Sticker Substrates

Sticker papers and vinyls are often a misunderstood commodity. Customers sometimes request printing on a coloured sticker but that's not exactly how it works. Most sticker papers or vinyls are white to start with. The background sticker colour you want is actually printed over a standard white paper or vinyl. So, if you ask for printing on a blue, green or red sticker (for example) that colour is actually printed onto the white paper or vinyl self-adhesive roll.

 Basically, we print the background colour at the same time we print and die-cut your stickers. The only time this doesn't apply is when the self-adhesive paper, polyprop or vinyl is clear, silver or gold. The reason for this is quite simple; it is the most print practical and economically sensible option. For example printing a full colour logo onto a tinted self-adhesive paper or vinyl self-adhesive adhesive would be impossible. 

So, to cut a long story short, most self-adhesive papers and vinyls are white and the colour of the sticker (or the background colour) is printed. It does not come in standard colours from the manufacturer.  However, there are exceptions to this rule. 

Some self-adhesive vinyls come in bright neon colours, but these are are used primarily for sticker shape cut-outs (contouring), vehicle wraps, etc. The same applies to many reflective vinyls; you can't always print on them. They are both speciality substrates for a niche label or vehicle wrapping market. But, now we come to the clear, silver and gold vinyl self-adhesives. They are a different type of self-adhesive sticker substrate with different printing advantages and limitations. 

Clear vinyl self-adhesive labels can be printed in full colour and applied to glass bottles with transparent or cream contents but cannot be used if the bottle is opaque or the contents are dark or deeply coloured. Full colour printing on clear is best if a white ink is laid down first. However, this must be done flexographically on the roll, so best for bigger quantities. If you want silver or gold vinyl stickers, black is the print colour of choice. You can print a full colour sticker on metallic gold vinyl but It just doesn't work perfectly. However, black on gold vinyl can be a stunning combination when the sticker design and shape is right.