How to Make Hand-Cut Stickers WITHOUT Cricut

Sticker making can seem like a daunting process for those just starting out. Without having access to any fancy equipment like Cricut machines or high-end printers, sticker-making may seem like an impossible task.

However, I have created a simple process of making stickers, right here in my bedroom without any of the professional equipment. Let’s see how it’s done!

You will need the following materials:

1. A printer + printer ink
2. Sticker paper
3. Scissors or a cutting blade

Step 1: Create your sticker design.

The first step of your sticker-making process is to design your stickers. Make sure your final design is saved as a high resolution PNG with a transparent background. I usually make my sticker designs at least 2000 x 2000 pixels at 300 PPI. Your design should be clean without any rough marks, sketch lines, etc. The most important part is to have a clean outline (line art) so that making the die-cut border is easier.

Step 2: Create the die-cut border.

Once your sticker design is ready, add a white (or colored) die-cut border to the outline. You can do this by hand or by using your drawing program’s tools. If you’re unsure how, here’s my tutorial on adding a die-cut border using Photoshop. Save your sticker with a die-cut border as a PNG, but make sure it’s a copy, so you still have access to your original sticker design.

Step 3: Paste your sticker onto a printing sheet.

A printing sheet is the file you will print onto your sticker paper. My usual resolution for my printing sheet is 5100 x 6600 pixels at 600 PPI. This is the standard high-resolution for U.S. letter size (8.5″ x 11″) paper or A4 paper. Now that you have your sheet, paste your sticker PNG onto the sheet. Here’s the part where you can add more stickers or just duplicate your one design to fill the sheet. It all depends on what stickers you want. I usually print multiple batches of “sticker sets” on one sheet.

Step 4: Watch out for margins.

Usually, printers will add “margins” to your print file, which are these white borders around the paper you print. If you put your sticker designs right at the edge of the printing sheet, they might get cut off when printing. To avoid this, I usually create a small gap between the edge of the sheet and where my stickers are, so they don’t get cut off. You might need to check on the printing preview screen how your stickers look with the margins to make sure they are okay before printing. Sometimes, this takes a few tries.

Step 5: Configure the layout of your stickers.

Once you figure out the margins, move your stickers around until they all fit onto the sheet. If you don’t want to waste sticker paper, try to fill as many stickers as you can. Make sure to leave adequate room between each sticker so you have room to cut them out. Keep in mind that the printing sheet is the size of A4 paper, so make sure your stickers are not too big or too small. This also depends on what size you want your stickers. If you want, make a copy of your printing sheet with only one sticker, mess around with the size, then print out a test sheet in black and white on standard printer paper so you can confirm you like the size.

Step 6: Add a cutting guide

If you are going to cut your stickers by hand like I do, it can help to make a cutting guide. Here’s how:

1. Merge all your stickers onto one layer (do not merge on to the background layer)
2. Select the entire layer (on Photoshop, this is done by CTRL + Left Clicking the layer’s thumbnail)
3. Go to Select > Modify > Expand and input 2-5 pixels. The amount depends on your sticker sizes.
4. Make a new layer under your sticker layer.
5. Fill in your selection with light grey.

Now you should have a thin grey border around your stickers. You want to make sure this border is not too thick, but not too thin either so the outline is barely noticeable once printed.

Note that the cutting guide is OPTIONAL. If you have a colored die-cut border (any color other than white) then the guide is not necessary. If you have a white die-cut border, its also possible to cut out your stickers without the guide, you just wont see your border and will have to guess while cutting.

Step 7: Save your printing sheet.

Now that you have your stickers ready, save the printing sheet as a PNG and open up the file to print. Once you’re at the printing menu, configure the settings.

1. Make sure your printer is selected.
2. Set the Orientation to Portrait
3. Check the Paper Size is “Letter”
4. Set the Paper Type to one that includes “Photo Paper” (ex. “HP Photo Papers”)
5. Check that your margins are not cutting off your stickers.
6. Set the Print Quality to “Best” or “High”

Step 8: Before you print, insert your Sticker Paper.

Before you print your sticker sheet, insert one sheet of Sticker Paper into your printer. Now, you can print.

Step 9: Cut out your stickers.

Now that you have your sheet printed, it’s time to spend the next hour or so cutting out your stickers. Use a pair of scissors or a cutting blade and carefully cut each one. Make sure to follow your guide as best as you can if you used one. I usually put on a YouTube video while I do this, because it usually takes a while.

Step 10: Done!

Once your stickers are cut out, they’re ready to use! Simply peel off the backing paper and stick it on to whatever you heart desires. I hope this tutorial was helpful to you. Enjoy your handmade, hand-cut stickers!

If you want to purchase the stickers featured in this tutorial, you can find them here on my Etsy. It includes 40 unique and hand-drawn Fairycore/Fantasy themed stickers!

Thank you for reading my article! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°