Exploring all the Different Ways to Make Stickers!
When generative AI became more popular, one of my first thoughts was that customizing t-shirts, mugs, and sort of the maker space of creatives was going to get a lot more interesting, so I spent some time myself learning what went into making stickers. I couldn't believe that a single (vinyl, non-temu) sticker was being sold for ~$5, and that it wasn't possible to buy a single sticker for $1-$2. Custom t-shirts usually went for a minimum of $20 too, sometimes ranging upwards of $50, but when you think of the t-shirt and ink cost itself, the cost can only be around $6-10 bucks.
It was alarming.
So I started researching.
Ink Types
To figure out the cost of a sticker, you have to know how much the ink costs. The first thing I realized is that there are actually a lot of different types of inks and they have differences in how they produce prints.
- Inkjet
- Laser (printer, which uses "toner powder")
- Eco-Solvent
- Latex
- UV
Inkjet printers are just the normal everyday printers we might see in an office or at home. They are not water-proof and will fade from exposure to UV rays. A decent amount of home-made stickers are made from this method since it is cheap. To help make the sticker more water-proof, it'll be printed on vinyl and laminated, and they tend to be hand-cut (but can also be cut using a cutting machine like a cricut).
Laser printers are basically the same as inkjet, but perform better in terms of water-resistance. They will still fade from UV rays, but don't cost too much more than a normal inkjet printer.
Commercial Options:
Once we get into Eco-Solvent, Latex, UV printers we see more commercial grade equipment (although there are still some "prosumer" models available).
A printer here will cost anywhere from $5000 to $30,000 which is why a lot of home-made stickers don't move past the Inkjet / Laser printer solutions.
Of course, the difference is that all the inks mentioned above are water-resistant and UV-resistant, so in terms of the end sticker result, they will all work fine, but the way in which they produce the stickers are slightly different.
Eco-Solvent printers use eco-solvent ink which requires "out-gassing" or essentially allowing the ink to dry for 24 hours before doing anything else. These printers come in all shapes and sizes and some even include a cutter combination which makes it a bit more streamlined to create kiss-cut / die-cut stickers (otherwise you'd need a separate cutting machine / hand-cut).
Latex printers use latex ink and requires 2 electrical outlets to plug into because the printer will heat up (like a dryer) and blow hot air on the ink to dry it. This means there's no out-gassing process and prints are ready right away, but latex inks tend to be more expensive, require a separate cutter machine, and based on my research, I never found a model that was smaller than 54" or 4.5 feet, so these guys require space and help with installation since they weigh upwards of 350 lbs. (150 kg).
Lastly, UV printers actually come in more formats and sizes so they are a bit more complicated to talk about. While the Eco-Solvent and Latex printers all work in a "roll-to-roll" fashion (i.e. they print from a roll) UV printers also have flatbed variants where they can print directly onto a flat surface and UV DTF printers which will have an A roll and B roll (laminate) to directly laminate the ink that's been printed onto the A roll (film).
General Sticker Creation Process
- Create designs
- Print sticker from your preferred ink type / printer type
- Laminate stickers with a laminator (sometimes combined as a part of the printer process)
- Cut stickers out (with scissors, a cutting machine, or sometimes combined as a part of the printer process)
- Sell / stick onto items you want to decorate!
Mindless Blob Summary:
Inkjet/Laser: consumer grade stickers, not UV resistant, printer prices are accessible. The cost we see is not from materials, but really the time it takes to design / make them.
Eco-Solvent / Latex / UV: commercial grade stickers, water-proof, UV-resistant, $5000 - $30,000 for a printer. The cost is from the printer cost / ink quality. The labor cost is from having to set up a cutting machine to cut the stickers out —each different design requires different cutting lines which is why a lot of commercial sticker print shops set minimums on a design and don't allow purchasing a single sticker with multiple different designs.
Out of all the options there were of making stickers, I found the easiest and most affordable option at the end of the day was to use an external website like https://www.jiffy.com/transfers to create UV DTF stickers. UV DTF stickers work like normal vinyl stickers, except they don't work well in the dishwasher. Every other application has been the same as stickers, and they're a lot cheaper!
There is still a minimum shipping order of around $35, but I was able to fit ~45 stickers onto a sheet that they printed out and I cut myself, with plenty of them being larger than 6" x 6".
They'd be great for decorating or placing on cars, and this felt like a steal because car decals usually go for $10-15 dollars each.
As for the designs, there's plenty of free sites / AI which can help you get the sticker's you're looking for.
Now go make some stickers!
Bye Bye!
Mindless Blob
P.S. DTF transfers can help you make t-shirts for much cheaper than purchasing one. The one difference from stickers is that you'll need to get a heat press (anywhere from $150 - $1200) to transfer your design onto whichever t-shirt you buy. If you know you'll be making enough custom t-shirts, $200 (and some of your time) isn't a bad investment from having to purchase custom t-shirts for $20+ per piece.