Put white under the parts of your design that have to look solid and true to color, and leave it out wherever you want the material itself to show. On Clear, Holographic, Glitter, and Chrome stickers, where the white goes changes the look of the whole sticker more than any other choice you make.
Why white has to be placed at all
Our inks let light through. On white vinyl that doesn't matter, because the white is the material. On Clear, Holographic, Glitter, and Chrome, there's no white underneath, so whatever is behind the ink shows through it: the window, the rainbow, the sparkle, or the mirror.
A layer of white printed first, under the colors, stops that. What white ink is, and why it matters covers the idea in more depth.
The three ways to place it
White under the whole design ("Full Base")
White ink goes under the entire design, so every color looks solid, close to how it would on white vinyl. The material shows as a border around the design.
Full Base is the right call when the colors matter more than the material, such as a full-color logo on a clear sticker going onto a dark surface. It's also the choice for an all-white design on Clear. On Holographic, Glitter, or Chrome, it's rarely what you want, because a design that fills the sticker hides the effect completely.
White under some parts ("Partial Base" or "Select Areas")
This is the usual choice, and usually the best one. The parts that have to be read get white, and everything else stays see-through or shiny.
- "Partial Base" puts white under all the colored areas of your artwork. The white areas of your artwork become the material.
- "Select Areas" puts white only where you tell us, or where we judge it works best.
For example:
- On Clear: the logo and phone number solid, and the background clear so the glass or jar shows through.
- On Holographic: the lettering solid, and the background left to shimmer.
- On Glitter: the text solid so it stays readable, and the sparkle everywhere else.
- On Chrome: dark text solid, and no white under the parts you want to look metallic.
No white at all ("None")
Every color lets the material through. On Clear it looks like stained glass, and on Holographic, Glitter, and Chrome, the effect shows through every color. It gives the strongest effect and the most "printed onto the surface" look.
The catch is that pale colors fade almost to nothing, and anything white in your artwork prints as no ink at all, so it comes out clear or shiny instead of white.
Try it
Pick a material and a white ink choice, and the sticker below changes to match. Press "Take It Apart" to see where the white sits between the layers. How to see what's inside a sticker explains every control.
How to decide
Three questions settle most designs:
- What has to be read? Text, phone numbers, and QR codes need white under them.
- What will it go on? The darker or busier the surface, the more white you need. From outside in daylight, a window usually looks dark, so treat glass as a dark surface unless something light sits directly behind it.
- Where should the effect show? Leave the white out of those parts.
Telling us on the product page
Clear, Holographic, Glitter, and Chrome products ask about "White Ink Backing". The choices are "None", "Full Base", "Partial Base", and "Select Areas", and there's a box headed "Where would you like white ink?".
Use the box to say what you want in plain words. "White under the logo and the phone number, background clear" is plenty. If you aren't sure which choice matches the look you want, describe the result in the box, and we work from that.
Check it on your proof
Your proof shows where the white goes, so look at it as soon as it arrives. White you see on the proof is white ink, and "Show White Ink" on the proof page lays solid white over the places it goes. That's the moment to say a solid area should have been clear or shiny, or the other way around.
On stickers and sheet labels, if we haven't heard back 36 hours after we send the proof, we may go ahead and print what it shows. Reply, or ask us to hold it.
Details worth knowing
- We pull the white in 0.002" from the edge of each color, so no white rim peeks out if the layers land a fraction apart.
- White ink is printed as one layer, never doubled. It makes colors look solid, but it doesn't block light completely. For full opacity, choose white vinyl. Is white ink completely opaque? explains more.
- If you'd rather build the white layer yourself, setting up clear stickers in Illustrator and setting up artwork for Holographic, Glitter, and Chrome show how.