Stickers continue to be one of the most popular products on Redbubble. It’s easy to see why! They’re kiss-cut, look amazing, are easily removable, and can be stuck on anything… except maybe pets, food, and/or your co-workers laptop screen.

In all seriousness, vinyl stickers are a versatile way to decorate your surroundings. In addition to being extremely affordable, Redbubble stickers come in a wide variety of styles and sizes. In order to get the most of out these fun products, here are a few tips to help your designs “stick” out more on your storefront.

Not All Stickers Are Created Equal

There are (soon to be) four types of stickers to choose from: Glossy, Matte, Transparent, and Holographic (coming soon). Each finish gives your artwork a unique look!

Matte stickers have a smooth, non-shiny surface that gives them a more subtle look. Glossy stickers are shiny and vibrant, making colors pop and giving designs a polished feel. Transparent stickers have a clear background that blends smoothly onto surfaces, showing just the design without any borders. Holographic stickers have a shiny, rainbow-like effect that changes colors when you move them to add a fun and eye-catching finish to your designs.

Both Matte and Glossy stickers print on white vinyl, so white areas in your design will blend with the background (more on this below). Keep colors bold and vivid for a standout look, especially on glossy stickers, to enhance brightness.

Transparent stickers print with a white underlay which means colors pop on a clear background. Colored pixels (including white) should print as expected. Transparent pixels in the design allow the background to be visible. Make sure your designs have clean edges, as there won’t be a solid background to support them. 

Holographic Stickers print on a rainbow reflective film without a white underlay. This means lighter colors may get lost in the reflective nature of the substrate. White pixels become transparent, which means white space = holographic space. Definitely think ahead about using this as negative space to make that shiny background pop!

Check out this incredibly helpful article on Redbubble’s help center for a deeper dive into the world of stickers: “How do I Design for Stickers”

Use High Resolution Files

It’s important to upload high resolution images so your art looks crisp and clean no matter which size someone wants.

Stickers come in 4 specific sizes: Small (2.7 x 3.8 inches), Medium (4 x 5.5 inches), Large (6.2 x8.5 inches), and Extra Large (10.1 x 14 inches).

We recommend uploading a file with the maximum pixel requirements (2800×2800 pixels) to ensure your design is available on all 4 Sticker sizes. Pay close attention to textures and text that might be a part of the design.  Fine details that are easier to read in larger sizes might get lost if the sticker is purchased in the smallest size.

Take Advantage of Transparency

Every sticker sold on Redbubble is kiss-cut, which means the sticker is cut around the edges of the design. This is most apparent when the image is an irregular shape, giving you the ability to play with fun shapes and borders. It’s also makes these stickers so fun to collect! For those out there who cover laptops, skateboards, and car bumpers with vinyl stickers, kiss-cut shapes contribute to the unique look of each sticker.

Check for stray pixels BEFORE exporting your transparent PNG! Every pixel area has a border added to it during the printing process before the kiss-cut. This means you do not have to add a white border around your main image. This also means stray pixels past the edge of your PNG will also get a white border. Make sure to doublecheck the previews after uploading a design to your portfolio.

Helpful tip: Create an extra layer under you artwork in your image editor of choice, fill it with an intense color not seen in your design and then clean up any stray pixels. This sticker by RB artist Julia Gingras shows how this is done. Remember to delete that solid color layer when exporting. 

Want to up your photoshop editing game? Check out How to Create Transparent Backgrounds for more tips.

Check Your Colors

All stickers on Redbubble are printed on white vinyl unless the customer chooses transparent or holographic finish. This means that any text or elements that are white (#FFFFFF) will not show up on Matte or Glossy finishes. This can look awkward if the main color used in your design is white. It will still be kiss-cut, but there will just be pixels here and there with a lot of white space.

To illustrate this, I quickly drew a cute little monster and only used white in the design. You can see below how this sticker looks and that the cute monster* is not visible.  If you do want a very light color to show up in your stickers, consider using off-white (#f0f0f0) or a similar shade instead.

*You’ll just have to trust me. He was really cute, and I think the facial expression is my best so far.

Closing thoughts:

• Let the stickers speak for themselves. No need to over design.
• Use text only when necessary… unless the design is text based, then by all means go for it!
• Think about making stickers that go together. If you create a series, people will want to collect them all.
• To help promote your designs on social media, head over to the manage portfolio section in your dashboard. Find the design you want to promote, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the photo, and choose Promote Artwork.