How to Make Holographic Stickers (BEAUTIFUL and Waterproof! 2024)
Making holographic stickers is just as easy to make normal stickers!
Holographic laminate is such a cool way to make your stickers beautiful and unique!
Here is my full tutorial on how to make holographic stickers, so let’s get started.
*Note: If you already know how to make stickers, you can skip to step 3!
Step 1: Have Your Design Ready
First things first. Make sure you have your design ready.
Designing your Sticker (Personal Use)
If you are making stickers for personal use, go ahead and use any design you would like. You don’t have to be an artist for this step; find the picture(s) you would like to use. There are plenty of free designs on the web.
If you are looking to make a logo or labels but may not be able to draw your vision, try using Canva. Canva is a great resource that has tons of free images/texts. Plus, it’s free! Yay!
I do want to mention though that the free version of Canva does not let you save designs with a transparent background, which will be necessary to cut them out if you will be using a sticker cutting machine. If you want to save them with a transparent background, I suggest you upgrade to Canva Pro.
Designing your Sticker (For Business)
If you are making stickers for your small business, you will need to have your own design or licensed art to use.
For those with an iPad, a great digital drawing option is using the app Procreate. Procreate is an amazing application and is super beginner friendly (and great for professional use!)
For a design drawn on paper, scan it and trace over it on your drawing application on your computer. Of course, you could just scan your paper drawing and use it without the digital redraw, but I think making digital drawings for stickers give it a sleek finish.
I use a digital drawing software on my Cintiq 14 inch. If you are wanting to start a sticker business, I highly suggest getting a Drawing tablet or Procreate on your iPad. This will significantly improve the quality of your designs and will allow you to create art more efficiently.
Step 2: Print Out Your Stickers
Print out yours stickers on any sticker paper you like.
There are a lot of Printable Vinyl Paper on the market, so you may have to research and find which one is the best for your stickers. I have an article where I compare many different and give you my personal favorite, so be sure to check that out real quick!
I would recommend the Joyeza Matte Printable Vinyl Sticker for beginners. Another one of my favorites is the PPD Printable Vinyl Paper, I use this sticker for my sticker shop! It holds colors well, water resistant, and has a lovely matte finish.
*Note: I do receive a small portion from purchases made through the links in this article which helps fund our small business. I will never recommend a product or service I don’t have 100% faith in.
For the printer, you can use any printer really. I use the Canon Pixma. I put the vinyl paper in the rear tray (Put the side that will be printed on face up) and hit print. Don’t forget to change your print settings to the correct one for your paper. Most vinyl paper brands tell you which setting to use in the instructions.
Step 3: Holographic Laminate
After you have print out your sticker designs on your sticker paper, it’s time to add the holographic magic.
It’s holographic laminate time! This step requires the following:
*TIP: See my tutorial, “How to Laminate Stickers (Step by Step)” for a guide (with pictures) on how I put on adhesive laminate on the best way without bubbles or creases.
You will need a squeegee to make sure there are no air bubbles or creases. I would recommend using a squeegee with a felt tip as to avoid leaving scratches on your holographic laminate.
Step 4: Cut Them Out
After your stickers pretty holographic stickers are laminated, now you are ready to cut them out. You can either cut them out by hand or use a cutting machine like I do.
There are 2 ways to approach this:
Method 1: Cut out with Scissors
If you do not mind imperfect edges, you can simply just cut out your sticker with a pair of scissors carefully and you are done!
Method 2: Using Cameo or Cricut
If you are wanting to use these stickers for business purposes, I would highly recommend getting a sticker cutting machine like the Cricut or Silhouette Cameo as it cuts out the perfect outline for every sticker and is consistent.
I would recommend the Silhouette Cameo 4, as it is more professional friendly and based on reviews, might actually have less errors than the Cricut (in my experience).
Also, it comes in really cute colors! If you are going to have an office, appearance does matter and sometimes your productivity may be based on it. Plus, if you are going to splurge on a fancy machine, you might as well like it.
I got this Pink Silhouette Cameo 4 on Amazon. It came with a lot of the basic tools too.
You will have to play around with the settings a bit to get the perfect cut. Check out this article on beginner friendly tips for Silhouette Cameo 4 users.
Depending on the sticker paper and laminate you decide to use, your cut settings on your machine will be different. Experiment and play around with the settings and find out what works best for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The holographic paper WILL interfere with your machine’s scanner! Make sure you cover the registration marks with matte tape to get rid of the shine. If you don’t the stickers won’t cut right.
All done! There you have it, now you know how to make holographic stickers!
If you found this article helpful, check out my other tutorials!