@@ 0,0 1,197 @@
+---
+title: DIY Vinyl Stickers
+description: How to make your own vinyl stickers, without buying them in bulk
+date: 2024-02-10
+---
+About one months ago,
+the [postmarketOS mastodon account](https://fosstodon.org/@postmarketOS)
+posted a [picture of a couple of stickers they'd be giving away at FOSDEM](https://fosstodon.org/@postmarketOS/111731999694062604).
+
+Given that I couldn't attend *FOSDEM* yet another year in a row
+(as it is always during my exam period),
+this got me thinking about how I might get my hands on some stickers.
+
+# Prelude
+## Initial research
+My first idea was to try and find a sticker sheet provider,
+and after spending half a day trying to figure out what kind of stickers I need,
+I figured out that the type of stickers I was looking for are called *Kiss Cut stickers*. \
+The great thing about *Kiss Cut stickers* is that they aren't square,
+but instead, they preserve the shape of your sticker,
+by drawing a white outline around the border of your image.
+
+The first reseller I came across,
+that met my requirements was [stickermule](https://www.stickermule.com/products/kiss-cut-stickers).
+> Custom printing that kicks ass
+
+And to be honest, after reading about the services they offer,
+that tagline is probably fairly accurate.
+They provide templates for some of the most popular design programs out there,
+including a couple of explanation videos on how to design your own sticker sheet.
+And if you don't want to design the sheet yourself, you can also upload a `.zip` containing all the stickers,
+and their team will arrange them for you.
+
+However, I quickly found out that they require you to buy at least 10 sticker sheets. \
+As far as I know,
+this would have meant that I'd get to design one sheet and get 10 prints of it,
+which obviously isn't what I wanted.
+
+So I tried looking for on-demand sticker printing services and came across
+[shopify](https://printify.com/guide/stickers-guide/how-to-create-easy-print-on-demand-kiss-cut-stickers/),
+heck, they even have a guide on how to design your stickers.
+Unfortunately, they don't sell sticker sheets, only single stickers,
+(at least in Europe),
+which would have made everything more complicated and expensive.
+I also checked in with [printful](https://www.printful.com/uk/custom/stickers/die-cut/kiss-cut-sticker-sheet),
+as I've ordered hoodies, t-shirts and pillows from them before.
+But after designing a sticker sheet,
+I wasn't happy with the quality the preview showed, and according to the order overview,
+the stickers would have to be shipped from Japan, which isn't really climate friendly, tbh.
+
+## Printable Vinyl sheets
+This got me wondering whether it was possible to use a laser printer (or inkjet) to print on some kind of paper with a sticky backing.
+
+And as it turns out,
+there is a product made for this, commonly referred to as *printable vinyl sticker sheets*. \
+So I spent a couple of hours figuring out whether this type of paper would damage our printer,
+but apparently a lot of people are using it, so I felt confident enough to order a packet of 15 sheets online.
+
+So yeah - this is where the fun part starts.
+
+# Things you'll need
+As might be apparent from the text above,
+you'll need a laser printer (or an inkjet printer, although I haven't tested it),
+and *printable vinyl sticker sheets*,
+like this one on [amazon (de)](https://www.amazon.de/dp/B097KLGRJV).
+
+I've also heard a lot of people recommend cutting machines,
+like the small [Cricut ones](https://cricut.com/de-de/schneidemaschinen/cricut-joy).
+And I see why, using a machine to cut out the stickers,
+instead of having to do it by hand might save some time, especially on a large scale.
+But I honestly couldn't be bothered to generate a second sticker sheet just to send that to a cutting machine,
+when I can just do it by hand,
+using a small pair of scissors.
+
+# Getting the design ready
+I actually spent quite some time figuring out how to draw the outline around imported images,
+but I think I found a fairly good "solution" - and I'll spare you details of my less successful attempts.
+
+First of all, get your hands on [Inkscape](https://inkscape.org/),
+if you are on Linux, your distro's repository will most likely have Inkscape already.
+if you are on Windows, either figure out how to get the version from the website,
+or consider using a proper, less-shitty operating system.
+
+After opening Inkscape,
+create a new document and make sure the dimensions are set to *A4*
+(or whatever format your vinyl sheets have).
+(You can change the Document properties in `File > Document Properties`)
+
+Now get your hands on a single-color-ish image,
+to use as a background,
+given that the sticker outline will be white (or whatever color you choose),
+having a background that is clearly distinguishable from the background,
+will make manually cutting out the stickers later way easier.
+
+In my case, I went with one of the
+[postmarketOS wallpapers](https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/artwork/-/blob/master/wallpapers/2024/evergreen/evergreen-dark.png).
+
+Now you can start adding stickers.
+
+Go to `File > Import` and select the image you want to add,
+in the popup, select `Embed` (although it probably won't matter).
+
+Now scale the image to your liking.
+I'd recommend holding `Ctrl` whilst moving the diagonal resize handle,
+to lock in the dimensions. \
+For my sticker sheets, I sized the individual stickers at about four to five centimeters.
+
+This is also the perfect time to position the sticker,
+although you can also do this later.
+
+Afterwards, go to `Path > Trace Bitmap` and you should see a new panel on the right.
+Depending on the image you are tracing, you'll have to play around with different tracing options a little bit,
+but for most images, `Single scan, Brightness cutoff` should be good enough. \
+What you'll probably have to change is the `Threshold` value,
+just slide it up or down until the preview on the bottom looks like the image (filled) you are trying to trace.
+(If you can't get it to work, you'll probably have to try different scan modes or detection modes.)
+
+Once you are happy with the preview, click `Apply` and **DON'T** move the inserted shape.
+
+With the newly created shape selected,
+go to `Object > Layers and Objects` and drag the selected layer below the image you just imported.
+It might appear as if the layer has gone missing,
+but we will get to that in a second.
+
+First of all, navigate to `Object > Fill and Stroke`
+and select `Stroke style` in the menu on the right and increase the width.
+I found that `3` to `4` millimeters work pretty well for my stickers.
+
+Next, select `Stroke paint`,
+click on the filled blue square (`Flat color`)
+and drag the sliders around to select the color you want.
+If you want a pure white, you could also enter `ffffff` in the `RGBA` field.
+
+You should now have an outlined version of the sticker.
+If you aren't happy, try playing around with different stroke width,
+tracing methods, or just manually go in and fix the outline.
+
+When you are happy with your design,
+go back to `Object > Layers and Objects`,
+select every layer connected to this design (the path for the outline and the image)
+by holding down `Ctrl` while clicking on the layers
+and hit `Ctrl-G` to group them together. \
+This will make moving them easier.
+If you haven't already positioned your design,
+select the group in the layer menu and dragging it around on the canvas.
+
+If you want to add another image,
+deselect the group (or select the `Layer 1` root)
+and repeat the steps we just did.
+
+# Printing
+We are nearly done,
+now that you've finished your design,
+we can go on to the next step: printing.
+
+Make sure you know which side of your sticker sheets is the back.
+And confirm,
+which side of the paper inserted into your printer will be the back. \
+I just drew a bunch of arrows on the top of a piece of paper,
+and printed an empty white sheet.
+That way, I found out, that the paper faces down in the tray,
+so I had to place my sticker sheets with the back facing up in the tray,
+when printing.
+
+After preparing your printer,
+go to `File > Print` in Inkscape and print your sticker sheet.
+I found that the stickers look better,
+when setting the printer to `Glossy` -
+but this probably depends on the model and type of printer you are using.
+
+# The final step
+Grab a small pair of scissors,
+like [small crafting scissors](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K1HNBXZ).
+And cut along the outline of the white padding,
+making sure not to cut outside the white.
+
+I'd recommend listening to music or a podcast,
+as this might take you some time.
+
+As mentioned above,
+you could probably use a cutting machine to do this task,
+just make sure everything is aligned properly
+and you've removed the background image,
+before exporting the Inkscape SVG.
+
+
+# Outro
+Now you are ready to apply your stickers,
+just peel off the back (using your finger or a cutting knife)
+and put them onto the back of your laptop, phone or whatever.
+
+For inspiration, here is what I did with mine:
+
+
+
+P.S.: If you are wondering, It is really easy to get the sticker off,
+and they don't leave any residue (or at least mine don't)
