not worry. We have a free online tool you can use without any previous experience: Graphic.

There, you can simply select the clear sticker background and browse our range of templates and elements to create your own artwork in seconds.

All of these templates a pre-designed and thus have a high resolution and are compatible with CMYK inks.

With Graphic, you do not have to worry about white layers. Simply leave us a comment when checking out letting us know which parts of your design you would like to have white ink behind or which custom shape you are after.

Making your own transparent stickers

If you want to create your own transparent stickers, there are a few things you need to get:

a standard inkjet, digital or laser printer
printable clear sticker paper
a laminator
a die cutting machine

Create your clear sticker design by following the tips above. Then, find your clear material. You will find standard printer paper from a variety of retailers. Clear sticker paper or clear tape can be a little harder to find. Simply make sure that it can be run through any standard printer.

When you're ready to print your stickers, load the paper into your printer. To make sure your stickers will have a consistent appearance, use a laser printer or an inkjet printer that uses pigment-based inks. These inks are less likely to bleed when they come into contact with moisture.

Once your stickers have been printed, it's time to laminate them. Laminating your stickers will protect them from moisture and wear and tear. Cut a piece of laminating film that is slightly larger than your sticker.

Place your laminating film over your sticker, sticky side down. Use a laminating machine to seal the edges of the film. Trim the excess film from around your sticker.

Now that your stickers are laminated, it's time to cut them out. You can do this by hand with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors, but for best results, use a die cutting machine.

If you are after DIY clear labels, you can get them already pre-cut into standard shapes. However, you can also die cut your own DIY labels.

And then you are ready! You can use your own transparent stickers for anything from DIY gifts to sticking to windows.

Ordering custom clear stickers

If that sounds like too much of a hassle, consider ordering your clear stickers with a sticker manufacturer like us. Our ordering process is super simple and easy:

Select your sticker of choice. If you are after transparent stickers, either start by choosing your sticker shape (e.g. die cut stickers, kiss cut stickers etc) and pick the clear material from our list of materials or head straight to the clear stickers page.
Then, type in the dimensions of your stickers and select your quantity. This will automatically generate a quote for you. You can modify the size and quantity until you are happy with the price.
Once you click continue, you can upload your artwork. If your artwork is not ready, simply skip this part and email it to us later.
You can now add instructions for our design team to action. This can be describing the shape you can or which parts of your design should have an opaque look. This step is options.
And then you are ready to check out. Before we start printing your stickers, we will send you a digital design proof you can either approve or decline.

Are you ready to make your own clear stickers? Or do you want to learn more about sticker printing? Then read on here: