How to Create Cut Lines for Your Sticker Design in Adobe Illustrator

So, you’ve created a great design and you’re ready to order some custom stickers. Cut lines tell the printer exactly where to cut your custom vinyl stickers. They also help create that crisp white border around die-cut designs. Rockin’ Stickers customers are welcome to create their own cut lines. But don’t worry, if you don’t provide them, we’re happy to create them for you based on your artwork. If you would like to have control over your cut line shape or you’re curious how we create cut lines, read on to find out!

How to Create a Cut Line for Vector Artwork

Here are the first three steps for creating a cut line for your vector sticker art:

Step 1: Open your design in Adobe Illustrator and select any strokes that are present in your design. The easiest way to find strokes in your design is to use Outline view. Mac: ⌘ + Y PC: CTRL + Y. Once your strokes are selected, select Object > Path > Outline stroke.

Step 2: Select all the text in your design, then right click and select Create Outlines. Mac: Shift + ⌘ + O PC: Shift + CTRL + O.

Step 3: Create a new duplicate layer. Go to the Layers window, hold Option (Mac) or Alt (PC), and then drag the layer that your artwork is on, on top of itself. This is where you will create the cut line so you can lock the layer beneath.

Skip to step 4.

How to Create a Cut Line for Raster Artwork

Here are the first three steps for creating a cut line for your raster sticker art:

Step 1: Create a new duplicate layer. Open your design in Adobe Illustrator. Go to the Layers window and hold Option (Mac) or Alt (PC), then drag the layer that your artwork is on, on top of itself. This is where you will create the cut line so you can lock the layer beneath.

Step 2: Select your image and use the Image Trace window to convert your image into a vector. You don’t need to worry about colors or any other image details when completing this step. What matters is getting the perimeter of the shape to match your original design. Once you’re happy with the look, click Expand to create a vector shape.

Step 3: Remove the white bounding box around your design. Illustrator will often create a white bounding box that needs to be removed. To delete it, right click on your design and select Ungroup. Select the bounding box, then tap Delete.

How to Create a Cut Line in Adobe Illustrator

Here are steps 4-7 to finish creating your cut line in Adobe Illustrator, no matter which type of image format you began with:

Step 4: Transform the entire image into a single shape. Do this by selecting everything on your cut line layer and then from the Pathfinder window, select the Unite icon.

Step 5: Choose the width of the border. With the shape still selected, select Object > Path > Offset path. Check the Preview box in the Offset path panel. Adjust the Offset amount until you are happy with the width of the border, then press OK.

At Rockin’ Stickers, our standard border is 0.08”. It's possible to go as thin as 0.06", but there's a greater possibility of the border appearing uneven when it's that thin, so we typically recommend 0.08”.

Step 6: Delete any unwanted holes in your shape. Do this by selecting everything on the cut line layer and from the Pathfinder window, select Unite. Using the Direct selection tool (A), delete any unwanted holes in your shape.

At Rockin’ Stickers, we allow, if possible, one internal cut of at least 0.5". If it's too small or complex, we may have to add a kiss cut instead.

Step 7: Select the shape, then remove the fill and give it a 1pt stroke.

This is the standard format that most print shops, including Rockin’ Stickers, use for cut lines.

Step 8 (If necessary): Bridge cut lines together. If you end up with two or more cut line objects, you will need to bridge them together to create a single shape. Use the Pen tool (P) to create a shape that overlaps the existing objects. Then select all the objects and from the Pathfinder window, select Unite.

When you have finished creating your cut line, just save your Illustrator file and you're ready to upload your sticker file to Rockin’ Stickers!

Ready to Place Your Custom Sticker Order?

We can’t wait to check out your latest design and start working on your custom sticker order! Once you send us your sticker design order, you can typically expect to see proofs the following business day. With 3-5 day average production time for orders under 3,000 units plus fast, free shipping within the United States, your custom stickers will arrive before you know it. Are you ready to get started? Place your order now!