How do I add a cut contour for stickers?

In LaydoStudio, select a shape, an image frame or an outline drawn with the path tool and mark it as a cut contour. LaydoStudio writes the line into the PDF as a “CutContour” spot color, the common name used for cutting plotters.

What does true-shape nesting mean?

Instead of treating your design as a rectangle, Snuglay reads the actual cut line and nests the real shape. With round or freeform stickers, more pieces fit on the same sheet.

Can I print on pre-cut label sheets?

Yes. Enter your sheet’s margins and spacing in Snuglay’s manual mode – for Avery sheets, for example, they’re usually printed on the package – and print at “Actual size”. A test print on plain paper shows whether everything lines up.

How do I fit several business cards on one sheet?

Design the card in LaydoStudio and send it to Snuglay with one click. In automatic mode, Snuglay fits as many cards as possible onto the sheet – tick “Crop marks” and every card gets its own. Print the PDF at “Actual size” and trim along the marks.

Do stickers need bleed?

Yes, if they’re cut along a contour: the artwork should extend a little past the cut line, otherwise small inaccuracies let the backing show through. On pre-cut sheets in an office printer, on the other hand, it’s better to keep some distance from the label edge.

Which parts are free?

Designing in LaydoStudio, the cut contour, sending to Snuglay and arranging there – manual, automatic and true-shape – are free, no account needed. Pro adds mail merge, unlimited pages and saved format presets in Snuglay, among other things.

Arrange Labels, Stickers & Multiple Copies per Sheet

Three typical jobs

Printing yourself on pre-cut sheets: label sheets from the office supply store have fixed positions. What matters is that every copy lands exactly on its label.
Having them printed and cut: for freeform stickers, the print shop prints on a sheet or roll, and a cutting plotter then cuts along a contour. That requires a cut line in the file that the machine recognizes.
Multiple copies on one sheet: business cards, place cards or small flyers several times on Letter or A4 – to print yourself and trim. That needs even spacing and crop marks so every cut lands right.

All three start with the same design and end with the same step: arranging it.

Step 1: Design the artwork

In LaydoStudio you pick the “Sticker” format or set your own size. Bleed and safety margin are included automatically. Logos from Illustrator or PDF stay real vector artwork, and QR codes or barcodes – for product labels, say – are generated right in the layout.

Step 2: The cut contour (for stickers)

For labels on pre-cut sheets, or business cards you trim yourself with straight cuts, you can skip this step. For a cutting plotter to know where to cut, the file needs a separate line in a spot color. The common name for it is “CutContour”: Roland’s plotter software VersaWorks, for example, recognizes a line as a cut path exactly when it’s vector data in a spot color with that name.

In LaydoStudio, one click turns a rectangle, a circle, a star, an image frame or a hand-drawn path into a cut contour. It ends up in the PDF as a real “CutContour” spot color, set to overprint as is customary for cut lines. Freeform stickers are traced with the path tool.

Step 3: Arrange it with Snuglay

One click on “Send to Snuglay” opens your design in the free sister tool, bleed and cut contour included. Snuglay then fits it as many times as possible:

One design, arranged automatically in Snuglaylive demo

CutContour

Sheet or roll: Letter and Legal (in millimeters: A4 and A3) or a custom size. In roll mode you set the quantity and Snuglay works out the length.
Automatic or manual: automatic mode finds the orientation (0° or 90°) with the most pieces per sheet. In manual mode you set margins and spacing yourself – to match a pre-cut label sheet, for example.
True-shape nesting: with a cut contour, Snuglay nests the actual shape instead of a bounding rectangle, so more stickers fit on the same area.
Print-ready: multiple sheets when needed, crop marks and a PDF/X-4 with color profile – or straight to your printer via “File → Print”.

Labels with names or numbers

If every label should be different – consecutive numbers, names, individual QR codes – mail merge (Pro) takes care of it: paste a spreadsheet from Excel, put placeholders into the design, send it to Snuglay. Each record becomes its own piece there and is spread across as many sheets as needed, in order.

Tips for pre-cut label sheets

Take the measurements from the sheet: label size, margins and spacing are usually printed on the package or listed by the manufacturer. Enter them in Snuglay’s manual mode.
Print at “Actual size”: never choose “Fit to page” in the print dialog, or everything shifts by a few millimeters.
Do a test print first: print on plain paper and hold it against the label sheet in front of a light.
Keep a margin to the label edge: office printers never feed paper perfectly. Keep important content inside the safety margin instead of running it to the edge.

Labels, stickers and multiple copies per sheet: design, cut, arrange perfectly