Makeables stickers

Stickers are the third profile of the shared design document: product: "sticker", a transparent 1024 × 1024 canvas, and editable text, shapes, vectors and images. No photo or personal information is required. Before designing or adapting, read the art direction section below: visual language, prompt scaffold, material recipes and quality review.

makeables styles list --product stickermakeables new sticker --style typingmind-absolutely-right --out sticker.jsonmakeables new sticker --blank --name "Logo" --out logo.json   # branded work: no catalog artmakeables layer set --file sticker.json --id artwork --params '{"x":100,"y":100,"w":824,"h":824,"rotation":-5}'makeables material set --file sticker.json --params '{"finish":"glitter","border":18,"sparkle":0.72,"gloss":0.5}'makeables render --file sticker.json --out artwork.png

render --appearance flat produces artwork; render --appearance material exports the native transparent border, glitter and coating without a browser or publication. The default for plain JSON remains flat. Follow the core guide's preview order: embedded MCP App, built-in browser, then CLI + inline PNG. The MCP preview includes the die-cut material. In the built-in browser, open /make/sticker and import the same JSON. Use the shared Design Studio's PNG action for a transparent PNG including the border, glitter and coating. PNG exports exclude the stage shadow, tilt and peel. Export JSON preserves editable layers, material settings and embedded images. Save keeps the document in that browser.

Finishes: glitter, holographic, vinyl. Border is 0–40 canvas pixels; widthMm (10–300, default 75) is the printed width that turns pixels into millimetres. Sparkle is 0–1, gloss is 0–1.5, and the integer seed fixes the crystal positions. The interactive preview is a flexible mesh: pointer movement changes studio reflections, dragging the center bends the sheet, and dragging a corner rolls the paper reverse into view. Tap the sticker to advance. Flick horizontally to advance or go back. A complete corner pull peels it away into the next sticker; an incomplete pull springs back. The toolbar’s Peel sticker action holds a peel. Glitter crystals keep their positions while their reflections change; holographic stock shifts with the light. Pause and reduced-motion preferences stop continuous motion. Pause still permits direct dragging; reduced motion keeps pointer effects static. The preview frames the actual die-cut silhouette, and hovering an outer corner lifts it slightly before a drag. Devices without WebGL2 retain a static material preview.

The bottom dock selects the same editable styles as the sidebar and retains the most recently loaded community or imported sticker. Each style remembers its edits during this studio session; selecting the active thumbnail does not reset it. Save retains a version in the shared local library. The dock's Material layers control (or L while previewing, outside a text field) separates six preview surfaces with a spring animation: laminate, laminate adhesive, ink, stock, adhesive and liner. These describe the visual material, not a manufacturing specification. Focus preview hides the side panels; Escape or the focus control brings them back. Save, PNG and Submit remain in the same studio. None of these view changes changes the document.

The sidebar gallery includes nine credited Ann Nguyen · TypingMind originals with unchanged artwork and authored optical maps, 30 moraleja.co originals, and three refined Community designs with their original source layers retained. All 42 are available in the sidebar, dock and offline CLI catalog. Search by name or creator and filter by collection or finish. /stickers/moraleja features her collection and three editable sheet templates. Moraleja's supplied SVG/PNG masters remain unchanged; display copies are lossless WebPs, with an approved bold monospace fallback for Shipper Vibes only. The retired Makeables lettering presets are no longer offered. For imported artwork, use a transparent PNG/WebP under 2 MB and 24 megapixels. Use the same Design Studio as Cards and Badges for layer edits, undo, material locks and versioned local saving. Saved directions appear in the sidebar.

makeables studio start --product sticker --no-open --json# Use the returned local session URL for badge_inspect, badge_edit and badge_library.makeables studio save --url "$MAKEABLES_URL" --out sticker.makeables.json --jsonmakeables submit --file sticker.makeables.json --dry-run --json

The shared studio tools retain their badge_ names for compatibility. A material patch uses edits.sticker, for example {"finish":"glitter","border":24}. The single editable face is front; the paper reverse is a preview interaction. Discover badge_view for optional sticker: {exploded, peeled, focused} booleans, alongside the existing moving and theme controls. Supply the latest revision from badge_inspect. Exploded and peeled are mutually exclusive, and state reports the active view under view.sticker. Exports and submissions always flatten the unchanged material document, even while its preview is peeled or separated.

Submit opens the same /submit preview, credit and consent flow as the other products. Portable packages include one transparent material PNG and editable layers/assets, without participant data. makeables submit --file sticker.json also prepares this package directly; render remains a flat artwork export. After the user approves the exact version, submit with --yes. A pending receipt means admin review, not publication. Approved stickers appear in the public gallery and the studio's Community collection and can be reopened for editing. Status recovery and author withdrawal use the shared submission service.

Detailed materials, for every sticker

The same renderer handles originals, imported artwork and generated designs. It uses linear-light shading, HDR glitter reflections, bloom, relief normals and six flexible material surfaces. A nice illustration alone is not an optical material: author the print and its surface responses separately.

1. Keep the artwork transparent at 1024 × 1024. Design a clear die-cut silhouette, intentional negative space, crisp lettering and generous calm areas. Keep set text and vectors as editable layers when creating native artwork; drawn lettering belongs in the artwork (see Set text or drawn lettering). For a supplied original, preserve the source image; do not redraw its lettering or flatten away details.
2. Choose the stock and laminate deliberately. stock is white, holographic or holo-glitter; laminate is gloss or matte. holography and sparkle are 0–1, relief is 0–1.5, gloss is 0–1.5, and flakes is 40–500 (170 matches the reference). Set border to 0 when the supplied artwork already includes its die-cut edge. Before delivering, run the print check below; a border of 0 must still pass it.
3. Author a lossless RGB map registered to the whole artwork image: red controls foil, green glitter, blue relief height. Black is plain print. Keep text readable: solid ink often wants little foil, the metallic rim strong foil, selected highlights glitter, and printed/enamel forms relief. Values can be graded, not only on/off. Half-resolution maps are supported. Keep the artwork’s aspect and orientation.
4. Bind the map to the artwork image layer, or define optical regions on native layers. Maps follow contain/cover, position, rotation, clipping, visibility and alpha. Regions follow the current editable geometry. Untagged layers above a mapped layer restore automatic material in their covered area. A map on a layer takes precedence over that layer’s region. Removing the layer removes its optical binding.

makeables material map --file sticker.json --id artwork --ref optical.pngmakeables material set --file sticker.json --params '{"border":0,"stock":"holo-glitter","laminate":"gloss","holography":1,"sparkle":1,"gloss":1,"relief":0.55,"flakes":170}'# Or author regions without rasterizing editable text and vector layers:makeables material set --file sticker.json --params '{"regions":{"headline":{"foil":0.05,"glitter":0.1,"relief":0.85},"ribbon-pink":{"foil":0.9,"glitter":0.8,"relief":0.35}}}'

5. Inspect the actual live material, not only a flat PNG: check frontal and tilted light, each layer, the rear liner, a partial peel, completed peel, shuffle and curl. Pause motion for a stable comparison. Use native browser recordings and contact sheets when matching a supplied interaction. Check touch-sized screens, reduced motion, transparent edges and preservation of unsaved edits.
6. Export JSON or a portable package to retain both artwork and optical maps. The transparent material PNG is a deterministic flat rendition, without the stage or animated reflections. Keep creator credit on every supplied reference asset. Credit is attribution, not a new license or proof of rights-holder permission.

Do not promise an arbitrary prompt will automatically reach the reference’s detail. Build the artwork and optical regions intentionally, inspect them, and iterate.

Print check and cut line

makeables cut --file sticker.json --out cut.svg

The cut offsets the artwork alpha by the border, closes notches narrower than 1.5 mm and fills holes under 3 mm, so the studio silhouette and the printed cut match. cut.svg is sized in millimetres with one CutContour path per loop. JSON output reports printable and issues:

• touches-edge (error): the cut reaches the canvas; shrink or move the artwork.
• border-under-radius: under 1 mm the cut follows sharp corners; raise the border.
• soft-edge: with border 0, a semi-transparent matte wider than antialiasing prints as a halo; clean the matte or add a border.
• notches-closed, holes-filled: the cut bridges detail too small to cut or weed. Accept them or open the shape in the artwork.

Do not deliver a sticker for print while printable is false. Resolve warnings or state them to the user.

To print several stickers together, or one die-cut sticker with a printer file, load makeables skills get sheets.

Art direction

The studio's Ann Nguyen · TypingMind collection is the visual quality reference. The target is its considered illustration, typography and physical finish, with a new subject and its own identity. Do not paste TypingMind's name, slogans or signature into an unrelated design. Preserve every supplied creator credit.

The visual language

Start with one collectible object or one great typographic composition: a locket, a fizzy can, a tiny computer disaster, a keepsake from a place. The idea should be recognizable as a silhouette before the text is read. Give it a particular personality, not a generic decorative container.

Lettering is part of the drawing. Use a confident, tightly composed hierarchy: one large phrase, a supporting line, then small details. Chunky inked lettering, soft corners and gently irregular spacing can feel human. Avoid stacking unrelated default-font labels in rectangles. Small type is a reward, not the main story. Preserve supplied wording, accents, punctuation and intentional jokes.

Set text or drawn lettering

Decide this for every group of words before the first command, not after a render. A text layer can only change its built-in style, weight, color, size, tracking and case, so letters whose look needs more than that are drawn as part of the artwork.

Drawn lettering, generated with the illustration:

• The logo or wordmark of an existing brand, show, band, team or product that is not supplied as a file: the MTV block M with its sprayed TV, the NASA meatball and worm, Vim's V inside its diamond, a team crest's arched letters.
• Letters with a material or effect: spray paint, graffiti, drips, chrome, neon, bubble, 3D or extruded, glitter, brush, stitched, pixel, melted, carved.
• Letters that overlap, interlock with the art, warp, sit on a curve or tilt one by one, or that form the sticker's shape or a monogram.

Set text, as editable text layers: names, dates, slogans, supporting lines, small print, words the user will change, and words in a supplied font file.

Write drawn lettering into the image prompt verbatim and say how it looks: the exact lettering "TV" drawn as part of the artwork, red spray paint with drips, spelled exactly. Never rebuild a drawn logo from stacked text layers, offset copies and rectangles; it reads as a default-font plaque. A supplied logo file still wins over generating it. One sticker can mix both: the MTV M and TV drawn, a small "MUSIC TELEVISION" line set as text.

Image models can misspell. Check the drawn words once in the render. If one is wrong, regenerate once with the words spelled letter by letter; if it is still wrong, keep the better result and tell the user which word needs a fix. Drawn lettering is baked into the bitmap and cannot be edited as text; say so when the user may want to change the words.

Choose a small palette for the subject. Warm cream, near-black contour and two or three intentional accents are a useful starting point, not a mandatory rainbow. The reference collection has distinct personalities: silver/pink enamel, sunset vinyl, blue-violet energy, pastel vessels, oil-slick black. A family can share craft and material quality without making every sticker the same color.

Use five to seven major shapes and generous calm areas. Aim for mostly clean solid color, smooth near-black contours and only broad, restrained shading. Simplify the scene before adding anything. Small type should never compete with the main phrase. Zero to two supporting details are enough. Do not prescribe engraving, crosshatching, distressing, ceramic speckles, intricate scenery, metallic bevels or decorative filler. A simpler drawing with good proportions is better than a crowded, over-rendered illustration. The live shader supplies reflections and glitter; do not bake that noise across the printed image.

Let the materials explain the object. Keep dark outlines and most text solid; use foil on a rim or metal hardware, glitter in selected highlights, raised ink on enamel and lettering, gloss on glass, matte where the print should stay soft. The white-vinyl designs should be just as considered as the holographic ones. Finish the real alpha edge cleanly, with intentional negative holes and enough space around the complete die-cut shape.

Adapt an existing submission

1. Read its editable package and inspect both its flat artwork and live material. Record exact text, logo geometry, concept, creator, submission ID and source bytes. Save the original package before revising.
2. Write a direction specific to that object: what becomes the silhouette, what leads the typography, the palette, at most two supporting details, and where the material is allowed to shine. State the invariants before generating anything.
3. Edit native vectors/text when that gives the best result. Use image generation for richer illustration when available and authorized. Give the current art as the edit target and two or three actual original collection images as visual references. Attach the image bytes: mentioning an artist or a URL in text is insufficient. Label each image's role. Compare against these same references after generating. Do not ask for a vague "make it premium". Use the original vector logo over the generated illustration when exact brand geometry matters; image models can distort even a clearly supplied mark.
4. Keep the source document and original layers. If an illustrated replacement is raster, retain the original layers hidden with clear names; do not claim its baked lettering is independently editable. Keep the new artwork and optical map as distinct assets so finish changes never repaint the illustration.
5. Use material map or native regions. Inspect the actual live reflection and separate surfaces. A still illustration with a sparkly border is insufficient.
6. Compare at 64 px, normal editor size and enlarged. Reopen the portable package, test its alpha edge on light/dark backgrounds and test next/peel/layers on mobile. Preserve the public submission identity and creator when revising a publication.

Prompt scaffold

Replace every bracket. Be specific about the object; keep the optical directions consistent with the map you will author.

Use case: style-transfer for a printable die-cut collectible sticker. Image 1 is the edit target: preserve [concept, identity, exact logo, exact text]. Images 2–4 are visual references for illustration, typography and material craft only; do not copy their text or brands. Direction: [one sentence with the distinctive object/story]. Silhouette/composition: [outline, visual center, lettering placement]. Typography: [large phrase, supporting text, tiny detail; custom visual character]. Palette: [warm/cool base, outline, 2–3 accents tied to the subject]. Restraint: five to seven major shapes, mostly clean solid color, generous calm areas, smooth contours, at most two supporting details. Simplify, do not embellish. Material hierarchy: [solid ink], [foil regions], [glitter accents], [raised ink], [gloss or matte]. Keep text legible; do not apply sparkle uniformly. Text verbatim: "[exact text including punctuation and accents]". Flat head-on artwork, complete silhouette with generous margin, no perspective, cast shadow, backdrop, mockup, watermark or surrounding labels. Real transparent alpha when supported. If the selected model cannot output alpha, request a strictly uniform chroma background absent from the artwork, extract a clean alpha matte and inspect fine edges before importing. Avoid: generic vector clipart, default-font plaques, random decoration, inflated balloon shapes, engraving, distressing, crosshatching, intricate scenery, extra ornaments, thick metallic bevels, noise, illegible letters, a white rectangular background, baked stage lighting, copied reference branding.

For AI Gateway, use the user's authorized key in the process environment; never store it in a document, prompt, repository, log or frontend. GPT Image 2 is available through Gateway's OpenAI-compatible image generation/edit endpoints. Use the environment's image-generation workflow rather than installing an unrelated provider. Keep the generation prompt and model with the local revision. Do not infer that image generation also produced a correctly registered FX map.

Get the real reference images

Requires Makeables 0.6.0 or newer. The shared catalog contains nine unchanged Ann Nguyen · TypingMind originals and three revised Community examples. Pick references by composition: absolutely-right for type, youre-cooked for a simple comic object, emotional-support for a pastel vessel, cmd-enter for enamel, energy for a can, agi-is-coming for an illustrated scene.

Their original artwork is served at https://makeables.dev/stickers/typingmind/<slug>.webp; the authored numeric map is <slug>-fx.webp. Download the artwork for the authorized generation request, inspect it, then attach those actual files as reference inputs. Never send the RGB optical map as a style image. The CLI also bundles these files under dist/assets/stickers/typingmind/ for offline use.

The three Community examples retain their original editable layers hidden; their new illustration and optical map are separate bitmap assets. Reuse their material setup without claiming that lettering baked into a bitmap is editable text.

Optical recipe

red = foil, green = glitter, blue = height/relief. Use a PNG or lossless WebP. A map is numeric data, not a pretty colored preview. Keep it registered to the whole artwork, including transparent padding. Its black areas are plain print.

These are starting ranges. Inspect at multiple angles before accepting them. Use border: 0 for an already finished die-cut edge, flakes: 170 as a reference scale, and modest relief. Too much relief makes flat print appear melted.

makeables material map --file sticker.json --id artwork --ref optical.pngmakeables material set --file sticker.json --params '{"border":0,"holography":0.9,"sparkle":0.8,"gloss":1,"relief":0.5,"flakes":170,"stock":"holo-glitter","laminate":"gloss"}'makeables material set --file sticker.json --params '{"regions":{"lettering":{"foil":0.08,"glitter":0.04,"relief":0.8}}}'

Acceptance before showing the result

• The concept reads immediately at thumbnail size and is recognizably the user's.
• All text and the logo are correct. No accidental reference branding appears.
• The silhouette, letter spacing and supporting details feel deliberately drawn.
• Foil/glitter are selective; ink remains readable during tilt.
• The outline is clean on white and near-black, without a chroma halo or cut-off tips.
• The same live material engine works in the editor, with pause, reduced motion, shuffle, curl, completed peel and separated layers.
• Original layers/credits and both artwork/FX assets survive save/export/reopen.

If a check fails, make the smallest focused revision and inspect again. Do not guarantee taste from a prompt alone; the reference comparison and iteration are part of the workflow.