How to kiss cut stickers without a machine

Adding a personal touch to your projects or belongings is easy with kiss cut stickers. Kiss cut stickers are designed with an adhesive backing that sticks to surfaces while the top layer is removable, leaving behind only the design.

You don't need special equipment to make these unique stickers—just some basic tools and techniques! In this article, we'll explain how to kiss cut your own stickers without a machine. You’ll learn what tools you need and how to use them effectively to create beautiful designs for your projects.

What is a kiss cut sticker?

A kiss cut sticker is a custom-cut sticker with a twist: it’s only cut through the material and adhesive layer, leaving the backing paper intact.

This separates your sticker into two parts: a border and a peelable sticker that can be placed on laptops, phones, water bottles, and more.

The image below shows exactly what that looks like:

You can have kiss cut stickers printed on any material. The term only refers to how the sticker is cut—not what it’s made from.

Do you need a cutting machine?

Fortunately, you don’t need an expensive or complicated cutting machine to make kiss cut stickers. With the right tools and a little patience, you can kiss cut your own stickers at home.

All you need is an X-Acto knife, a cutting mat, and a ruler for measuring. For best results, make sure your knife is sharp, and do a few practice runs to get a feel for how much pressure to apply to the material.

Why can’t I use scissors to kiss cut?

We don’t recommend using scissors to kiss cut your stickers because scissors don’t allow you to control the depth of your cut.

Scissors are fine for die cut stickers, but for kiss cut stickers, you need to control the pressure so you only cut through the top layer—not all the way through the backing.

If that sounds confusing, check out our article on kiss cut vs classic cut stickers to learn more.

How to cut kiss cut stickers without a machine

Print your design on your sticker paper of choice. (We’ve got more design tips in our article on how to make kiss cut stickers.)

To sum it up: kiss cut stickers use two cut lines:
a) the thru-cut, which marks the edge of the whole sticker, and
b) the kiss cut, where only the material layer is cut.

You can see both cut lines in the image below:

For cutting your own kiss cut stickers, we recommend keeping the thru-cut shape simple. Go with a rectangle or square so you can easily cut that using your knife and ruler.

The actual kiss cutting takes a steady hand, patience, and just the right amount of pressure. Remember, the goal is to cut only through the top layer and adhesive, without cutting into the backing paper.

This might take some trial and error—but you’ll get the hang of it!

Tips before you start

Before you begin kiss cutting your stickers, it’s important to plan out the details. These include:

• Familiarizing yourself with your sticker material. Consider the thickness, adhesive strength, and how easy it will be to cut.
• Choosing simple cut lines to make the process smoother.
• Taking time to test your cutting technique first.
• Being patient. Especially if this is your first time, don’t rush it.

Kiss cutting stickers without a machine might take practice, but with the right tools and care, you can create great results.

And if this sounds like too much hassle? Let us take care of it. We’ll print, laminate, and cut your custom stickers for you, professionally and fast.