What Is A Custom Sticker?
Below, you can check out some great examples of custom stickers.
What is a custom sticker made from?
A custom sticker has up to five layers. Each of which you can modify to fit your needs. Starting from the top, they are:
- Laminate (optional): for maximum protection.
- Ink: aka your printed design, is usually made from CMYK colours.
- Media: the paper or plastic we print your design on.
- Adhesive: that keeps your label stuck down - very important!
- Backing paper: often forgotten but very important. It protects your sticker and makes it easy to peel & apply.
Do you want to learn a little more about each layer? Then just keep reading.
Laminate
Lamination is optional. Our biodegradable paper stickers, for example, are not laminated. However, we recommend using a laminate for outdoor or long-term applications where added durability is required. On top of that, a glossy laminate makes your stickers look even more high-quality.
The most popular laminates, however, are thin, transparent plastic films that are either gloss or matte. These give the maximum protection. Generally, the thicker the sticker, the more durable it is.
Ink
There are many ways to print stickers. Digital and traditional are the two main methods. But we focus on digital.
Digital printing is growing hugely due to advances in printing. If you're buying less than 10,000 stickers per batch, they're probably digitally printed because the setup costs are much lower than for traditional printing.
Digital printers typically print in CMYK. That stands for; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (key). Some, more advanced printers can also print white. In the last few years, printers have even been adding orange, violet and green inks to widen their colour gamut. Meaning, they can print a broader range of colours.
At Sticker it, we have the world's best digital printer with up to 8 ink stations, meaning we can hit a vast range of colours and print white in one go.
Media
The media is the material we print on. The most popular types of media are; plastic and paper.
Both types of media are available in a vast range of colours, such as; white, clear, glitter, holographic, silver, gold, fluorescent and many more.
Choose the material depending on a) where you will apply your stickers, b) how you will use your stickers, and c) what you want your stickers to look like.
For example, vinyl-based materials are perfect if you need waterproof stickers, whereas biodegradable paper is best suited for indoor uses, and glitter stickers are perfect for adding a bit of pizzazz to your design. You can find out more about what each material is suited for by checking out our materials page.
Adhesive
There are 3 main types of adhesive; removable, permanent or high-tack. You can find a detailed breakdown of these adhesives here.
- Removable adhesive is only suitable for very short-term applications where you want to remove the sticker.
- Permanent adhesive is the most popular. It's the best all-rounder and is what we recommend in 95% of applications.
- The high-tack adhesive is suitable for hard-to-stick surfaces, such as rubber, or some low-energy plastics.
All of our materials are self-adhesive. That means they come with a permanent, pressure-sensitive glue that is perfect for hundreds of applications. For a more detailed overview, you can have a look at our guide to sticker and label adhesives.
