If you're looking to make laminated vinyl stickers without registration marks - there is an entry-level print and cut sticker machine that is often overlooked.
The iColor 250 is usually dubbed as a label printer, but this MAC and PC compatible printer and cutter can easily be used as a vinyl sticker printer. When it is, it comes in as the lowest priced sticker printer on the market.
As a major bonus, it has a lamination mode where it will pause between the printing and cutting to allow you to manually laminate the sticker before it contour cuts the kiss cut sticker for you!
In this tutorial I'll show you how to make laminated vinyl stickers using the iColor 250.
Launch the iColor CustomCUT software. A work area should open. For this beginner sticker tutorial we'll just do a standard 4" sticker. In the Document settings, set the Page Size as 4.25 x 4" with the Orientation in Portrait mode.
Now you can drag and drop your image in.
If you use a PNG that has a transparent background you'll get an automatic cut line. Tracing is also easy, but is just an extra step on other file types. I am using one of the images from a set of camping stickers from So Fontsy.
Once the image is in the software, right click it and select Transform > Scale and then change the size to 4" with the box checked for keeping the proportions.
Position the sticker image on your gridded work area.
Click the Print icon on the top menu bar.
With the printer powered on and connected to your computer, select the iColor 250 printer from the list of printers.
In the print settings panel, there are a lot of options, but for this beginner tutorial we just want to focus on a few important settings.
Make sure iColor CustomCut is set to "Print + Cut".
Skip to Printer Features and click the icon so the second settings panel opens up.
For the best quality print for vinyl stickers, change the settings to match what I have here:
Click Ok to save.
Don't click Print yet. We need to open the Utility and make some changes to the cut settings now.
Cut Settings for Laminated Stickers with iColor 250
Launch the Utility from either the Gear on the Print Center or search for the iColor250Config program on your computer.
The Utility will open.
Click the third tab on the left side and then click the button for "Output/Cut". Here you'll want to check the box for Lamination Mode. (You can also select when you want the machine to sheet cut.). Since we're just doing one sticker for now I would recommend "Cut after every label."
Move to the XY Cutter button now and from here increase the Knife Pressure to 25. This is VERY high pressure, but it's needed to get through both the laminate layer and the vinyl to create a kiss cut laminated vinyl sticker.
Make sure the vinyl roll is loaded into the iColor 250 sticker machine and then return to the Print Page Setup and click Print.
How to Laminate Vinyl Stickers with the iColor 250
The printing will begin.
After the vinyl sticker is printed, but before it's contour cut, the iColor will go into lamination mode. This is where it will feed the printed area through the front of the machine but will NOT sheet cut it. This gives you the opportunity to laminate the sticker.
I use an 8.5 x 11" sheet of Online Labels Clear Sticker paper as laminate.
I use a paper cutter to trim it down to fit on the printed area of the sticker then peel off the backing and place the clear laminate over the printed design. Don't worry if it dulls the colors a little right now - we're going to use a cold laminator in the next step.
Press Feed on the front of the iColor 250 and it will take the sticker back into the printer to contour cut. Then it will feed it back out for you!
Before you peel the sticker off, run the whole thing through a cold laminator to get a really good solid stick and make sure there are no bubbles.
Now you can peel away the laminated vinyl sticker from the backing.
I love how rigid and shiny these vinyl stickers come out!
The iColor 250 prints and cuts on a bunch of different 4.75" wide rolled material including sticker paper and vinyl. It does not use registration marks and can contour cut to create die cut stickers, sticker sheets or labels.
If you're looking for large decals or the ability to also print heat transfers, this won't be the machine for you (check out the Roland BN2 instead). But if you're looking to quickly print rolls of stickers, sticker sheets and stickers up to 4" wide - the iColor 250 is NOT to be missed.
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