CutContour. Print.App can put that line in the print-ready PDF for you, as a thin vector stroke on top of the artwork that overprints instead of knocking out what is underneath.
Which method to use depends on where the cut comes from:
Whichever you choose, check the result as described in Check the PDF before your first production run.
1. Die-cut pages
A die-cut page is a page whose outline is a shape instead of a rectangle. Customers design inside the shape, the editor shows its edge, and the PDF gets the outline as a named cut line.Die-cut cut lines are drawn for designs made in the new editor. Turn on Switch to new Editor in your dashboard settings if you have not already.
1
Create a shaped design
Start from one of the shaped templates (for example Stickers → Round 50) when you create the design.Or turn any shape into the page: add the shape (a circle, a star, an imported SVG outline) to the canvas and size it, keep it selected, open the Page panel, expand Advance Settings and switch on Mask Canvas with Object. The page becomes that shape.
2
Set the safe area
In the Page panel, set Margin Lines to how far text should stay from the cut, for example
2 mm. The dashed Text Safety Margin then follows the shape, and text that crosses it gets a warning.3
Show the edge to your customers
In the Design panel, switch on Show Canvas Size. Besides the width and height, a die-cut page gets a dashed magenta line along its edge, so customers see exactly where the cut runs. Show Canvas Boundary draws the same edge line.These lines are editor guides only. They never appear in previews, thumbnails or the PDF.
4
Turn on the dieline in the PDF profile
Open PDF Output Profiles, clone a profile (the store defaults cannot be edited) and, under Dieline:
- switch on Render Dieline,
- set Dieline Spot Name to your cutter’s name; it defaults to
CutContour, - optionally set Dieline Width in points; it defaults to
0.25, a hairline.
5
Assign the profile
Open the design’s settings, go to the Profiles tab and select the profile. Every PDF from this design now carries the cut line. See Assigning PDF Output Profiles.
2. Contour-cut stickers
When the sticker’s shape is the customer’s artwork, use the Stickers Generator module. It traces everything on the canvas, adds a margin around it and draws the cut line on that outline, so a logo sticker is cut around the logo.1
Add the module
Create a design at the largest sticker size you sell. In the Design panel, click Add a Module and choose Stickers.
2
Name the cut line
In the module settings, set Cutline Name to your cutter’s spot name, for example
CutContour. This name is written into the PDF.Cutline Color is how the line looks on screen and in proofs; give it a CMYK value if you want a specific alternate color.3
Set the margin
Margin is the distance between the artwork and the cut. Turn on Users can change margin to give customers a slider on the canvas.
4
Keep spot colors on
Make sure the PDF profile assigned to this design has Render Spot Colors on and a CMYK (or no) color profile, not Device RGB. With spot colors off, the sticker cut line is printed as an ordinary magenta line, which a cutter will not pick up.
3. Custom cut paths
For cuts you design yourself, such as a hole in a hang tag, perforation lines, or several kiss-cut shapes on one sheet, draw the path and give its stroke a spot color with your cutter’s name.1
Create the cut color
On the Colors page, add a color to one of your collections. Pick a color you use for nothing else (pure magenta,
#FF00FF, is a common choice). Click the CMYK icon, enter the CMYK values (for example 0, 100, 0, 0) and set the spot name to your cutter’s name, for example CutContour.More about colors and spot names2
Draw the path
In your design, add a shape or import an SVG outline for the cut. Set its fill to none and its stroke to the cut color. A thin stroke such as 0.25 pt is enough; the cutter follows the path, not the stroke width.
3
Set it to overprint
Select the path, open the Object panel’s Advanced tab and switch on Overprint Stroke, so the line does not knock a gap into the artwork underneath.
4
Lock it
Lock the path’s position and selection (and turn on Hide from client if customers should not see it), so customers cannot move or delete the cut. See Object settings.
5
Optional: put cut lines on their own layer
Create a PDF Layer named for your workflow (for example Cut) and assign the path to it. Operators can then hide or show the cut lines in Acrobat or the RIP with one click.
4. Rectangular products
Rectangular products are cut on a guillotine or a cutter that reads crop marks, not a spot line.- Set Bleed Lines and Trim Box in the Page panel so artwork runs past the cut (Pages).
- Keep Render Marks on in the PDF profile. The PDF then carries crop marks, fold marks, and a correct TrimBox, which imposition software and most cutters use to find the cut.
Check the PDF
Before the first production run, download a PDF from a test order and open it in Adobe Acrobat:- Open Tools → Print Production → Output Preview.
- Under Separations, you should see your spot name (
CutContouror yours) next to Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. - Untick every separation except your spot. Only the cut lines should be left on the page, exactly where the cut should run.
- Send the file to your RIP and confirm the cutter picks the line up as a cut path.