Die-Cut Stickers – Are they actually cut with a die?
We’ve been printing stickers since 2005 and during this time we have seen popular terms, production methods, terms and of course fads come and go. One that seems to confuse customers the most lately is Die-Cut Stickers. Die-Cut stickers has become the industries way of saying that [insert sticker company name here] can cut your stickers to any shape and size that you need, basically around your logo and not just round or square. The term has become so widely used but really doesn’t offer much education to the you, the consumer.
The reality is, that many companies today don’t actually use dies to cut your stickers, but rather computer controlled cutting equipment, so where did the term come from? The term came from the early days when the companies did have to build a die to cut your stickers to a custom shape, this required extensive setup time, hands on labor and most of all, cost. The term stuck, and here we are, most companies have replaced dies with lasers or computer controlled cutting equipment, but the term still remains popular and widely searched.
All of our sticker types can be cut to a custom shape, so do we call all of our stickers die-cut stickers? We don’t, so lets cover the one sticker type that we do call die-cut stickers (but are really computer-cut stickers, plotter cut stickers, vinyl cut stickers or pro cut stickers).
Our Die-Cut Stickers are single color, computer cut vinyl that have no background when applied. The transfer of the sticker from sheet to surface is done using an application tape that’s applied to the sticker after it’s machine cut. This allows for a sticker with no background when it’s applied, which gives a unique painted on appearance. Many customers confuse this with a clear sticker. A clear sticker has a clear vinyl background that uses a printing process to print the ink onto a clear media. Our Die-Cut Stickers are only 1 color because there is no printing involved, the color of your stickers is based on the color of pre-colored material that’s loaded into the machinery.
There is no background when the sticker is applied, note the wood finish coming through cleanly between the letters, no clear material is present. The sticker was made with no printing, only cutting of the material from a matte black vinyl.
Products Shown: Die-Cut Stickers
Cut Type: Single color stickers with no background applied
Artwork Provided: Customer provided, we redrew the file for a clean look
