Custom Cutlines and Sticker Finishes: How To Make Stickers, Part 5

We’ve reached the fifth and final part of our How to Make Stickers series. If you’ve missed the previous four, you’ll find them at the end of this article.

This final article covers the why/how/what's of cutlines. If stickers had a secret blueprint, this would be it.

18 Feb 2026

TL;DR: Cutlines are the digital outlines that tell the cutting machine exactly where to trim your sticker. Get your cutline right, and your sticker will peel beautifully, look intentional, and match your creative vision down to the millimeter.

What Is A Cutline and Why Do They Matter?

A cutline is a clean vector path that defines the final shape of your sticker. It is not printed, it is not decorative, it is not optional. It is the shape your sticker will be cut into.

The cutline is what makes it possible to create:

Perfect die-cut character silhouettes
Smooth circles, ovals, and geometric shapes
Brand logos with detailed contours
Stickers with scallops, blobs, lightning edges, cloud shapes, and more

If a sticker has a shape, the cutline is the reason why. But - cutlines not only define the shape (or outline) of the sticker, but they’re also important for inner cuts and through-cuts. In other words, they are essential, no matter the sticker product.

Outer cuts vs inner cuts vs through-cuts

All stickers have an outer cutline, and they can be contour cut (commonly known as die-cut), square, circle, or have rounded corners. These are the options you find in our wizard before uploading your artwork.

But stickers can also have inner cuts, the ones you see on kiss-cut stickers and sticker sheets, both of which result in one or multiple peelable stickers with surrounding material. Common for both is that the liner behind the sticker remains intact.

Cutlines are also needed to cut out pieces inside a sticker, also known as a through-cut. This technique can be used if you want letters with the spaces cut out or an actual hole in your donut sticker.

Regardless of the type of cut, cutlines are created using the same settings and method.

Die-cut vinyl sticker in the shape of a stamp, showing an amusement park and the text "STICKER WORLD"

Die-Cut (outer cut)

Kiss-Cut sticker printed on vinyl with back paper print and tiles, with the text "DOPE"

Kiss-Cut (inner cut)

Through-Cut

How to Make Custom Cutlines

As we’re using Adobe CC for pre-press, this guide covers how to create a cutline in Adobe Illustrator.

Open your file in Adobe Illustrator
Create a new layer, name it “cutline” and place it on top
Use the Pen Tool, Shape Tool, or Offset Path to draw your outline
Make sure the cutline is smooth, closed, and vector-based
Your cutline should sit 0.076”/2 mm outside your artwork. If you’re looking to print stickers without borders, stretch the design 0.076”/2 mm past the cutline.
Don’t use transparency, gradients, or effects on the cutline
Use a 1 pt stroke, set the color type to Spot Color, and choose 100% magenta

If you're like us, the nerdier kind, please read the full guide here.

Adjusting the Cutline in the Editor

So, how do you adjust cutlines if your file does not already include a custom one? Easy! You still have a couple of options: either by tweaking the cutline directly in the editor during ordering or by leaving us a comment with your request.

Using the Editor:

In the right sidebar, click on Cutlines and choose the size that fits your design: small, medium, or large.
You can also switch the entire sticker shape to square, round, or rounded corners if that suits your design better.

If you want a true die-cut shape, make sure your artwork has a transparent or white background. Otherwise, the system may struggle to detect the outline and default to a square.

Leaving a comment:

And as always, you can leave a comment asking us to make the cutline follow the exact shape of your design, especially if you cannot remove the background yourself. We are happy to help make sure it looks the way you intended.