To make word stickers in Procreate, create a 300 ppi canvas, letter your word on its own layer (with a brush or the Add Text tool), and build a solid outline layer beneath it. Then hide the background and export a transparent PNG, or add a cutline if you plan to print and cut. The same transparent file works for printed stickers, digital stickers in apps like Goodnotes, and motion graphics assets in After Effects.

What You Need Before You Start

• An iPad with Procreate installed
• An Apple Pencil (recommended, not required)
• A decision about where the stickers will end up: printed and cut, digital use, or animation

That last decision drives your canvas size, outline style, and export format, so make it first. A sticker headed for a Cricut needs a cutline and print-friendly sizing. A sticker headed for After Effects needs generous resolution and clean alpha edges.

Step 1: Set Up the Canvas

Tap the plus icon in the Procreate gallery and choose Create Custom Size. Set the resolution to 300 ppi, which matters for print and gives you headroom for scaling in video.

Size depends on the use case:

• Single sticker or a few words: A canvas sized to roughly the final sticker plus margin works. Common finished sticker sizes run from about 2.5" to 5".
• Full sticker sheet for home printing: A US Letter canvas (8.5" × 11") fits a page of stickers.
• Motion or video use: Make the canvas larger than you think you need, such as 4000 px or more on the long side. You can always scale down in your compositing app, but scaling a word sticker up softens the edges.

Next, open Actions (the wrench), tap Canvas, and turn on Drawing Guide. Tap Edit Drawing Guide and set the 2D Grid to a size that helps you space words consistently. Procreate has no rulers, so a grid is the easiest way to keep your sticker sizes predictable.

Step 2: Create the Lettering

You have two main routes for the word itself.

Hand Lettering

Pick a brush from the Calligraphy category if you want a natural, brushy feel, and adjust size with the left slider. Write each word or phrase with plenty of space around it. Stickers need breathing room for outlines, and you will want a margin around the canvas edge too.

Tips for cleaner lettering:

• Put each word on its own layer so you can move, scale, or recolor it later.
• Use the StreamLine setting in the brush settings to smooth shaky strokes.
• Use QuickShape (draw and hold) for underlines, banners, and badges that sit behind the word.

Typed Text

If you want a font rather than hand lettering, open Actions, tap Add, then Add Text. Type your word, choose a font, and adjust size and kerning. Procreate keeps text editable until you rasterize it, so finalize spelling and spacing first. Rasterize it before adding effects like blur-based outlines.

Whichever route you choose, you can mix both. Typed text with a hand-drawn underline or doodled accents reads as more crafted than text alone.

Step 3: Build the Sticker Outline

The outline gives a word its sticker look and, for printing, gives the cutting machine a solid shape to follow. Two reliable methods exist.

Method A: Trace and Fill

1. Add a new layer and drag it below your lettering.
2. Choose a plain monoline brush from the Calligraphy category and pick your outline color (white is the classic choice).
3. Trace around the outside of the word in one continuous shape.
4. Fill the shape by dragging the color swatch into it.

This method is fast and gives you a deliberately rounded, friendly silhouette. It suits short words and simple letterforms.

Method B: Gaussian Blur Outline

For script lettering with lots of loops and gaps, tracing gets tedious. Use this approach instead:

1. Duplicate your lettering layer.
2. Turn on Alpha Lock for the lower duplicate, then tap the layer and choose Fill Layer with your outline color. Turn Alpha Lock off.
3. With that layer selected, open Adjustments, choose Gaussian Blur, and slide across the layer until the blurred halo reaches the thickness you want.
4. Using the Selection tool set to Automatic and Color Fill, tap inside the blurred area and drag to fill it with solid color.

The result is a smooth border that follows your letterforms and fills in the small gaps between letters, so the sticker reads as one shape. Merge or flatten only on a duplicate of your document, so your editable layers survive.

Step 4: Add a Cutline If You Are Printing

Printing at home with a cutting machine requires a defined shape for the machine to cut. Some print services add cutlines for you, but at home you generally have to provide your own.

A few terms help when you talk to printers:

• Cutline (dieline): The path the blade follows. Leave a little space between your artwork and the cutline.
• Kiss cut: Cuts through the sticker layer only, leaving the backing intact. Most sheet stickers are kiss cut.
• Die cut: Cuts through both sticker and backing, producing a standalone shape.
• Full bleed: Artwork extends past the cutline so no white border shows.

If you are using a Cricut, the Print Then Cut workflow lets you print on inkjet sticker paper and cut around the printed shape. Because Design Space limits the maximum print size, many makers size their Procreate canvas close to the finished sticker dimensions so nothing needs significant scaling.

Step 5: Export Your Word Stickers

Before exporting, open the Layers panel and turn off the Background Color layer. A visible checkerboard behind your art confirms the canvas is transparent.

Then tap Actions, choose Share, and select PNG, which preserves transparency. Use these guidelines:

• PNG: Best for stickers, digital use, and compositing.
• PSD: Best if you want to keep layers for After Effects or Photoshop.
• PDF: Useful for print vendors that want high-quality documents.
• JPEG: Avoid it for stickers, since it has no transparency.

For a sticker sheet, export the entire sheet as one PNG, or export individual stickers by hiding other layers. If you plan to sell or share digital stickers, export each one separately so users can drop them in individually.

Taking Word Stickers Into Motion Work

For motion designers, the transparent PNG or layered PSD is where the interesting part begins. A hand-lettered word sticker is a ready-made animated asset.

Bringing Stickers Into After Effects

• Import the PSD as a composition with layers retained, so the word, outline, and any decorative elements can be animated independently.
• Add a slight wiggle or time-remapped jitter to the outline and lettering at a low frame rate (such as 8 or 12 fps) for a boiling-line, hand-drawn feel.
• Use scale and rotation overshoot with an expression or the Graph Editor for a "slap-on sticker" pop-in.
• Add a subtle drop shadow and a corner peel using a gradient matte or a distort effect to sell the physical sticker look.

For more elaborate sequences, rendering frames in Procreate and finishing in your compositor tends to give you the most control over timing.

Where Styleframe Fits

If you want to push a word sticker further than manual frame-by-frame work, Styleframe is one tool you could explore for extending lettering into motion. Check its current features and export options to confirm it fits your pipeline. Your compositing pipeline stays as it is.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Working at low resolution. A 72 ppi canvas looks fine on screen but falls apart in print, and soft edges hurt in 4K video.
• Flattening too early. Keep an unflattened master. Flatten only a duplicate for export.
• Skipping margin around the word. Tight outlines leave no room for cutlines and bleed.
• Exporting with the background on. Always check for the checkerboard before saving a PNG.
• Mismatched sizing. If you will cut with a machine, size the artwork close to final dimensions to avoid heavy scaling in cutting software.
• Inconsistent outline thickness. Use one method and one blur or brush size across a sticker set so everything feels cohesive.

Quick Workflow Recap

1. Create a 300 ppi canvas sized for your final use.
2. Turn on the Drawing Guide grid for consistent spacing.
3. Letter each word on its own layer, by hand or with the Add Text tool.
4. Build the outline with a monoline trace or the Gaussian Blur method.
5. Add a cutline if you are printing and cutting.
6. Hide the background and export a transparent PNG (or PSD for motion work).
7. Animate in After Effects, or extend the lettering into motion with a tool such as Styleframe and bring the result into your composite.

Once you have the setup in place, making a full set of consistent word stickers gets much faster. Starting from a clean, layered, high-resolution file is what makes them useful across print, digital, and motion projects.

To make word stickers in Procreate, create a 300 ppi canvas, letter your word on its own layer (with a brush or the Add Text tool), and build a solid outline layer beneath it. Then hide the background and export a transparent PNG, or add a cutline if you plan to print and cut. The same transparent file works for printed stickers, digital stickers in apps like Goodnotes, and motion graphics assets in After Effects.

What You Need Before You Start

• An iPad with Procreate installed
• An Apple Pencil (recommended, not required)
• A decision about where the stickers will end up: printed and cut, digital use, or animation

That last decision drives your canvas size, outline style, and export format, so make it first. A sticker headed for a Cricut needs a cutline and print-friendly sizing. A sticker headed for After Effects needs generous resolution and clean alpha edges.

Step 1: Set Up the Canvas

Tap the plus icon in the Procreate gallery and choose Create Custom Size. Set the resolution to 300 ppi, which matters for print and gives you headroom for scaling in video.

Size depends on the use case:

• Single sticker or a few words: A canvas sized to roughly the final sticker plus margin works. Common finished sticker sizes run from about 2.5" to 5".
• Full sticker sheet for home printing: A US Letter canvas (8.5" × 11") fits a page of stickers.
• Motion or video use: Make the canvas larger than you think you need, such as 4000 px or more on the long side. You can always scale down in your compositing app, but scaling a word sticker up softens the edges.

Next, open Actions (the wrench), tap Canvas, and turn on Drawing Guide. Tap Edit Drawing Guide and set the 2D Grid to a size that helps you space words consistently. Procreate has no rulers, so a grid is the easiest way to keep your sticker sizes predictable.

Step 2: Create the Lettering

You have two main routes for the word itself.

Hand Lettering

Pick a brush from the Calligraphy category if you want a natural, brushy feel, and adjust size with the left slider. Write each word or phrase with plenty of space around it. Stickers need breathing room for outlines, and you will want a margin around the canvas edge too.

Tips for cleaner lettering:

• Put each word on its own layer so you can move, scale, or recolor it later.
• Use the StreamLine setting in the brush settings to smooth shaky strokes.
• Use QuickShape (draw and hold) for underlines, banners, and badges that sit behind the word.

Typed Text

If you want a font rather than hand lettering, open Actions, tap Add, then Add Text. Type your word, choose a font, and adjust size and kerning. Procreate keeps text editable until you rasterize it, so finalize spelling and spacing first. Rasterize it before adding effects like blur-based outlines.

Whichever route you choose, you can mix both. Typed text with a hand-drawn underline or doodled accents reads as more crafted than text alone.

Step 3: Build the Sticker Outline

The outline gives a word its sticker look and, for printing, gives the cutting machine a solid shape to follow. Two reliable methods exist.

Method A: Trace and Fill

1. Add a new layer and drag it below your lettering.
2. Choose a plain monoline brush from the Calligraphy category and pick your outline color (white is the classic choice).
3. Trace around the outside of the word in one continuous shape.
4. Fill the shape by dragging the color swatch into it.

This method is fast and gives you a deliberately rounded, friendly silhouette. It suits short words and simple letterforms.

Method B: Gaussian Blur Outline

For script lettering with lots of loops and gaps, tracing gets tedious. Use this approach instead:

1. Duplicate your lettering layer.
2. Turn on Alpha Lock for the lower duplicate, then tap the layer and choose Fill Layer with your outline color. Turn Alpha Lock off.
3. With that layer selected, open Adjustments, choose Gaussian Blur, and slide across the layer until the blurred halo reaches the thickness you want.
4. Using the Selection tool set to Automatic and Color Fill, tap inside the blurred area and drag to fill it with solid color.

The result is a smooth border that follows your letterforms and fills in the small gaps between letters, so the sticker reads as one shape. Merge or flatten only on a duplicate of your document, so your editable layers survive.

Step 4: Add a Cutline If You Are Printing

Printing at home with a cutting machine requires a defined shape for the machine to cut. Some print services add cutlines for you, but at home you generally have to provide your own.

A few terms help when you talk to printers:

• Cutline (dieline): The path the blade follows. Leave a little space between your artwork and the cutline.
• Kiss cut: Cuts through the sticker layer only, leaving the backing intact. Most sheet stickers are kiss cut.
• Die cut: Cuts through both sticker and backing, producing a standalone shape.
• Full bleed: Artwork extends past the cutline so no white border shows.

If you are using a Cricut, the Print Then Cut workflow lets you print on inkjet sticker paper and cut around the printed shape. Because Design Space limits the maximum print size, many makers size their Procreate canvas close to the finished sticker dimensions so nothing needs significant scaling.

Step 5: Export Your Word Stickers

Before exporting, open the Layers panel and turn off the Background Color layer. A visible checkerboard behind your art confirms the canvas is transparent.

Then tap Actions, choose Share, and select PNG, which preserves transparency. Use these guidelines:

• PNG: Best for stickers, digital use, and compositing.
• PSD: Best if you want to keep layers for After Effects or Photoshop.
• PDF: Useful for print vendors that want high-quality documents.
• JPEG: Avoid it for stickers, since it has no transparency.

For a sticker sheet, export the entire sheet as one PNG, or export individual stickers by hiding other layers. If you plan to sell or share digital stickers, export each one separately so users can drop them in individually.

Taking Word Stickers Into Motion Work

For motion designers, the transparent PNG or layered PSD is where the interesting part begins. A hand-lettered word sticker is a ready-made animated asset.

Bringing Stickers Into After Effects

• Import the PSD as a composition with layers retained, so the word, outline, and any decorative elements can be animated independently.
• Add a slight wiggle or time-remapped jitter to the outline and lettering at a low frame rate (such as 8 or 12 fps) for a boiling-line, hand-drawn feel.
• Use scale and rotation overshoot with an expression or the Graph Editor for a "slap-on sticker" pop-in.
• Add a subtle drop shadow and a corner peel using a gradient matte or a distort effect to sell the physical sticker look.

For more elaborate sequences, rendering frames in Procreate and finishing in your compositor tends to give you the most control over timing.

Where Styleframe Fits

If you want to push a word sticker further than manual frame-by-frame work, Styleframe is one tool you could explore for extending lettering into motion. Check its current features and export options to confirm it fits your pipeline. Your compositing pipeline stays as it is.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Working at low resolution. A 72 ppi canvas looks fine on screen but falls apart in print, and soft edges hurt in 4K video.
• Flattening too early. Keep an unflattened master. Flatten only a duplicate for export.
• Skipping margin around the word. Tight outlines leave no room for cutlines and bleed.
• Exporting with the background on. Always check for the checkerboard before saving a PNG.
• Mismatched sizing. If you will cut with a machine, size the artwork close to final dimensions to avoid heavy scaling in cutting software.
• Inconsistent outline thickness. Use one method and one blur or brush size across a sticker set so everything feels cohesive.

Quick Workflow Recap

1. Create a 300 ppi canvas sized for your final use.
2. Turn on the Drawing Guide grid for consistent spacing.
3. Letter each word on its own layer, by hand or with the Add Text tool.
4. Build the outline with a monoline trace or the Gaussian Blur method.
5. Add a cutline if you are printing and cutting.
6. Hide the background and export a transparent PNG (or PSD for motion work).
7. Animate in After Effects, or extend the lettering into motion with a tool such as Styleframe and bring the result into your composite.

Once you have the setup in place, making a full set of consistent word stickers gets much faster. Starting from a clean, layered, high-resolution file is what makes them useful across print, digital, and motion projects.