Signs & Large Format Print
How it is done and what that means for the price
Contour-cut stickers are made in two steps. First we print the whole sheet or roll of vinyl, with the artwork slightly larger than the final shape. Then a cutting plotter reads the registration marks and cuts the vinyl along the line in your file without cutting through the backing (kiss-cut). We remove the waste vinyl between the stickers, and the finished stickers stay on the backing, easy to peel off and apply.
That leads to the most important point for your budget: you pay for the print area and for the length of the cut line. On a large window sticker, printing dominates. On a hundred small logo stickers, cutting does. A shape that follows every hair of a mascot can have a cut path three times longer than a simple outline with a margin, while the visual difference may be small.
The second thing worth knowing: the plotter cuts to fractions of a millimetre, but vinyl on its backing can shift very slightly. So we do not design a thin border right next to the cut line: with a half-millimetre shift, the border would come out thicker on one side than the other, and it shows at first glance.
Material: what will the sticker go on?
| Vinyl | Price per m² | When to choose it |
|---|---|---|
| White monomeric (gloss or matt) | approx. €6–12 | Indoors, packaging, short promotions, equipment stickers; outdoors approx. 2–3 years |
| Clear | approx. €7–14 | On glass and light surfaces, when no white background should show |
| Polymeric | approx. €9–16 | Outdoors for longer (approx. 5–7 years), gentle curves, helmets, crates |
| Cast | approx. €19–29 | Vehicles and heavily contoured surfaces |
If the sticker will be touched, washed or wiped (e.g. on devices or machines), we add laminate: monomeric approx. €5/m², polymeric approx. €8/m². The differences between vinyls are covered in more detail in cast, polymeric or monomeric vinyl.
How to prepare the file: a checklist
The most common problem with sticker files? No cut line, or a cut line merged into the artwork. Before sending your file, check:
- Format: PDF, AI, EPS or SVG, with vectors preserved. JPG and PNG are only suitable as artwork inside the shape; the cut line still has to be drawn as a vector.
- Cut line on a separate layer, as a thin stroke in a spot colour named e.g. CutContour, with no fill. It must be closed and without unnecessary nodes.
- Bleed of about 2 mm: the artwork extends beyond the cut line so that a shift of a fraction of a millimetre leaves no white edge.
- Safe margin of about 2 mm inwards: text and key elements must not touch the cut line.
- No sharp notches or very thin spikes: elements narrower than about 2–3 mm can lift when peeled.
- Colours in CMYK, with white marked separately if we are printing on clear vinyl. See also CMYK or RGB.
- 1:1 scale, with the final sticker size stated.
If that sounds complicated, just send the artwork and tell us what outline you want. Our studio will draw the cut line; the technical file check is always included, and we vectorise a logo from a JPG for approx. €26 net.
Sample quote: 100 round logo stickers
Round sticker, 8 cm diameter, white monomeric vinyl, for indoor use.
- Circumference of one sticker: 3.14 × 8 cm ≈ 25 cm.
- Cut line for 100 stickers: approx. 25 lm × €1.20 = approx. €30.
- Print area including spacing: approx. 0.7 m² × approx. €12 = approx. €8.
- Total approx. €38 net.
The same sticker cut to the outline of a complex logo could have a cut path twice as long, and a price almost twice as high. That is why for small formats we often advise a simple shape: circle, oval, rectangle with rounded corners, or an outline with an even margin.
For large runs of product stickers, labels on a roll work better, see labels on a roll. The differences are explained in labels on a roll or on sheets.
- 24 hexpress printing (UV inks need no drying)
- approx. 3 daysstandard lead time
- up to 14 dayslarge and custom projects with installation
Plus courier delivery. Tell us your date — we plan production around it.
How to order, step by step
- Tell us where the sticker will go (indoors, window, vehicle, equipment) and for how long.
- Give the size and quantity, or a few quantity options if you are undecided.
- Attach the file or a sketch; say whether the stickers should be on a shared sheet (kiss-cut) or each one separate.
- You receive a quote and a proof showing the cut line for approval.
- Production takes about 3 working days as standard, with 24-hour express if needed.
- Collection in Wieluń or courier delivery across the EU, to the UK and worldwide.
The minimum order value is approx. €24 net, so with just a few stickers it pays to order some spares. The offer is on the contour-cut stickers and sticker sheets pages.