Sticker cut lines
How to make a sticker cut line — without Illustrator.
Artwork is the easy half. The cut line is the other half, and it is the half vendors reject files over: an offset contour, bleed past it, a safe zone inside, each on its own named layer. All of it is doable in a browser tab.
- Bleed
- Cut line
- Artwork
- Safe zone
Six steps
How to make a cut line for a sticker.
Every tutorial for this is written for Illustrator, and the Offset Path menu item is the only part that genuinely needs it. The other five steps are geometry and naming.
- 01
Get the artwork in as paths
Generate the design from a prompt, or attach an image up to 10 MB and let it supply the subject. Either way you end up with editable contours rather than a flat picture — which is the whole prerequisite for a cut line.
- 02
Decide the silhouette the blade will follow
A die cut follows the artwork's own outline; a circle or rounded square ignores it. Pick before you draw, because a deep concave notch that looks fine on screen is what makes a sticker hard to weed.
- 03
Draw the contour 2 – 3 mm outside the artwork
There is no one-click offset here: duplicate the silhouette path and scale it up, or draw a simple shape around the design. Simple is usually better — most stickers are cut on a rounded outline, not a faithful tracing of every spike.
- 04
Make it one closed path with no fill
Set fill to none and give it a distinct stroke colour at a hairline weight. Two overlapping paths make the blade cut the overlap twice; an open path leaves the sticker attached to the sheet.
- 05
Name the layer what your vendor expects
Open the code panel and set the group id — CutContour and ThruCut are the common ones. The vendor's workflow keys off that name, so it is worth reading their spec rather than guessing.
- 06
Extend the bleed and export
Push the colour 3 mm past the cut so a blade that drifts still lands on ink, keep 3 mm of safe zone inside, then download the .svg and send it.
Said plainly, because the competing tools automate it: there is no offset-path operation in this editor. Step three is a duplicate and a scale, or a shape you draw. If an automatic contour is the only thing you need, a dedicated cutline tool will be quicker — what you get here is the artwork and the cut line in one editable file instead of two round trips.
From the inside out
Four rings, each with a job.
- 01
Safe zone
3 mm inside the artwork edge
Nothing important — no text, no faces, no fine detail — goes outside this. Cutting tolerance eats the outer few millimetres.
- 02
Artwork
the drawing itself
Your design, with the white border already built in as a shape if you want the classic sticker look.
- 03
Cut line
2 – 3 mm outside the artwork
The path the blade follows. One closed path, no fill, a distinct stroke colour, on its own named layer.
- 04
Bleed
3 mm outside the cut line
Colour extended past the cut so a blade that drifts still lands on ink rather than on bare backing paper.
Cut styles
Five cuts, and what each one costs you.
Die cut
The blade follows the artwork's own silhouette.
Most striking, most expensive. Keep the silhouette simple — deep concave notches are hard to weed.
Kiss cut
Cuts the vinyl but not the backing sheet.
Easier to peel, and lets you print several stickers on one shared sheet.
Circle
A plain round cut.
Cheapest, and forgiving of small alignment errors in either direction.
Rounded square
A square with a consistent corner radius.
Good for logos and text-led designs where a silhouette cut would look arbitrary.
Sheet
Many kiss-cut stickers on one backing.
Space items at least 5 mm apart so the blade never has to turn inside another sticker's bleed.
File structure
Named layers are what make a file printable.
A vendor's workflow keys off the layer name. This is why generation putting paths under readable IDs matters here more than anywhere else — you are renaming groups, not untangling a flat pile of paths.
<svg viewBox="0 0 240 200">
<g id="bleed">
<path d="…" fill="#F25C05"/>
</g>
<g id="artwork">
<path id="body" d="…"/>
<path id="detail" d="…"/>
</g>
<g id="CutContour">
<path d="…"
fill="none"
stroke="#FF00FF"
stroke-width="0.5"/>
</g>
</svg>If you searched for a sticker maker
Three different jobs share that name.
Worth two minutes before you go further, because only one of them is a file problem — and that is the only one we solve.
A WhatsApp or iMessage sticker pack
You want a phone app. The pack format is a set of small PNGs registered with the messaging app, and the tools that dominate this search — the Play Store sticker makers, Photoroom — do it in a few taps on the device itself.
A sticker-maker machine
A Xyron applies adhesive to paper you feed it; a pocket thermal printer prints small monochrome labels. Both are hardware. What we make is the file — useful to you only once the artwork exists.
Stickers printed and posted to you
That is a print vendor — Sticker Mule, StickerApp, MOO, Vistaprint and the rest. We do not print or ship anything. We make the file they ask you to upload, which is the step most people get stuck on.
The fourth case is the one this page is written for: you have a design, a vendor has asked for vector artwork with a cut line, and every tutorial you can find assumes an Illustrator subscription.
Questions
Cut lines, bleed and getting a sticker printed.
- What are cut lines?
- A cut line — or cutline, or cut path — is a vector contour that tells a cutting machine where the blade should travel. It is not part of the printed design: it carries no fill, sits on its own named layer, and is stripped out before the artwork goes to ink. Without one, a vendor either guesses or sends the file back.
- How do I make a cut line for a sticker here?
- Duplicate the silhouette of your artwork and scale that copy up so it sits 2 to 3 mm outside, or draw a simple shape around the design. Then set fill to none, give it a distinct hairline stroke, and rename the group to CutContour in the code panel. Simple contours beat faithful tracings — most stickers are cut on a rounded outline rather than around every spike.
- Is there a one-click cutline generator?
- No, and it is worth saying plainly: there is no offset-path or outline-stroke operation in this editor, so the contour is something you draw or duplicate and scale. Sticker it publishes a free automatic cutline tool if that is all you need. What you get here instead is the artwork and the cut line in one editable file rather than two round trips.
- How do I create a sticker cut line in Illustrator?
- The Illustrator route is Object then Path then Offset Path, a new layer, a spot swatch named for your vendor, and overprint set on the stroke. It works well and it costs a subscription. The browser route trades the automatic offset for not needing the licence — the file a vendor receives is judged on the same four things either way: closed path, no fill, correct offset, right layer name.
- How do I make a sticker cutout?
- A cutout is a die cut: the blade follows the artwork's own silhouette rather than a circle or rectangle. Build it the same way, but keep the contour smooth — deep concave notches are the ones that tear when the sticker is weeded off the backing.
- Can you export EPS or PDF with a real spot colour?
- No. Export is .svg, PNG and a data URI, and SVG has no concept of a spot colour at all — it carries an RGB stroke and a layer name. Most vendors accept that and remap it; one that insists on a named spot separation in AI, EPS or PDF will need you to open the .svg in a free editor like Inkscape and set it there.
- What does a print vendor actually need from me?
- Usually vector artwork with the cut line on its own clearly named layer, drawn as a single closed path with no fill and a distinct spot colour. Names vary between vendors — CutContour and ThruCut are common — so check before you send.
- How much bleed should I add?
- 3 mm past the cut line is the common standard, with a 3 mm safe zone inside it. If your vendor publishes different numbers, theirs win.
- Why does the cut line have to be one closed path?
- A cutter follows the path continuously. Two overlapping paths make the blade cut the overlap twice, and an open path leaves the sticker attached. Weld overlapping shapes into one contour before exporting.
- Can I make holographic or glitter stickers?
- Those are materials, not file properties — pick them at your vendor. What your file needs is separation: keep the elements meant for the special finish on their own named layer.
- What size should I design at?
- Set the physical size you want and design to it, because stroke weight and detail are only judgeable at true size. Vector means changing your mind later costs nothing.
- Can I sell stickers made with this?
- Yes — royalty-free and unrestricted, including print-on-demand, Etsy shops and market stalls.