Die Cut vs Kiss Cut Stickers: What's the Difference?

Die cut and kiss cut are the two terms you will run into most often when ordering custom stickers, and almost nobody explains the difference properly. It comes down to one thing: how deep the blade goes.

Worth saying up front so you are not wasting your time: we currently print die cut stickers, not kiss cut. This guide explains both honestly so you can work out which one your job actually needs, even if that turns out to be the one we do not make.

The difference in one sentence

A die cut sticker is cut all the way through the vinyl and the backing paper, so you get an individual sticker shaped like your design. A kiss cut sticker is cut through the vinyl only, leaving the backing paper intact, so the sticker sits on a square or rectangular sheet.

Same printing, same material, same durability. The only thing that changes is the cut depth and therefore what lands in your hand.

What a die cut sticker is like to use

You get a loose sticker in the shape of your artwork. There is no border of spare backing around it unless you asked for one. To apply it, you peel it off the backing from a corner.

This is the format most people picture when they think of a custom sticker. It looks the most considered, because the shape of the sticker is the shape of your design rather than a box around it.

It suits: logos, characters, illustrations, anything with a distinctive outline. Retail merch. Stickers you want to feel like a product rather than a label.

The trade-off: small or intricate die cut shapes can be fiddly to peel, especially for thin elements. A design with a long thin tail or a delicate protrusion is easier to handle with a small border around it, which is one reason a slightly simplified cut line often works better than one tracing every detail.

What a kiss cut sticker is like to use

You get your design cut into a sheet, with the backing left whole so the sticker sits flat and flush.

Because the backing is intact, kiss cut stickers stack neatly, post flat in a standard envelope and are easier to peel. The edge of the backing gives your thumbnail something to work with.

It suits: anything posted in very high volume. Sticker packs with several designs on one sheet. Extremely delicate shapes. Anything handed to customers who may not be patient with a fiddly peel.

The trade-off: the visible backing sheet is less striking than a bare die cut shape. If you want the sticker itself to be the object, die cut wins.

Which does your job actually need?

Work through these:

• Is the shape itself part of the appeal? Die cut, every time.
• Is this going on retail shelves or into a merch drop? Die cut. It reads as a product.
• Is it a bold, simple shape? Die cut handles this well and looks better doing it.
• Do you want several different designs together as one set? That is a kiss cut sheet.
• Are you posting thousands and every second of handling matters? Kiss cut is built for that.

For most jobs, from small business branding to band merch to product labelling, die cut is the right answer anyway. Kiss cut earns its place mainly on multi-design sheets and at large postal volumes.

Two things people get confused about

Die cut does not mean a physical die. The name comes from traditional die cutting, where a steel rule die was made for each shape. Modern custom sticker printing uses a digital cutter following a path in your file, so there is no tooling cost and no reason a one-off shape should cost more than a common one. If you are ever quoted a setup fee for a custom shape, ask what it is for.

Neither cut affects durability. Both are the same vinyl with the same laminate. A die cut sticker is not more or less waterproof than a kiss cut one. If someone tells you otherwise, they are describing a difference in material, not a difference in cut.

What you need to supply for die cut

The useful thing to know is that your cut line and your artwork are two different things.

Your artwork is what gets printed. Your cut line is the path the blade follows. For a simple shape they can be the same outline, but for most designs the cut line is a slightly offset path that gives the sticker a clean edge without slicing through detail.

You do not have to supply a cut line yourself. Send clean artwork, ideally as a vector file with a transparent background, and we will build the path. Every order includes a free digital proof, so you will see exactly where the cut falls before anything is printed.

Ready to order?

Custom die cut stickers are priced through the calculator on the product page, so you can see how size and quantity affect cost before you commit.

Not sure what size to go for? The sticker size guide covers that. If you want to get your file right first time, start with the artwork guide.