How to Use Illustrator to Make Vinyl Stickers

Adobe Illustrator CS5 makes it possible to create your own vinyl stickers. Vinyl stickers are resilient and useful for decorating windows, notebook covers, books, musical instruments and even dorm room walls. Vinyl comes in several colors and provides an option for high-quality art productions on a limited budget. Place stickers virtually anywhere that has a clean, flat and smooth surface. With the help of a vinyl-cutting machine, you can begin to create your own stickers and liven up your office or home with original creations.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Sketch your design on a piece of paper using a pencil before importing it into Adobe Illustrator. If you are combining multiple shapes, remember that you will need a new piece of vinyl for each shape. Consider the impact that the colors will have on your design,
   • 2
     Scan the sketched image using a computer scanner. Illustrator uses a lot of disk space, so keep the image resolution close to 72 dots per inch.
   • 3
     Import your image into a new Illustrator document by selecting "File" from the drop-down menu and then selecting "Import." Change the size of the document to the appropriate size to match your intended application. For instance, if you want the stickers to take up the space of a sheet of paper, change the dimensions of the artwork to 8 1/2 by 11 inches.
   • 4
     Save the image to its own layer by clicking on the "File" menu and selecting "Place."
   • 5
     Change the view to Outline Mode by selecting "View" from the navigation menu and then selecting "Outline." Join any points that are not connected by clicking on both ends and pressing the following three buttons: "Shift" key plus "CTRL/Command" plus "J."
   • 6
     Add color to each element of your sketch. This makes it easier to select items by color when preparing to send your document to the vinyl-cutting machine.
   • 7
     Choose one color and then select the "Select" menu and select "Same" followed by "Fill Color" to select all elements using the same color. Then lock the selection by going to the "Object" menu and selecting "Lock" and then "Selection" from the drop-down menu.
   • 8
     Press "Select All" and then press the "Delete" key. Save this file as a specific color and then complete Steps 7 and 8 for each color in your compilation.
   • 9
     Input the Illustrator files into your vinyl-cutting machine's program options. Alternatively, send the files to a printer to have the printer professionally do the cutting if you do not have a vinyl-cutting machine.