Printing white ink on stickers and labels

White ink is magical in the world of sticker and label printing. Not only can it be used by itself, but it’s also perfect for creating a base for vibrant colors or playing with opacities.

Using white ink can change the appearance of your stickers and labels. Depending on the look you’re going for, you may need to include several layers of white ink in your design. If you want to find out more about white ink printing, read on!

The effect of white ink

Now, what do these layers of white ink do? That depends on the material you’ve chosen. But in essence, white ink can result in three different effects:

Effect white

When you select one of our effect materials (clear, holographic, glitter, silver, or gold) for your stickers and labels, you can create different effects by printing one layer of color onto them.

On clear material, for example, one layer of color (including white) will result in a stained-glass, semi-translucent effect in that color. When we print one layer of color on our holographic material, on the other hand, it creates a metallic color.

White ink underprinting

If you don’t want the effect of your material to shine through, we use white ink to block it. This is called white ink underprinting because we apply white ink between your material of choice and your color. Essentially, certain areas of your design will have two layers of ink.

Say you selected glitter material but want certain parts of your design not to have the glitter effect. We print a layer of white ink on those areas, then add your colors.

White ink is essential in sticker printing because it works like a neutral canvas for producing vibrant colors.

Opaque white

Of course, this logic works just as well with white ink. When we print two layers of white ink, we can create a beautifully opaque (non-see-through) white for your stickers and labels. Even tiny details like small text are no problem.

How opaque is your white ink?

Very. We use the world’s best digital printer with UV-cured inks to make sure we print the most opaque whites available. The images below show you how solid the white ink looks:

How do I add a white layer to my design?

We have a few different ways you can add white ink to your design. This article covers each method. Scan the headings below to find the one that works for you.

Adding white ink for designers

If you’re a designer, you can add white ink behind the colors you choose by creating a white layer and naming it “white.”

You don’t need to add white behind the black layer because black is opaque enough on its own.

Create this white layer in a vector design program such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. White layers are known in printing as “technical ink.” If it’s a vector shape, we can tell the printer exactly what colors to use so we get a beautifully vibrant white.

Don't understand how inks work? Read our guide explaining ink technology.

Adding white ink for non-designers

If you’re not a designer, let us handle it for you. Just let us know where you want the white ink, and our design team will do the rest.

You can do that by selecting “Add proofing instructions” and telling us which parts of your design you want to appear opaque.

We’ll create the white layer to match your request and send you a digital design proof to approve. Your white layers will be indicated as shown below:

Remember, the rules of white ink apply to clear, holographic, glitter, silver, and gold materials. For white vinyl stickers and labels, you don’t need to specify anything.

And that’s everything you need to know about white ink underpainting for stickers and labels. If you’re still unsure, you can:

• Get custom samples printed to test your design on one of our materials
  
• Take a closer look at each material by ordering a sample pack
  
• Reach out to our customer service team
  
• Or take our quiz to find your perfect sticker material