Bleeds, Cut Contours and Gutters

Getting your sticker design with the correct Bleed, Cut Contour (shape) and Gutter is very important. Please don't neglect these simple sticker design guidelines. If you don't know how to do this, please talk to me. I don't mind drawing the Cut Contour for clients when the sticker or label has a simple shape, but complicated Cut Contours take time to reproduce from scratch - especially when the file supplied is a JPG or PNG. Reproducing complicated Cut Contours falls into the artwork category, so if you have a complicated sticker outline without a Cut Contour, I'm going to charge you to reproduce it. Think about it; the stickers may take 14 or 15 minutes to print, but your Cut Contour takes half an hour to reproduce. Rather get all your sticker design issues sorted up front and avoid unnecessary artwork charges. This is most important for custom printed and die-cut stickers and labels.