DAVe TOO’s Sticker Printing Guide

Silkscreened stickers have the advantages of being higher quality than digitally printed stickers and will typically last longer in the elements than digitally printed stickers. The only drawbacks are that you have to order a higher quantity of a single design and you have limited colors except with four color process silkscreen printing.

StickerGuy! printed the first stickers I ever made for my punk band Rise Above back in about 1996 and I’ve been using them ever since. You simply can’t beat them when it comes to quality for price in quantities of 250 black and white or red and black on white vinyl. Because they do their stickers as gang runs, your turnaround time will be longer than most other sticker printers, but if price is a concern it’s definitely worth the wait.

They also do monthly specials with different ink and vinyl combinations, custom ink color and specialty vinyl orders, bulk sticker printing, as well as digital sticker printing.

Sticker Robot prints for the big boys like Google and Facebook, and they’ll print stickers of equally awesome quality for you too. If you want full-color, high-quality vinyl stickers in quantities of 250 or more, look no further. They do it all from clear vinyl, to holographic, back printing, split back, you name it.

They also do digital sticker printing.

Digitally printed stickers have the advantage of being less of an upfront investment in a single sticker design because you can order a very small number of them, sometimes just one. Also, digital sticker printing is very competitive so if you shop around you can find the digital sticker printer offering just the right deal for exactly what you’re looking for.

Sticker Invasion does clear, holographic, metallic, even glow-in-the-dark sticker printing as well as sticker sheets.

Whether you need basic, affordable, square stickers, printed to give away at an event, or holographic stickers with a custom shape, Sticky Brand‘s team of sticker experts can make it happen.

Vinyl Disorder always has a lot of deals going for different sizes and quantities and chances are they’ll have the perfect deal for just what you want to print. Use discount code STKRDAVE10 for 10% off non-sale items.

Eggshell stickers have the advantage of being very difficult to remove due to the thinness of the vinyl and their strong adhesive. Attempting to remove eggshell stickers requires a great deal of effort as they will crumble like an eggshell when someone tries to remove them.

Puffy stickers were all the rage in the 1980s and filled the sticker albums of many young sticker collectors such as myself. They are stickers with a little bit of soft cushiony foam material sandwiched between the image and the adhesive back and sealed with a heat stamp process (at least that’s how they seem to be made) making them 3D and extra cool.

I haven’t had any custom puffy stickers printed yet, but it’s definitely on my bucket list. I’m not sure about pricing because they don’t have an instant online quote system. custompuffystickers.com

Gang run sticker printing has the advantage of being typically less expensive than going to a sticker printer by yourself for one or two sticker designs. Often run by a sticker artist who puts together the run for a handful of friends and acquaintances and sometimes actually prints the stickers themselves.

Keep up with new gang runs from RX Skulls by following the @rxgangrun Instagram for new gang run announcements and then go to the site to order when they are announced. arrex.bigcartel.com

Paper label stickers have the advantage of being cheap. Paper label stickers are only recommended for indoor use but if you want to get them as cheaply as possible and know they won’t last long outdoors you can always go with paper labels.

Thermal label stickers have the advantage of being cheap and a little more durable than printed paper labels. These are created using a heat-sensitive substrate and do not need ink to be transferred to the label surface. Thermal label stickers are also only recommended for indoor use but if you want to get them as cheaply as possible and know they will last a little longer than printed paper labels this might be your best bet.

You can even buy a thermal label printer for less than $40 on Temu and similar sites.