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Frequently Asked Questions
THE TOP 10 LIST
Are you ready to peel away the mysteries of sticker making? Here are the answers to the most common questions customers ask us at StickerApp.
Introducing StickerApp through our Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions
Are you ready to unpeel the mysteries?
Welcome to the vibrant world of stickers and labels!
Stickers and Labels are everywhere
Ever wondered about the journey of a sticker from its conception to your hand? Or a label on a bottle carrying precious cargo? Well, we find it fascinating and are devoted to it. We are thrilled to have you join us in this colorful universe! Whether you're a novice or a sticker enthusiast, let's unravel the intricacies behind creating these adhesive artworks.
Here [on this page/in this article] you’ll find answers to the top 10 most common questions our customers ask. But we tell it as a story, about Y min read. Click the link to get the short version of these questions and answers.
We’re all very enthusiastic about stickers and labels. It’s the only thing we do and what we’ll continue to do. We will improve techniques and are looking forward to expanding our community, our artists, newbies, entrepreneurs, corporations, parents, community leaders, and agencies and organizations.
In this article we want to provide a clear path forward to create stickers and labels; introduce you to our community and our guides, and get you through the process from conception to completion.
We’re here to help
Deeply rooted in our operations is our dedicated Department of Graphics and Customer Support. They’re equipped to handle everything from basic inquiries about pricing and shipping to more complex design questions, including cutlines, color choices, laminates, add-ons, and the occasional special features.
We encourage you to reach out with any questions you might have. Either by leaving a comment when placing orders or by sending us an email in advance. We’re here to help and want you to feel welcome.
Sticker Academy
To keep you up-to-date, we continuously update our tutorials, FAQs, and support resources, and we collect them in our Sticker Academy. This ensures that you can access the latest information and guidance at your convenience.
Make sure you keep a lookout for new features on the web or new stories in the blog. Also make sure you stay logged in to your account to get access to unique features, some of which are limited in time and editions.
Our business has evolved significantly over the past decade, expanding to offer a wide array of materials, adhesives, laminates, and add-ons. Inspired by artists and creators, we strive to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the sticker world and are constantly innovating to meet your creative needs.
As much as we encourage you to connect directly with us, we also recommend exploring our Sticker Academy. Here, you might find quick answers to your questions, helping you get back to creating as soon as possible!
GETTING STARTED
Embarking on Your Journey
Starting a sticker or label project should be exciting! Whether you're aiming to enhance your laptop, water bottle, car, or have another brilliant idea in mind, the first step is to decide on a concept. If you're unsure of the format, no worries – you can determine its use, choices of materials, and other options later as you explore our vast range of features. Let's go through the basics!
The Backing Paper: The Unsung Hero
At first glance, it might seem insignificant, but the back paper is where our sticker story begins. While it varies slightly depending on the material, our commitment is steadfast: quality and innovation, with a special nod to environmental responsibility. Although you won't usually select the back paper yourself, specific choices could unlock the potential of back paper print, enhancing the appeal of your sticker sheet or individual sticker. It's more than just paper; features like back crack enhance functionality and user experience.
Interested in Back Paper Details?
Material & Adhesives
From glittering glam to nocturnal glow-in-the-dark, the choices for sticker and label materials are nearly endless, with vinyl ruling the roost in myriad colors and textures, and paper for that hand-made feeling. The glue makes the stickers and labels stick. Depending on your sticker's destiny, you can opt for low, standard, or high-tack adhesive. While our standard adhesive suits most needs (even surviving dishwasher cycles), some occasions call for a stronger bond or an easily removable solution.
Size and Material Options
Our capabilities are extensive, ranging up to 120 cm / 47.2 inches wide and theoretically 1000 cm / 394 inches long. While most stickers fall within a more modest size, particularly under 275 mm / 10.8 inches, this is where the real magic happens. You can choose from an array of materials to make your stickers truly distinctive, including options like glitter, holographic, brushed aluminum, mirror, pixie dust, kraft paper, etc. You’d be surprised by our available options and what's possible!
Frequently Asked Questions #1-3
Question #1: Which material do you recommend?
If you're new to sticker creation, white vinyl is a safe and popular choice. It's versatile and always in style. However, if you're feeling adventurous, curious or bold, why not explore other materials? Each offers a unique flair to your design. Click here for an overview of our material options.
Question #2: Can I mix materials?
The short answer is you get to choose one material for your sticker or label design. As for mixing materials, the process is a bit intricate and offers fantastic customization opportunities through add-ons and variations in the print file, layers and grading, to achieve effect opacity and so on. If you don’t want a visible material, perhaps our barely visible transparent material is the right fit for you. A lot comes down to the design and print file which together with add-ons adds a plethora of possibilities. You can dive into some of those add-on possibilities here:
Question #3: What will it cost?
Cost is an important consideration and varies based on your choices of material, size, add-ons, and quantity. Our minimum order pricing starts at $26 for one hundred pieces of small-size die-cut stickers made of white vinyl. Including personal support and free transport. You'll find different pricing tiers for various sizes and quantities, allowing you to choose the best option for your needs. We also provide opportunities to pack your stickers into individual sticker packs. Check out our detailed pricing guide when placing your order here. If you are a business customer, we kindly ask you to contact us here, we’d love to hear about your needs and wishes.
CREATIVITY AND PRINTING
The Art and Craft of Stickers and Labels
Stickers and labels can be, and perhaps often are everyday items, but they also hold the potential to be rare and unique expressions of art. As a creator, you have the exciting opportunity to dictate their impact and how they are perceived and used.
This journey, no matter the outcome, combines your imaginative ideas with our technical expertise, transforming your visions into something to hold and enjoy. With our wide selection of materials and knowledge of printing techniques, we ensure your designs materialize just as you envisioned. Perhaps beyond it!
Color Theory
Color is a crucial element in sticker design, offering both creativity and challenges. Remember the joy of colors in your childhood? At StickerApp, this fascination continues. But colors are not just fun; they are an obsession for us. Managing and maintaining our printers is a delicate craft, ensuring that every hue and tone is just right.
Questions on colors are common, there’s a lot to do with opacity and variations of white layers on special effects materials. Two questions stand out among first-time customers regarding colors:
FAQ #4-5
Question #4: What color mode do you use?
We use four color printing techniques called CMYK for all our printers. We typically use North American General Purpose 2, which contains US web-coated (SWOP) v2. If you’re using Photoshop you can quickly convert your file to CMYK under “Image” and then “Mode” and choose “CMYK color”. In Illustrator you go to “File” then “Document color mode” and choose “CMYK color”. Remember, if you save your file as a PNG it will automatically be an RGB file. To make sure the settings are correct, save it as PDF.
Question #5: Why did digital proof seem brighter than print?
Printed stickers are colored using CMYK, digital screens use RGB. RGB mixes light to make colors for screens, and CMYK mixes inks to make colors for printing. That’s why the colors on your stickers or labels might look a bit different from what you see on your screen, as light and ink produce colors in different ways.
Difference between RGB and CMYK
RGB - Red, Green, Blue
Digital screens like computers, tablets, or smartphones, are creating colors by Light: RGB is like mixing colors with light. It starts with darkness (no light) and adds red, green, and blue light to create different colors. If you turn on all these lights to their fullest, you get bright white. This is the color system for anything that lights up, like your computer screen, phone, or TV. This mode can produce a wider range of colors, making it capable of displaying more vibrant and varied hues. This is because screens can emit light directly.
CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black
CMYK is more like mixing paints. It starts with white (like a blank piece of paper) and adds layers of cyan (a blue-green color), magenta (a pinkish-purple), yellow, and black ink to block out light and create different colors. This is what's used when printing your design on something physical, like stickers or labels. Because it uses ink, the colors might not be as bright as on your screen but are great for physical items. This model has a more limited color range compared to RGB, as it depends on the blending of pigments. Colors in CMYK may appear more muted, especially when trying to replicate very bright or neon colors.
Getting it right
Knowing how a digital representation, presented in RGB colors, will translate to paint using CMYK comes with experience. Here [link] you can find more tutorials, tips, and tricks on getting it right, eg. how to make True Black, variations of metallic colors and much more. We will continue to develop and make advances as technology enables us, so we will also update our Academy to give you the latest updates.
CUTLINES
Making the Cut
A frequent query we receive pertains to the technical aspects of cutlines. Cutlines are essentially the guidelines that dictate where the knife or laser cut your stickers. There are two primary types of cuts we use:
Die Cut: This method cuts through both the sticker material and its backing paper. It's ideal when you want your sticker to have a unique shape that's different from the usual rectangle or circle.
Kiss Cut: This technique involves cutting only through the sticker layer (the vinyl) and not through the backing paper. Kiss cuts are perfect for creating peel-off stickers and are often used for sticker sheets where multiple stickers are presented on a single backing.
Our Commitment to Precision and Quality
Precision in following these cutlines is where our dedication truly shines. We go to great lengths to ensure we adhere to these cutlines as accurately as possible. Our Department of Customer and Graphics Support, as well as our production teams, plays a pivotal role here. The support team of experts manually checks all orders to ensure the cutlines are accurately followed, as our printers and lasers are constantly monitored by skilled machinists, guaranteeing the highest quality in the final product. This attention to detail helps us maintain a smooth production flow and avoid the need for reprints. But if you nonetheless get stickers that are cut off center, contact us with a picture and we’ll help you.
FAQ #6-7
Question #6: How do I make sure my cutline is correct?
If you're unsure about how to set up your cutlines or if you have a specific requirement, don't hesitate to leave us a comment when placing your order. Our team will review your design and get back to you if any adjustments are needed. Moreover, if you notice any issue with the cutline in your design during the ordering process, let us know. As an example, if you have a completely white design our editor might have a hard time making a contour cutline, and we urge you to choose the right size and write a comment when ordering and we will fix it for you, ensuring that your stickers turn out exactly as you envisioned.
Question #7: What is bleed and how much should it be?
In printing, "bleed" is an extra margin around the design of a print file that extends beyond the final cut size. This extra space, usually about 2 mm / 0.08 inch, is like a safety net that makes sure your design or color covers the entire page, even if the cutting is just slightly off. The same goes if your sticker has a border around it, we need that border to be at least 2 mm / 0.08 inch wide.
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Artwork come alive
Once your order is placed and examined by the skilled eyes of our Customer and Graphics Support team, the order is sent to production. Depending on its specific features, size and material, it will promptly be printed, cut and possibly (usually) coated with a chosen laminate. Possible add-ons are added and the sticker or label is cut and separated. It’s a delicate and finely tuned process to print stickers and labels of the quality that we offer, and we’re very proud of it. Using modern techniques we can keep a fast pace and maintain high quality and supply the right quality when it’s needed.
We’re a popular provider of stickers and labels, therefore we have a lot of customer contact and feedback. These are the final top questions and are about production and shipping.
FAQ #8-10
Question #8: Where is my order?
You can log in to your account to follow your order. You can also follow tracking links via email as they become available. After you have placed your order we process it into our systems. Depending on the request and state of the print file, we send it to production within a day or two. Production has about the same lead times, although you can opt to pay for express delivery, of which your order is prioritized. Orders are printed, cut, packed and shipped in our modern production facilities. For shipping we use FedEx (and in some cases other national, regional or local partnerships).
Question #9: Can I change my file or address after placing my order?
Yes you can, if you ask nicely, and until you get an email saying “your order is in production”, at which point support has sent it through to the production team. You also have a chance to change the shipping address, but when you get an email saying “your order has been sent” the address is locked and we hope it reaches the right location. If you fk*d up, please contact us and we’ll try to help.
Question #10: What shipping options do you provide?
We use FedEx for most deliveries and a few national, regional and local partners for special cases. We always offer free handling and shipping, and we’re faster than most competitors.
We also offer Express Handling which will grant you express handling: faster print file check and production, as well as express handling through the shipping process. Production time for express handling is 1-2 days and shipping is 1-3 days, depending on location. Standard, free handling adds a couple of days.
We do our very best to combine speed and quality. Factors like geographical location, certain material choices, or special requests, might increase handling time. Contact us if you’re in a hurry.
Top 10 FAQ
- Where is my order?
If you're looking for updates on your order, please contact our support team or check the provided tracking link for real-time information. - Can I mix materials?
Unfortunately, mixing materials isn't possible. You can either block the effect or choose to apply a material and laminate. - How much bleed and what is it?
We recommend a 2mm outside border for a safety margin to ensure your design prints perfectly. This is known as the bleed area. - Wrong cutline?
If you notice an issue with the cutline, leave a comment during the ordering process, and we'll make sure to correct it for you. - Why is my sticker dark? / What color mode do you use?
The darkening of colors may occur because we print in CMYK, which is different from RGB. Be mindful of this when designing to achieve the desired color outcome.
- Can I change my file?
If your order hasn't reached the "your order is in production" stage, you can still make changes. Contact our support team for assistance. - Can I change my address?
If your order hasn't been marked as "your order has been sent," you can update your address. Get in touch with us to make the necessary changes. - What is your turn around time / delivery times?
For express orders, expect a turnaround time of 4-6 days, while standard orders typically take 10-14 days for processing and delivery. - How much will my stickers cost?
Easily get an estimated cost for your stickers directly on our website using our user-friendly sticker maker. - What material do you recommend?
Our best-selling white vinyl material is versatile and suitable for various applications. It's a reliable choice for most sticker needs.