A couple of years ago, I wanted to expand my product line to include stickers! There were a few things that were really important to me at the time for me to add it to my store:
The Products I Use to Make Stickers
So — what option did I have left? After weeks of research, I decided to invest in a Cricut Explore Air Machine and make the stickers myself!
The initial investment was high, but I knew that the ability to create products as they are ordered will help me eliminate waste, keep my on-hand inventory lean, and maintain the margins I needed to be successful.
Cutting Machine for those Die-Cuts
At the time, the Explore Air was the newest model, and Cricut has added some new machines since then, like the Cricut Joy, which is a bit more cost effective for those with tighter budgets.
Recently, there have been some issues that I've run into with my Cricut that would make me consider recommending their biggest competitor, the Silhouette Cameo (I've never used the Silhouette, but their machine seems to have addressed these problems):
Sticker + Laminate Paper
For the sticker paper, I use waterproof matte vinyl sticker paper for inkjet printers. I also add an additional non-gloss finish over-laminate sheet layer on top of my stickers to provide additional protection of the sticker artwork. I place the laminate overlay after the stickers are printed on the matte vinyl sticker paper, before I cut them out with my Cricut.
If you're looking to make holographic stickers, this overlay option (instead of the laminate overlay) has been a lot of fun to work with.
Edit: I was able to find a PRINTABLE holographic vinyl sticker paper that has been highly rated! Just print directly onto the holographic sheet, rather than adding an overlay. It works with both inkjet and laser printers, and are waterproof as well.
Printer & Scanner
I currently use a Canon Pixma Pro-100 to make all of my prints, which I also use to print all of my stickers! It's out of production now, but Canon has released the next iteration: the Canon Pixma Pro-200 Printer. Make sure to select the "glossy" material type setting to achieve the best quality print.
Finally, to scan my paintings, I use Epson's Perfection V39 document scanner. I personally looked for a scanner that was portable, had a relatively large scanning bed, and could scan at high optical resolutions (This scanner can scan up to 4800 DPI. I usually recommend at least 600 DPI).
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