Halloween Stickers
The Creator Spark Challenge
Instruction
Information
A set of 12 spooktacular stickers made on the M1U. Each one is designed to entertain and delight those that love the Halloween season.
Included with this package:
XCS file for the M1U
SVG file
Instructions
Instruction
Step1: Before you begin
I wanted to take a moment to point out a few things here, including a few tips and tricks.
First, some of these designs were AI generated. Others were completely designed, drawn and added in by me. Some, if not all, of the sayings are found online included with other various designs, however, I added them into the art to create these images.
Second, when you put down your sticker paper on the blue adhesive mat of the M1U, I recommend putting it horizontal. This will make marking so much easier. In addition, you will not have to manipulate the designs to fit vertically.
Speaking of the designs, you will note that the red outline, which is the cut outline, is skewed to the up and right so that it looks like each sticker will be off center. I am not sure about other machines, but on mine, when I print off and then cut stickers, it tends to off center the cut to the design, thus the reason for making my cut lines off center. See the 1st photo to understand what I mean.
Third, before doing any printing at all, I recommend running an ink line test to get your ink flowing. Put in a scrap of paper into your machine and mark the borders. Use the ink line file that is included with this and adjust it according to the size you want and run it. Be sure to set it at 100 intensity and 1 pass. It does not have to be very big but you want to make sure that you get the ink flowing good before doing a longer print project.
A little tip to help remove sticker paper from the blue cutting mat. Take a piece of masking tap and put it up under the upper right corner of the sticker paper so that the paper in that area does not stick down to the mat. This way, you can lift the masking tape and have a corner of the sticker paper to grab. See the 2nd photo if you need to clarify what I mean.
Another tip to help keep your paper straight on the mat, when you put your mat into the machine, place it to where the bottom buts up to the front of the machine. This will keep the mat perfectly straight so that when you put your paper on following the lines of the mat, your sticker paper is ALSO perfectly straight.
There are two colors associated with this: Light blue color represents the prints and red lines are for the cut lines.
Step2: Set up and Process
First thing to do is ensure you have the fine point blade loaded into your machine along with the ink. Once that is done, remove the ink cover and place on the plate to the lower right next to the dab paper.
Next, be sure to select “Multi mode processing” at the top of XCS.
Select the light blue color in the lower left of XCS and ensure that you have the module set to ink and the intensity set to 100 with only a single pass.
Select the red color in the lower left of XCS and ensure that you have the module set to fine point blade, cut pressure set to 80, speed set to 80 and pass set to 1. This will do what is called a “kiss cut” which will cut only the sticker part and not do a pass through cut to cut out the entire sticker, back and all.
NOTE: These settings are for the glossy sticker paper ordered from Amazon and have produced great results. If using a different paper, you may want to adjust accordingly.
Mark your processing area after you have placed your paper. (See last step for tips on laying out your paper).
Process the stickers. If you are using the same settings I have, then the entire print and cut process for all 12 should be just over 14 and ½ minutes.
Step3: Cutting out the stickers
I set this up so that the stickers are “kiss cut” from the backing. This will give a good solid border that can be grabbed and then the sticker is peeled from the backing for use.
After the stickers are printed and cut, I put the sheet into my paper trimmer/cutter. (You can usually find these cheap at any hobby store or on Amazon.) I cut the sheet horizontally so that I have 3 strips. Then I stack the 3 strips and line it up so that I can cut to make each sticker have its own separate backing.
Step4: Final Notes
I love doing stickers and I know that some think the M1U does just “ok” on them and that they should just be printed on a regular printer. I actually think the M1U does as it is supposed to and with pretty good quality. People really love what has come out.
With that being said, I have a few ideas that these designs could be used for besides just stickers.
First, magnets. Why not print these as stickers but then adhere them to thin wood cut to the same shape. To do this, replace the ink module with the laser module and change the settings to cut for the red outline. Ignore the blue designs. Be sure to adjust your settings to the settings you need to cut your particular material. Once the cuts are done, adhere the stickers to the front and glue a magnet to the back.
Alternatively, you could always use magnetic sheets which can be blade cut with the M1U. You can get these sheets from xTool or Amazon.
Another way to use these designs is by printing them onto iron on transfer paper and then heat transfer them onto wood using the Heat press from xTool. I have successfully done this with other designs and it works great. Again, you will need to cut the wood to the appropriate shapes by laser cutting using the laser module of the M1U.
Let me know what you think of this and tell me which is your favorite sticker.
If you liked this plan and would like to check out my other designs, you can do so here: https://www.atomm.com/user-center?active=projects&id=15190
