Die Cut Sticker Templates for Roland Printer Cutters

A die cut sticker is cut to the shape of the design, not to a rectangle or circle. To make die cut stickers on a Roland printer cutter, you need a template that includes the cut path. Here is how sticker templates work and how to generate them.

What Is a Die Cut Sticker?

Die cut stickers are cut to follow the outline of the design. If your sticker is shaped like a cat, the cut follows the cat shape with a small border around it. The backing paper stays intact while the vinyl is cut through (kiss cut) or all the way through both layers (through cut).

With a Roland printer cutter, the “die” is not a physical metal die. Instead, the machine uses a blade to follow a digital cut path. The cut path is defined by a CutContour spot color in your PDF file. This gives you the same result as traditional die cutting, but with the flexibility to cut any shape without ordering a custom die.

Anatomy of a Die Cut Sticker Template

A properly set up sticker template for Roland machines has three elements:

Kiss Cut vs. Through Cut Templates

Kiss cut stickers are the most common type. The blade cuts through the vinyl layer but not the backing paper. The sticker peels off the sheet like a label. In VersaWorks, you set the CutContour action to “Cut” with appropriate blade force for your vinyl.

Through cut stickers cut through both the vinyl and the backing paper, separating each sticker as an individual piece. Same CutContour path, but with higher blade force and potentially two passes. You can also use a separate spot color name like “ThroughCut” if your job has both types.

Creating Templates in Illustrator (The Manual Way)

In Illustrator, place your PNG, trace or draw a vector path around it, offset the path for your border width, create a spot color swatch named “CutContour”, apply it to the path, and export as PDF. You need to do this for every single design, and the spot color setup has to be exactly right for VersaWorks to recognize it.

If you make 20 different sticker designs, you are creating 20 separate templates. At 10-20 minutes each, that is 3-7 hours of template work before you can start printing.

Generating Templates Automatically (The Fast Way)

CutContour generates die cut sticker templates in seconds. Upload a transparent PNG, set your sticker size and border offset, and download a finished PDF with the CutContour spot color correctly embedded. The same 20 designs would take about 3 minutes total instead of several hours.

The output is a print-ready PDF that imports directly into VersaWorks. The CutContour layer shows up in the separation preview and the cut path follows the shape of your design with smooth curves.

Template Tips for Best Results

Always use transparent PNGs. If your background is white instead of transparent, the cut line will trace a rectangle. Remove the background in your design tool before uploading.

Size your designs at print resolution. 300 DPI at the final print size gives the best results. Low-resolution images will print blurry even if the cut line is perfect.

Keep details away from the edge. Small elements near the edge of your design may get cut off if the blade alignment is slightly off. Leave a small safe zone inside the artwork boundary.

Test with one sticker first. Print and cut a single sticker before running a full sheet. Check alignment, blade depth, and border width.