How to Design Stickers in Procreate (iPad Workflow)

QUICK ANSWER: Canvas at print size + 0.25" bleed at 300 DPI (a 3" sticker = 975 × 975 px) → draw with a chunky silhouette the cutter can follow → add the classic white border as a layer behind the art → hide the background layer → export PNG with transparency. The 300 DPI canvas is the one unfixable decision: get it right before the first stroke.

Procreate is where the best hand-drawn sticker art comes from — most illustrated sticker shops on Etsy run through an iPad. The drawing is your department; this guide is the technical pipeline that gets that art printed exactly as crisp as it looks on the screen.

Step 1: Canvas setup (before anything else)

Tap + → new canvas → 🔧 custom. Set dimensions in inches, at final sticker size plus 0.25" bleed, and set DPI to 300:

Final sticker	Canvas	Pixels
2" × 2"	2.25" × 2.25"	675 × 675
3" × 3"	3.25" × 3.25"	975 × 975
4" × 4"	4.25" × 4.25"	1275 × 1275
4" × 6"	4.25" × 6.25"	1275 × 1875

Two notes: sticker-size canvases keep Procreate's layer limit generous (a 975 px canvas allows dozens of layers on any modern iPad), and working at 300 DPI from the start means zero surprises. Drawing first at screen resolution and upscaling later is the single most common — and least fixable — mistake we see.

Step 2: Draw for the knife, not just the eye

A die-cut blade will trace your artwork's silhouette. Design with that in mind:

• Chunky beats wispy: forty tiny hair spikes become forty fragile cut points that snag and tear on peeling. Simplify the outline; keep detail inside the shape.
• Avoid deep, narrow notches in the silhouette — the blade bridges them anyway, and weeding suffers.
• Interior negative space (the hole in a mug handle) can be cut, but every interior cut adds fragility. One or two, fine; lace, no.

Step 3: The white border (the "sticker look")

That classic 2–3 mm white outline around die-cut art is part of the design, not something the printer adds. Cleanest Procreate method:

1. Finish the art, then pinch-merge your art layers into one (keep a duplicate group as backup).
2. Duplicate the merged layer. On the lower copy: tap the layer → Select, then Feather → 0%, then drag the selection larger via Selection → transform? Simpler: with the selection active, choose Color Fill with white, then Adjustments → Gaussian Blur ~8–10%, and re-fill: duplicate that blurred layer 4–5 times and merge them — the soft edge stacks into a solid halo.
3. Faster manual route many artists prefer: on the lower layer, simply paint a white stroke around the silhouette with a round brush (a 20–30 px stroke at 300 DPI reads as the classic border). Imperfection reads as hand-drawn charm.

Either way the goal is: art layer on top, solid white halo layer beneath, transparent everywhere else.

Step 4: Export transparent

1. In Layers, uncheck the Background Color layer — the checkerboard is what you want.
2. Actions (🔧) → Share → PNG. PNG preserves transparency; JPG doesn't have it and adds artifacts.
3. AirDrop/save and you're done. The transparency is what lets the printer's system generate a contour cut path around your art automatically.

Step 5: Pre-flight your own file

• Zoom to 100% (double-tap with two fingers shows actual size context): brush texture that sparkles on a Retina screen can band or vanish in print if it's subtle single-pixel noise.
• Check edge contrast: near-black linework on a near-black background collapses in CMYK. Keep tones separated by more than screens suggest.
• Expect the RGB→CMYK shift: print is richer and slightly less neon than the backlit screen — hot pinks and electric blues shift most. (Procreate can work in CMYK color profiles from canvas creation if you want print-first color: create the canvas → Color profile → CMYK.)
• Text elements: keep any lettering above 6 pt at print size, and inside 0.25" from the edge.

Common Procreate-to-print failures, decoded

What you see in print	What happened	Fix
Soft, fuzzy art	Canvas was screen-res, upscaled	Rebuild at 300 DPI (redraw over the old art)
White box around sticker	Background layer left on	Re-export with background unchecked
Colors duller than screen	RGB→CMYK shift	Boost saturation ~10% before export, or design in CMYK profile
Halo edge looks stair-stepped	Hard-eraser cleanup on the halo layer	Rebuild halo with smooth brush
Cut misses fine outline details	Silhouette too intricate	Simplify the outer edge (Step 2)

Full export specs for every app live in our File Setup Guide; material and bleed standards in the Printing Guide.

FAQ

PNG or PSD to the printer?

Transparent PNG is the universal answer. Send layered PSD only if a shop specifically asks (we don't need it).

Can I sell stickers of fan art I drew in Procreate?

Drawing it doesn't license the IP — that's between you, the rights holder, and your risk tolerance. Original characters are yours forever and build a brand; the business side is in selling stickers online.

Which brushes print best?

High-opacity, well-defined brushes (Studio Pen, Dry Ink, monoline) translate perfectly. Ultra-subtle texture brushes survive if used at visible strength — the 100%-zoom check tells you.

Print your Procreate art →