How do I make my own cutline?

The cutline is the path the machine follows when it cuts your sticker, so it decides the final shape. This guide shows how to set up a cutline in Adobe Illustrator so it's recognised in production. It works for die-cut stickers, kiss-cut stickers and other cut products.

Cutline requirements

• Bleed: 2 mm (0.075") outside the cutline

• Margin: 2 mm between the cutline and important artwork

• Stroke: 1 pt

• Path: a fully closed vector shape

• Colour: spot colour, 100% magenta

• Name: the swatch must be named "die cut"

1. Open your artwork

Open the file with your sticker design in Adobe Illustrator.

2. Draw the cutline path

Use one of these tools:

• Pen Tool, for freeform or custom shapes

• Ellipse, Rectangle or Polygon Tool, for standard shapes

• Direct Selection Tool, to adjust anchor points

The cutline should follow the final sticker shape and sit 2 mm (0.075") outside the visible edge of the artwork.

3. Add bleed

Extend background colours or artwork 2 mm into the bleed zone around the cutline. This prevents white edges if the cut shifts slightly.

4. Keep a safe margin

Keep important text and graphics at least 2 mm (0.075") inside the cutline, so nothing important is cut off.

5. Create a spot colour swatch

• Open the Swatches panel.

• Select New Swatch.

• Name it "die cut".

• Set Colour Type to Spot Colour.

• Set the colour to 100% magenta.

The spot colour tells production that the path is a cutline.

6. Apply the swatch

Select the cutline path and apply the "die cut" swatch as the stroke colour. Check that the path:

• Is fully closed

• Has a 1 pt stroke

• Doesn't overlap other cutlines

• Sits entirely inside the artboard

7. Save your file

Save as PDF or AI. When saving:

• Keep the cutlines visible.

• Keep the layers intact.

• Don't flatten or rasterise the cutline path.

Summary

Draw a closed vector path around your design, apply a spot colour swatch named "die cut" set to 100% magenta with a 1 pt stroke, and add 2 mm (0.075") bleed and a 2 mm safe margin. See also accepted file types, what to do if the editor doesn't recognise your cutline, and our guide Die-Cut, Kiss-Cut & Through Cut Explained.