The difference between a kiss cut and a die cut is how deep the blade goes. Everything else (paper, ink, laminate, artwork) can be identical. That one setting changes what you sell, how you pack it, and how you set up the cut file.
Kiss cut and die cut, defined
Cricut’s own sticker guide puts it plainly: kiss-cut stickers “are cut through the sticker layer only, while the backing sheet stays intact”, and die-cut stickers “are cut completely through both the sticker and backing layers, creating individual stickers”. StickerApp uses the same split: a kiss cut leaves the backing around the design, which “makes peeling easy”; a die cut goes “through every layer, including the backing liner”.
So:
- Kiss cut = through the face material only. The backing is untouched, and you can put many stickers on one backing. That is a sticker sheet.
- Die cut = through the face material and the backing. Each sticker is a separate piece whose edge follows the design.
There is a common hybrid: kiss-cut each sticker, then die-cut one outline around the whole group so the sheet comes free from the larger page. Cricut’s Create Sticker calls a version of this “Die Cut Edge”, and Gridback calls it Kiss-cut sheet mode.
Sticker sheets vs singles for an Etsy shop
| Kiss-cut sheet | Die-cut singles | |
|---|---|---|
| What the buyer gets | Several stickers on one backing | One sticker per piece, shaped like the art |
| Good for | Planner and journal sets, small icons, themed packs | Laptop, water-bottle and car stickers, one design per listing |
| Peeling | Easy: the backing is bigger than the sticker | Harder on small or spiky shapes; a larger border helps |
| Packing | One flat sheet per sleeve | Many loose pieces to count and bag |
| Cut depth on a home cutter | Shallow, one setting | Through the liner; needs a stronger setting or Create Sticker’s die-cut option |
| Print-shop file | Sticker cut paths plus a sheet outline, usually on two spot colors | One cut path per sticker on one spot color |
The table is a practical comparison, not a rule. StickerApp suggests kiss cuts when “easy peeling and handling matter”, for example for giveaways, retail or intricate shapes, and die cuts “when you want the sticker itself to be the final presentation”. If you are weighing a sheet layout, check how many of each size fit in the stickers-per-sheet calculator.
Setting it up on a Cricut
Design Space gives you two routes, and they differ in what you can cut.
Create Sticker (Cricut Access). Cricut’s help article describes Kiss Cut and Die Cut options, plus a Die Cut Edge option for kiss-cut stickers that adds an easy-peel border cut all the way through the liner. Cricut’s announcement says “The preset cut settings take all the guesswork out of sticker making” and suggests Printable Vinyl, Printable Sticker Paper and the Printable Waterproof Sticker Set. Anyone can preview it, but Cricut says clicking Make It requires Cricut Access. As of October 2026 the US Standard plan is $9.99 a month or $95.88 a year.
Offset in the free Design Space. You can draw your own border with the Offset tool, flatten it with the art and send it as Print Then Cut. Cricut’s FAQ is explicit that this method “only allows for making kiss-cut stickers”. If you want singles without Access, the usual answer is to kiss-cut, then trim between stickers with scissors.
Material settings. Pick the material that matches what is in your printer, then run a test cut on a corner of the sheet before cutting the whole page. Cricut does not publish the pressure, blade depth or number of passes behind each material preset, and sticker papers from other brands vary in thickness, so we won’t quote numbers. Some print sellers, such as 4OVER4, suggest the Sticker Paper material for kiss cuts; treat any third-party setting as a starting point and adjust in small steps.
The full Cricut walkthrough, including size limits and the bleed setting, is in how to make sticker sheets with Cricut.
Setting it up on a Silhouette
Silhouette Studio handles both cut types in one Print & Cut job by giving each kind of line its own settings. The method the Silhouette School blog describes for a CAMEO 4:
- Give the sticker outlines one line color (red in their example) and the rectangle around each set another (black).
- Print the sheet with registration marks, then load it on the mat.
- In the Send panel, open the Line tab and assign a kiss-cut setting to the red lines and a full-cut setting to the black lines.
With an AutoBlade, “the blade will automatically adjust between the cuts to account for the kiss cut vs full die cut”. With a manual ratchet blade you set the blade depth yourself, and the material list in Studio stores depth, force, speed and passes together, so the cleanest way is to save two custom materials: one that kiss-cuts your paper and one that goes through it. Silhouette publishes no official numbers for third-party sticker paper; some paper makers, such as OnlineLabels, publish their own kiss-cut and full-cut tables per machine and blade.
File format matters on the free edition. Silhouette’s own FAQ says “To open SVG files you will need Silhouette Studio Designer Edition or above”. The Silhouette School blog (not an official source) says the Basic edition opens DXF files with their cut lines, which is why Gridback also exports DXF. Registration marks need to match between your print and Studio; see Silhouette registration marks.
Setting it up for a print shop
Professional print-and-cut workflows read the cut line from a vector path in a named spot color, not from the artwork. Roland’s VersaWorks manual says cut paths must be drawn with a spot color named CutContour and that “Spot color names are case-sensitive”. It also warns that “lines in raster data such as a bitmap data cannot be recognized as cut lines”.
When you need two cut types, the usual approach is two spot colors, one per cut layer. What the names must be depends on the shop’s RIP:
- Mimaki RasterLink7: the guide says to “Prefix the spot color name with “CutContour”“, and other characters can follow, so CutContour and CutContourSheet are both read as cut lines.
- Roland VersaWorks: the manual documents only the name CutContour. Ask the shop how they want a second cut layer.
- Summa (Onyx RIP and Cut Server): Summa says the spot name is what matters, not the color, and the default cut name is CutContour. Summa’s legacy GoSign plugin for Illustrator uses two swatches instead: “Thru-cut” (100 % blue) and “Kiss-cut” (100 % red).
Always confirm with the shop before you send. More on naming and stroke settings in what is CutContour.
How Gridback exports each mode
Gridback’s Cut lines tab has a Cut style switch with two options.
Die-cut singles. “Each sticker is its own piece: cut through vinyl and backing.” Every sticker gets one closed cut path:
- Cut SVG: one group named CutContour, one path per sticker.
- Cut DXF (R12, inches): one closed polyline per sticker on the CutContour layer.
- CutContour PDF: the paths in a Separation spot color named CutContour (100 % magenta alternate, 0.25 pt, overprint).
Kiss-cut sheet. “Stickers are kiss-cut through the vinyl only, and one outline cuts the whole sheet free.” You get the same sticker paths plus one rounded sheet outline that either hugs the stickers or follows the printable area, with adjustable padding and corner radius (1/8 in and 1/4 in by default). In the files:
- Cut SVG: the outline sits in a separate group named SheetOutline, in a different stroke color.
- Cut DXF: the outline is on its own SheetOutline layer.
- CutContour PDF: the outline uses a second spot color, CutContourSheet by default. Both names are editable; set both to CutContour if a Roland shop asks for one name, and the PDF then uses a single separation.
On a Cricut, the print PNG has transparent gaps so Design Space can find each sticker’s outline; the sheet outline is not in the PNG, so choose the kiss or die setting inside Design Space. On a Silhouette, open the DXF and give the SheetOutline lines the full-cut setting. Try both modes in the sheet maker with your own art; images stay on your device.