How to Design Your Own Vinyl Stickers People across the nation are not shy about letting others know where their sentiments lie. Cruise a local parking lot and you'll see bumper stickers shouting the car owner's personal political affiliation, car insurer, a couple of tongue-in-cheek or downright raunchy sentiments. Vinyl stickers find homes everywhere else, too. They're on notebooks, letters, even walls.

Things You'll Need

Computer Software programs or templates for design creation Printer Vinyl sticker stock Paper cutter

Instructions

o 1

Choose a design. High-contrast images with clean edges and vibrant colors work best. Simple designs can be scanned and used for the stickers. Save the image as a jpeg. Print multiple stickers at one time by repeating one or more designs across the 8 1/2-by-11 inch page.

o 2

Start from scratch. If you plan to design your stickers from the ground up, use your computer's draw program to create vector art. Experiment with colors until you find the right mix. Vinyl stickers print particularly well when process or spot colors are chosen.

o 3

Experiment with color. If your art requires PMS (Pantone Matching System) colors, remember that the finished image will only be as good as the printer you are using to output the stickers, so sample finished colors as you proceed.

o 4

Check the item to which the sticker will be affixed to make certain your image fits within that space. Sheets of vinyl stock are typically the same size as 8 1/2-by-11 inch paper so they can be output on any printer. A typical vinyl bumper sticker will easily fit along the stock's 11-inch area.

Centering your art on a 10 1/2-inch horizontal line will keep it within that parameter.

o 5

Transfer the art from your illustration or scanning program if your computer system has built-in templates for stickers. If you're creating your own template, find how-to instructions on the sticker package, then set up the art in Microsoft Word or another page layout program.

o 6

Load sheets of vinyl stock into the printer. Run a test sheet to be certain the stock is correctly loaded and that you're satisfied with the quality of the color output.

o 7

Use a paper cutter to separate the stickers if the stock you have chosen isn't already scored for separation.

Tips & Warnings

To make large quantities of decals, run small batches at a time to quality-control the consistency of the ink and images as your stickers come out of the ink bath. Invest in a commercial-grade printer if you intend to produce vinyl stickers for commercial use. These machines are not inexpensive and require the use of special inks. Make sure the printer is bundled with proper software. Producing small vinyl stickers destined to be mounted on plastic or wood plane, car or other plastic models, requires ultra-thin stock created just for this type of output.

Your laser or ink jet printer will process vinyl stocks in different ways. Make certain the stock you buy--whether self-cling, paper backed peel-off or any other type--is suited to your printer. If you accidentally buy the wrong vinyl stock, the ink may not set up on the sticker. Be certain any software you use to create your stickers is compatible with your platform.

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