Stickers

Unlike grid layouts that use rectangular bounding boxes, nesting analyzes the actual shape outline via transparency detection and packs items into each other's negative space. Supports multiple rotation angles for tighter fits. Processing time scales with rotation count, pixel density, and page count.

Best for:StickersDie-Cut LabelsPackagingVinyl Cutting
Stickers — Packs irregularly-shaped artwork onto sheets or rolls with minimal waste using true shape nesting.

Stickers

3 recipesTool page

Packs irregularly-shaped artwork onto sheets or rolls with minimal waste using true shape nesting.

Unlike grid layouts that use rectangular bounding boxes, nesting analyzes the actual shape outline via transparency detection and packs items into each other's negative space. Supports multiple rotation angles for tighter fits. Processing time scales with rotation count, pixel density, and page count.

Best for:StickersDie-Cut LabelsPackagingVinyl Cutting
How It Works

Unlike grid layouts that use rectangular bounding boxes, nesting analyzes the actual shape outline via transparency detection and packs items into each other's negative space. Supports multiple rotation angles for tighter fits. Processing time scales with rotation count, pixel density, and page count.

Rotations:Number of angles tried per item. 4 (default) = 0°/90°/180°/270°. 8 = adds 45° angles. More angles = tighter nesting but slower. For rectangular items, 4 is usually sufficient.
Pixel density:Shape detection resolution in pixels per PDF point. Default 1 works for most stickers. Increase for very small items (<50pt) or highly detailed outlines. Higher values significantly increase processing time.
Media format:Sheets: fixed-size paper, items packed onto multiple sheets as needed. Roll: continuous media with fixed width, variable length calculated by the engine.
Copy count:Number of copies to nest. Higher counts often produce tighter packing. Use "fill sheet" to maximize material usage automatically.
Stickers — full app view showing options and imposed result

Stickers tool applied. Options panel on the left, imposed result on the right. Click to zoom.

Options Guide
Media Format

Choose between fixed-size sheets or continuous roll media.

Sheets: standard rectangular paper with fixed width and height — the engine packs items onto as many sheets as needed. Roll: continuous roll where width is fixed but length is variable — the engine calculates the minimum roll length. Use roll mode for vinyl cutters, label rolls, and wide-format printers with roll feed.

Paper Size

Sets the output sheet dimensions. This is the physical paper going through your printer or press.

Standard presets: Letter (8.5×11in), Legal (8.5×14in), Tabloid (11×17in), A4 (210×297mm), A3 (297×420mm). Landscape swaps width↔height. Lock icon links dimensions to preserve aspect ratio. Custom lets you enter any size in inches, mm, or points (1in = 72pt = 25.4mm).

Repeat

How many copies of each design to nest onto the output — or fill the entire sheet.

'Fill sheet': automatically calculates how many copies fit on one sheet and fills it completely. 'Copy count': specify an exact number of copies. Higher copy counts give the nesting algorithm more items to work with, which often produces tighter packing since it can rotate and offset copies to fill gaps. Default: fill sheet with 20 copies.

Whitespace

Padding between nested items and margins from sheet edges.

Item padding: minimum gap between adjacent stickers — accounts for cut tolerance. Typical: 2–4mm for kiss-cut, 0–1mm for thru-cut with precise cutters. Sheet margins: keep items away from the sheet edge. Typical: 5–10mm for sheet-fed, 2–3mm for roll.

Nesting

Rotation angles, pixel density, and packing strategy for the nesting algorithm.

Rotations: how many angles the engine tries per item. 4 (default): tests 0°/90°/180°/270°. 8: adds 45° angles. Higher values = tighter packing but exponentially slower. Pixel density: controls shape detection resolution. 1 (default) is suitable for most work. Increase to 2–4 for very small or highly detailed shapes where sub-point accuracy matters.

Expert Tip

Set padding between items to at least 2 mm to give the plotter or laser cutter room to track. Allow rotation for irregular shapes so the nesting algorithm can maximise sheet yield.

If no items fit on the sheet, you get an empty output. Either increase the sheet dimensions or reduce the sticker size and count.

Used in Recipes

Sticker Sheets

Full sticker sheets with kiss-cut contours for peel-and-stick application.

Nest stickers
Add die lines
Add registration

Die-Cut Stickers

Individual die-cut stickers (through-cut, no backing sheet).

Nest stickers
Add thru-cut contour
Add marks

Vinyl Stickers

Outdoor-rated vinyl stickers with laminate overprint and contour cut.

Nest on material
Add cut contour
Add registration

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