How to Make Digital Stickers & Sell Them Online

The world and their mother seem to be looking for some good side hustles these days, and what could be better than making some extra cash by doing something you love?

If you’re into design and enjoy making things look pretty, then why not try your hand at making digital stickers?

Not only is it a fun creative outlet, but you can also make some decent money selling them online.

Ok, but where do you start?

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Making digital stickers is a fun and easy way to show your personality and creativity. But it can also be a profitable online business venture where you can start earning a passive income.

If you want to be making money selling digital stickers, there are a few things you need to know first.

In this article, we will discuss the basics of making and selling your own digital stickers online. We’ll cover where to find good sticker designs, how to create your own high-quality images, and how to market the stickers for sale.

So, are you ready to learn how to make digital stickers to sell online for a bit of extra income?

Full disclosure! See those links below? If you happen to click on one of these and purchase something I recommend, I’ll get a small commission (wohoo). Don’t worry, this is at no extra cost to you (in fact, often I’ll have some discounts you can enjoy!). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying sales. You can read my full disclaimer here.

What are digital stickers

We are well and truly in a digital age now, which means that more and more products and services are going online. This includes everything from digital planners to books, and even school notes.

Digital stickers are PNG (that’s Portable Network Graphics, for those not in the know) images with a transparent background that can be used on websites, apps, and social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, iMessage, and more.

They come in a range of designs, from humorous sayings to cutesy animals to coffee cups and holidays. You can find digital sticker packs for just about anything and everything these days.

They are a great way to add personality to your online presence and make your profile or website stand out from the crowd. Not only that, but they are also perfect for businesses who want to promote their brand in a fun and unique way.

Digital stickers are found all over the internet, but the best way to make money from them is to create and sell your own designs.

But how?

Can you make money from selling digital stickers

Believe it or not, you really can make money from selling digital stickers! There are a few ways to do this, but the most common is to sell them on sticker websites or marketplaces like Society6, RedBubble, Amazon and Etsy.

You can also create custom designs for small businesses or individuals who want their own branded stickers. This can be a great way to land some bigger projects and make some serious cash.

So how much money could you actually make selling digital stickers online?

Well, this Etsy shop started selling digital stickers in 2021 and within one year had almost 25,000 sales! At an average of $3 per design, that amounts to $72,000 a year… how does that sound?

What types of digital stickers should you sell

While there’s no surefire answer to this, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite types of digital stickers to help get your creative juices flowing.

1. Sassy sayings: These stickers are perfect for adding a bit of attitude to any text message or email. Whether you’re ‘over it’ or ‘need coffee,’ a sassy saying sticker is always in need.

2. Cute animals: From baby animals to fuzzy critters, people can’t seem to get enough of these adorable stickers. They’re perfect for showing your friends just how much you care.

3. Motivational quotes: Sometimes we all need a little pick-me-up, and these stickers can provide that boost of motivation we need to power through the day. inspire others with your words of wisdom or simply remind people to ‘keep calm and carry on.’

4. Coffee cups: For the coffee lover in all of us, these stickers are a must-have. Use them to brighten up your morning text to your bestie or add them to your work emails for a little caffeine pick-me-up.

5. Fun holidays: From national holidays like Fourth of July and Thanksgiving to wacky holidays like National Donut Day and International Talk Like a Pirate Day, there’s a holiday sticker out there for every occasion.

6. Journal and digital planner stickers: Planner addicts and journal junkies rejoice! These stickers are perfect for adding a touch of personality to pages. People love these to add a little brightness to tracking goals, appointments, and to-do lists.

How to make digital stickers

The biggest worry people have is that they’re not graphic designers so they think they’ll never be able to make digital stickers. But the great news is that you don’t need to be a design expert to create high-quality sticker designs.

I’ll let you in on a little secret…

Before I started blogging, I wasn’t a writer.

Before I started my Etsy clothing store, I wasn’t a designer.

And before I started my digital products store, I wasn’t a graphic designer.

The truth is, you don’t need to be a professional graphic designer to create digital stickers. In fact, there are a number of resources out there that make it easy for anyone to create high-quality designs.

Here’s how to get started…

Choose what type of stickers you want to make

As I mentioned before, there are a ton of different types of digital stickers you can sell. So the first step is to choose what type of stickers you want to make

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at some of your favorite sticker shops and see what kinds of designs they offer.

Now, when I say this, I don’t mean copy their designs. You should never ever copy anyone else’s designs. Just have a look around and get some inspiration for the types of designs you might want to create.

Choose a platform

There are a number of different software programs and platforms you can use to create your digital stickers – my personal favorite being Canva.

The trick is to find the right platform for you.

When starting out, you’re probably going to want to use a free platform. While you may not have as many options available to you under the free plans, it’s a great way to get started and see if making digital stickers is for you.

If you find that you love it and want to upgrade to a paid plan, then you can always do that later.

Canva and Visme are amazing options to start off with as you can use pre-designed elements and their templates to create your stickers.

Of course, if you’re a little more creative than me (or at least me when I first started out!), you might want to design your own stickers rather than using pre-designed elements.

Procreate is an app that allows you to do just that. It’s specifically for digital artists and has a bit of a learning curve. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to create some really amazing designs.

Canva

Canva is my all-time favourite design platform and it’s the one I use to create all the designs for my blog, Etsy shop, and digital products store.

Canva is an online platform that’s specifically designed for creating graphics. And the best part? There’s a free version you can use! That is, unless you want to upgrade to the pro account for extra features.

There are also a number of built-in templates that you can use to make your life a whole lot easier.

How to create digital stickers with Canva

When you log into Canva, you’ll see a number of different options for the types of designs you can create. For stickers, click on ‘Design Spotlight’ on the top menu, head over to ‘Marketing’ and click on ‘Stickers’.

You’ll now see a number of different sticker templates that you can use to create your designs – round, rectangular, square, etc

To get started, click on the template that you want to use and it will open up in the Canva editor.

From there, you can start customising your design by adding or removing elements, changing the colors, and adding your own text.

You can either upload your own images or choose from Canva’s library of over 60 million stock photos, illustrations, and icons. If you already have your own element, simply upload it to the template.

Once you’re happy with your design, click on the ‘Download’ button in the top right-hand corner and choose the file format you want to download it in. I recommend PNG with a transparent background.

Note: In order to download with the transparent background, you’ll need to have the pro version of Canva. But don’t worry, there’s a way around this. Download without the transparent background and head over to remove.bg, upload your design and it will remove the background for you.

Visme

Visme is another great design platform that’s perfect for creating digital stickers and fast becoming another favourite of mine. Like Canva, it’s free to use with the option to upgrade to a pro account for more features.

The interface is a little different from Canva, but it’s still relatively easy to use.

Again, there are a number of built-in templates that you can use to make your design process a whole lot easier.

How to create digital stickers with Visme

To get started, log into Visme or sign up here. While there aren’t specific digital sticker templates available on Visme, you can just go straight to ‘create a design’.

For stickers, click on ‘Custom size’ and choose the dimensions you want for your sticker. I usually create mine at 1000px x 1000px in order to get the best quality.

You’ll then be taken to the Visme editor where you can start customising your design.

There are a number of different elements that you can add to your design, including shapes, lines, illustrations, and icons. You can also upload your own photos or choose from Visme’s library of over 600,000 stock photos.

PowerPoint

While PowerPoint comes with Microsoft Office so it’s not technically a free platform, the majority of people already have this software installed on their computers, so it’s not likely to be any extra cost to you at this stage.

If you don’t have Microsoft Office, you can usually download a free trial from the Microsoft website

How to create digital stickers with PowerPoint

The process for creating digital stickers in PowerPoint is pretty similar to the other design platforms. To get started, open a new presentation.

Then, click on the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Shapes.’ This will open up a variety of options for shapes that you can use to create your sticker design. Here’s where you can go mad and play around with different shapes and sizes until you find something that you like.

Once you have your shape selected, it’s time to add some color. Click on the ‘Fill’ color option and choose the color that you want your sticker to be. You can also add an outline or border to your sticker by selecting the ‘Line’ color option.

Now that your sticker is looking good, it’s time to add some text. Click on the ‘Insert’ tab again and select ‘Text Box.’ Type in the message that you want your sticker to say and then format the text using the options in the ‘Font’ group.

Your sticker is now ready to be downloaded! To do this, go to the ‘File’ tab and select ‘Export’ and choose the file format that you want to download your sticker in and then click on the ‘Export’ button. I recommend downloading it as a PNG.

Procreate

Procreate lets you design and create stickers from scratch using an iPad. If you’re serious about making digital stickers, then this is the app for you.

It’s not free, but at $9.99 it’s definitely worth the investment if you’re handy at drawing.

How to create digital stickers with Procreate

If you’ve never used Procreate before, then I recommend checking out this tutorial on how to get started.

Once you’re familiar with the interface, you can start creating your sticker design.

To do this, create a new canvas and then select the ‘Brush’ tool. Choose the brush that you want to use and start drawing your design. One cool feature of Procreate is that you can even create your own personal brushes if you don’t want to choose the pre-installed ones.

Now get drawing using your Apple pencil! And save your design as a PNG file

What I love about using Procreate for your digital sticker business is that your digital sticker will be 100% original.

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using elements from the likes of Canva or Visme or even purchasing clip art sticker bundles. But you’re less likely to have similar stickers to other sticker sellers if you create your own design.

Picmonkey

Similar to Canva and Visme, PicMonkey is a free online platform that you can use to create digital stickers. Again, there’s a paid version that you can upgrade to once you get the hang of using the tool.

How to create digital stickers with PicMonkey

To get started with PicMonkey, sign up for a free account and then create a new design.

On the left panel, you’ll see options for text, graphics and more, which you can play around with to create your sticker designs.

If you want to use one of your own photos or images, then click on the ‘Add photo or video’ option and select the image that you want to use.

Once you’re happy with your design, click on the ‘Download’ button.

So there you have it! Many different ways that you can create digital stickers to sell online.

Of course, there are other platforms that you can use such as Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Designer, but the above are some of the most popular without a hefty price tag.

If you’re just getting started with making digital stickers, then I recommend using Canva, Visme or PicMonkey as they’re free to use and already have elements ready to use. Once you get more confident with your design skills, then you can start experimenting with Procreate and create your own designs.

Where to find good sticker designs

“But what if I don’t have time to make all these designs”??? I hear you cry.

Well, never fear! You can find plenty of sticker designs online, ready to purchase, that you can use for your sticker business

Etsy is a great place to start as there are so many talented designers selling their designs. Simply type in ‘digital stickers’ into the Etsy search bar and you’ll be spoilt for choice.

and Design Bundles are some other sites where you can purchase pre-made designs, as well as fonts, templates and more. Be sure to purchase designs with a commercial licence so that you have the rights to create your own stickers and sell them online.

Where to sell your digital stickers

By this stage, you should be armed with a whole bunch of gorgeous digital stickers, all ready to sell.

But where can you actually sell them?

Well, the great thing about digital stickers is that you have so many different options when it comes to selling them:

You could:

– Start your own online store using Shopify or WooCommerce

– Open an Etsy shop and sell them there

– Sell them on

– Start a blog and sell them there

– Offer to teachers on Teachers Pay Teachers

– Sell on Gumroad, or

Final thoughts

So there you have it! A comprehensive guide on how to make digital stickers to sell online.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little foray into the world of online sticker sales and that you feel inspired to start your own business. It’s a great way to make some extra cash, even if you don’t have design skills under your belt.

Are you ready to start your digital sticker business? Let me know in the comments below!