Beginner Software to Print and Cut Stickers at Home with Confidence

Curious about how to make stickers at home? You’re in luck! Making stickers at home can be a little challenging at first, but once you’ve gone through it a couple of times, it’s pretty simple to get the hang of!

If you’re just starting a sticker shop or you want to make stickers just for yourself, stick around (haha) because in this article, we’ll go over every software and program I use to make stickers in my sticker business, from design to product.

A Pinterest pin with an ipad graphic on which the title reads beginner software to print and cut stickers at home with confidence. The website tabletandquill.com is on the bottom right.

This article is not a tutorial for how to create stickers from start to finish, rather it’s an overview of the programs and software I use in my sticker business everyday. If you want a more in-depth tutorial on any one of these programs or software or sticker making in general, drop a comment to let me know!

More of a visual person? Check out the video I made on Tiktok:

Why make stickers?

Creativity

My main reason to make stickers is to make them match precisely how I want them to when I’m creating my monthly and weekly spreads in my bullet journal. I often find that stickers from other shops are a little off (either with colors or illustration style) from what I prefer. It’s easy to make stickers to match the vibes I want.

Time Saving

Habit trackers, days of the week, and calendars are a pain to create over and over again. By making these into stickers, I get to quickly lay down a habit tracker without worrying about drawing straight lines and set up my weekly spreads without having to letter the days of the week 31 times.

Accomplishment

It feels good to create! And it feels even better to finish a creative project or task. Creating stickers is one of those things that can go pretty quickly once you know where you’re doing, and honestly, that feels great!

Overview of a bullet journal weekly spread themed with poisonous potions.

Closeup image of a mushroom themed weekly spread using days of the week stickers.

Like the themes featured? Check out the Poisonous Potions and Charming Mushies stickers! Like the days of the week stickers? Check out them out here!

But wait, what equipment?

This article is based off having an iPad, a printer, and a cutting machine. While this article focuses on the Cricut family and the Siser Juliet cutters, these steps should work for other cutters. Other drawing tablets would work too, but the programs available may be different depending on operating system.

A computer or laptop is also helpful for sticker making, but it’s possible to create fully on an iPad if using a Cricut machine and possibly other cutters.

Designing Your Stickers

All of the my designing is done on an iPad, and I use an app made specifically for iPad called Procreate. I bought Procreate for $5.99 USD in May 2014, and at the time of this writing in March 2025, the app is available on the iOS App Store for $12.99. Clearly, I am a long-time fan of this drawing app!

There are no add-ons, you purchase one time for complete access.

Procreate is a robust art drawing app where you can use their brushes or import any of the free or paid brushes people make and post online. Personally, I’ve been very happy with their default brushes.

I use Procreate to sketch out a design, line it, and color it. Then I take those designs and arrange them on a sticker sheet to get ready for cutting.

Image of an iPad with Procreate app open. Zoomed in to swords art with a hand holding an Apple pencil hovering above.

Alternatives:

Adobe Photoshop (at the time of this writing, $22.99 USD on a monthly subscription and available on Mac, Windows, and iOS) [Disclaimer: I'm personally ethically opposed to many of Adobe's practices]
Clip Studio Paint (at the time of this writing, $54 USD and available on Mac and Windows & available on iOS on a monthly or annual subscription at varying pricing)
Krita (at the time of this writing, free and available on Mac, Windows, and Linux)
Any other art/drawing app or software you’re already used to

Adding a Sticker Border

One inconvenient thing about Procreate is the inability to add a stroke (or a sticker border) to an image. This tool is available on other programs like Photoshop, but not on Procreate.

Some people use workarounds within Procreate using the blur or feather tools, but I always find the resulting border to be too jagged which really slows down the cutting process.

There’s an awesome workaround for this though!

Photopea is an online in-browser program that functions very similarly to Photoshop, which means it has the ability to add a stroke. This website works on desktop and I’ve also used it on an iPad and iPhone!

Image of an iPad with Photopea website open. Image of swords is imported. A hand with an Apple pencil is about to select the Layers panel.

Image of an iPad with Photopea website open. Layer adjustment menu is open on stroke settings. A hand with an Apple pencil is about to click the OK button.

If you arrange your sticker sheet on your drawing app before adding a stroke on Photopea, this method is especially useful, since you’re able to add a stroke to every image at once rather than one at a time.

After adding a stroke, your image is ready to become a sticker or sticker sheet!

Image of an iPad with Procreate app open. Zoomed in is a swords sticker sheet. A hand with an Apple pencil hovers over it.

Directing the Cut

The last, and arguably most important, program is the cutting machine software. My experience is with a Cricut Explore Air 2 which uses Cricut Design Space and with a Siser Juliet which uses Leonardo Design Studio.

Both of these programs have pro/paid versions, but I’ve never found myself needing to use their pro features. These programs both come free with the cutting machine. I assume this is similar to other cutters!

After importing a sticker (or a sticker sheet and its backing), resize your image to how large you want your sticker to be, arrange on the cutting area, and send it off for print and cut!

Image of an iPad with Cricut Design Space Open. The sticker sheet stickers and backing are arranged and ready to be sent to print and cut. A hand holding an Apple pencil hovers over it.

Liked the stickers featured in this article? Check out the fantastical swords stickers here!

Give It a Try

There are fewer programs/software needed for sticker making than you think! If you use a drawing app that also lets you add a stroke or a border to an image, you can eliminate one of the steps from above.

Image of an iPad with a folder on the home screen open. Inside the folder is Procreate, Photopea, and Cricut Design Space.

All you really need is a program/app/software that will allow you to design your stickers and a cutting machine software to process the print and cut that will produce your stickers.

Does this seem manageable enough to try? Give it a shot and let me know if you have any issues or questions in the comments below.

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