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How to design with Pixie Dust, and make your stickers sparkle
So, you’ve discovered Pixie Dust. Good choice. It’s one of those materials that instantly makes people go “Wait… what is that?”
But here’s the thing, and this is where many miss out: Pixie Dust isn’t just something you print on. It’s something you design with. And once you understand how it behaves, you can control exactly how much sparkle, depth, and texture your sticker gets.
TL;DR: Pixie Dust isn’t just a glittery material; it’s a full-on design tool. The sparkles sit underneath your artwork, so how much it shows depends on your use of white layers and opacity.
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No white layer = all the sparkles.
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White layer = less sparkle, more color control.
Use it with intention, highlight certain areas, balance shimmer with solid elements, and don’t let everything compete for attention.
What is Pixie Dust?
Pixie Dust is one of our two glittery materials, right next to its big sister: glitter. It’s not as busy or chunky as the traditional glitter; instead, it has smaller glitter particles and a more refined shimmer that shifts subtly depending on how the light hits it.
We tend to call it our "smashed glitter material". Think less disco ball, more subtle glow.
Pixie Dust is among our "busier" materials, together with Glitter and Prismatic, and it's wise to handle it with care: too much material effect or raw material can be overwhelming. If this is the look you're going for, by all means, go ahead. It's a statement in itself, but if you are looking for a softer, less visible effect, read about how to achieve it below!
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First: Does full-color mean full coverage?
Nope, nah-ah! Please know that full-color print does not equal full coverage. Full-color print means we print a solid CMYK color, but the ink layer is not opaque.
As with all our materials, ink gets printed directly onto the material, meaning the colors of your design sit on top and interact with the material below. This means: red ink on Pixie Dust results in a tinted Pixie Dust effect.
This handy CMYK chart (which can be found in our materials sample pack) shows how different colors interact with the Pixie Dust material.
This is the default look when printing stickers: full-color print on the material. However, with some simple tweaking, you can easily reduce the material effect to your liking. How? By turning to the Wizardry of Stickermaking:
The white layer.
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The secret sauce: white layer
Let’s talk about your best friend when working with special materials: the white layer.
White ink acts as a barrier between your design and the material. Wherever you add it, you essentially "turn off" or reduce the effect. That gives you a ton of control. A simple way to think about it:
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Full white layer = opaque design, no effect
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White layer with opacity (15 or 30 %) = reduced material effect
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No white layer = all the sparkles
A good question to ask yourself while designing is:
Where do I want the viewer’s eye to go?
That’s often where a bit of sparkle can make all the difference.
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Die-cut stickers in different materials
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Full-color print on the pink area. The yellow and black colors are fully opaque with a 100 % white layer.
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15 % white layer on the pink area. This reduces the sparkly effect a bit and enhances the pink color.
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30 % white layer on the pink area. This further reduces the sparkly effect and enhances the color.
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100 % white layer for a fully opaque design. All areas: pink, black, and yellow, have maximum color with no effect.
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How to order Pixie Dust stickers with material effects
With our new and improved live editor, it's easier than ever before to order stickers with material effects. The editor detects most colors in your uploaded design and lets you decide material effects yourself.
The live editor offers three different levels of transparency:
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100 % white layer showing no material effect
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Full-color print showing both material effect and color
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Full effect showing the raw material with no color
If you want a 15 or 30 % white layer for a more subtle material effect, like the pictures above, please leave us a comment when ordering with instructions for us to follow, and we'll seal the deal.
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