Sticker printing can be one of the fastest and most cost-efficient ways to gain exposure for your brand, product, or business. The key to success is making sure that you understand the printing process and types before jumping into designing. Familiarizing yourself with the technicalities of sticker printing can save you time, frustration, and money by ensuring that your stickers turn out how you want them to.
Tip #1: Break up large areas of color. It’s difficult (and expensive) to print consistent solid color over large areas using the CMYK process. This is especially true for light colors, which often don’t translate well at all. Rather than trying to make light colors work, try to design your stickers with a lot of white space, or opt for Pantone printing instead, which will produce much better results.
If you’re printing your stickers at home, be sure to use a high-quality printer and quality sticker paper. Also, check your sticker size before printing. Stickers that are too small may be hard to use, and stickers that are too large will clog your printer’s nozzle and waste ink.
Another option is to take your design to a professional printer. They can print your stickers and cut them to shape, and they can even laminate your stickers for a water-resistant finish. Just be sure to call ahead and find out what size of sticker they can handle (they should have both inkjet and laser printers for maximum flexibility), as well as how many stickers they can print on a single sheet.