Hello! In this tutorial, I want to show you various ways to make stickers. I hope it's very helpful and that you create beautiful things. 💛

1. A BIT OF THEORY

Stickers, although relatively new, have come to hold a very significant position in our communication, as they can express feelings that text often cannot achieve.

A small list of tips for making stickers:

🔸 Stickers can be used in our conversations if they have generic expressions or actions we commonly do, such as smiling, being sad, or celebrating.

🔸 They must be easy to understand. If what the sticker represents is complicated to understand, it won't be comfortable to use. Stickers are usually simple because their size is small, and too many details won't be visible.

🔸 Characters are always a good option, but that doesn't mean you can't use other things. With characters, you can clearly express an action or emotion, but for certain moments or if you want your stickers printed, even if you can't use food or another object in the same way as a character in a conversation, it will look very nice adorning a notebook or in your Instagram stories.

🔸 Remember that if you want stickers for a specific social network, you need to check if they have any size or other requirements.

🔸 Sticker packs follow a consistent graphic style; that is, in the same sticker pack, we couldn't put a realistic-style rabbit drinking tea and a cartoon-style rabbit exercising. If they follow a consistent style, it will look like a set where each one harmonizes with the others, and there are social networks where this is necessary, like Line.

🔸 Making stickers is a lot of fun, so take your time and enjoy yourself while making them! Honestly, if it makes you happy and it's for you or your friends, you can make them however you want.

2. CUTE STICKER PACK

Let's create a sticker pack. I'll use the size 370 x 320 px. We start by preparing the canvas.

Go to [File > New], Work type > Illustration.

I want to make a sticker pack of bunnies doing different things, like lying down or blowing a kiss. I really like bunnies, so I had a lot of fun with this.

I made sketches for 8 bunny stickers on 8 different layers.

Now I made a layer folder for each sketch and cleaned up the lines. I wanted the stroke to be thick, so I used the G-pen > Textured. Inside each layer folder, I also painted them simply.

You can paint them using your preferred method. If you're going to use the fill bucket like me, make sure it covers everything correctly. You can place a layer of a different background color to notice any unpainted areas.

In the end, I didn't like a couple of stickers, so I changed them. I realized that one (the celebrating bunny) also looks cute both crying and celebrating, so I made two versions of it just by copying the folder and flipping it horizontally.

To save them, go to [File > Export (single layer) > .png (PNG)]. Make sure you have the paper layer visibility disabled to keep the background transparent.

After choosing the location where you want to save the file, this PNG export settings window will appear. I leave it with the default values, I only check that "For illustration" is selected under [Scaling process].

If you have "Preview rendering results on exit" checked in [Preview], another window will appear allowing you to see how your work would look once saved.

This is how they turned out in the end; there are 9 stickers that, as you can see, all have something in common. They are the same character (a bunny) doing different things, and with the colors, it's clear they are part of the same sticker pack. This is important if you want them to look harmonious together.

3. A BIT MORE THEORY

Let's talk about some terms that, honestly, when I started, I didn't understand at all. I hope this can make things a bit easier for you.

🔸Frames: These are the different images that make up an animation or film. Depending on the number of frames in a certain time span, the project will look more or less fluid.

🔸Fps: Comes from Frames per second, it's a measure to know the number of frames per second.

🔸Cels: These are the cells where each image is drawn.

For example, here we can see the difference in fluidity between a 3-frame animated sticker and a 10-frame one.

There are different ways to make stickers, some simpler than others, but generally, making a sticker with more frames involves more work. So, if you're just starting, I recommend making stickers with fewer frames until you get used to it. Good luck!

4. CUTE ANIMATED STICKERS

4a. Frame-by-frame stickers from scratch

We start by opening a new file. Go to [File > New]. We will create a GIF-type sticker. I'll use the size 320 x 270 px again, and since it will be for screens and not for printing, I'll use a resolution of 72, which is sufficient.

For making stickers, which is something simple, I find it easier to work with Work type > Illustration than with Animation, but it's also possible.

I select [Create moving illustration]. I will make a 3-cel sticker at a speed of 6 frames per second.

If the timeline doesn't appear at the bottom, go to [Window > Timeline], and it will appear.

To the right, you can see an animation folder containing the 3 cels we specified when we created the canvas. Each of those cels corresponds to those on the timeline, indicated by the arrow.

If you are going to create a moving sticker, you will have to paint each drawing as part of the animation, repeating colors. This might not seem necessary for a simpler sticker like the one we'll make now, but for one with more frames, like the example I used in "a bit more theory," it's very useful to have the color palette you're using readily available.

If I don't have the color set open, I go to [Window > Color Set], and when it appears, I click the icon next to its name that says "Edit color set."

A window for editing the color set appears. I click "Add new settings" and enter the desired name in the text box. I entered "stickerconejo" and then click OK.

Our empty color set named 'stickerconejo' appears. If you have a previous color palette you want to use, you can locate it now. I will first paint a drawing where I will decide the colors, and then I will add them to the color set.

In cel 1, I will sketch the first drawing. For this sticker, I will draw a crying rabbit; the animation will be its falling tears.

To use the first drawing as a base and create the others from it, I click "Enable onion skin." This way, when you are in cel 2, cel 1 will be visible, but in a blue tone, allowing you to draw over it without inconvenience and make any changes you wish.

You can change the onion skin settings if you wish. Go to [Animation > Show animation cels > Onion skin settings], and a window will appear where you can change how the previous or next color will look, among other settings.

I have already sketched each of the three frames, and they look like this:

Now let's see how it looks in motion. On the "Timeline," click "Play," and it looks like this:

Now that we have the sketches, we need to outline and paint each one. To do this, we need to create a folder for each cel; creating this layer makes everything inside it considered a cel.

Go to [Layer > Create folder and insert layer]. Do this for each cel.

We change the name of the layers to keep them in order. I lowered the opacity of the sketches to outline them comfortably.

In this GIF, I only wanted movement in the rabbit's expression and tears, so I copied the outline of its face for each folder and did the rest. I used G-pen > Textured.

Here's what the outline of each cel in our GIF looks like:

Now, inside each folder, I will paint the first cel. I used the Fill tool > Refer to other layers. This option allows you to paint fills on a different layer. This tool works quite well, but there might be small unpainted areas. You can use Fill > Close and fill for those parts or paint them with another tool like the G-pen.

Once the first cel is ready, I will save the colors I used in the Color Set we created earlier. To save colors there, I just need to have the "Eyedropper" selected and click on the colors I want to save in the "stickerconejo" Color Set.

 

This is what each cel looks like once we finish painting it:

Now let's save it!

This sticker will be saved in APNG format, which allows it to be saved with a transparent background. Remember to have the paper layer visibility deactivated.

Go to [File > Export animation > Animated sticker (APNG)].

After deciding your file's location, this export settings window appears. For your GIF to loop infinitely, you need to select Loops > Unlimited. If you choose the second option, which is Loops > Number of times, the GIF will stop according to the number of repetitions you've set.

Finally, a window will appear notifying you that the export is complete.

We've got it ready! The finished GIF looks like this:

Note: The APNG format does not work on all websites, so you need to check the specifications of the website where you want to place it. For example, in this article, you cannot upload files in this format, so I have to upload them in GIF format.

4b. Animated stickers from an illustration (with editable file)

I don't know if the title makes sense, haha.

What if you have an illustration you made and want it to be an animated sticker? Or maybe you made a sticker designed for high-quality printing and also want it to have some movement for social media.

If you have the editable file (i.e., in Clip Studio Paint format), you can do it this way.

In this example, I will use this donut illustration. I will select the folder containing all the layers and press Ctrl + C or go to [Edit > Copy].

Open a new file. Go to [File > New].

Select Work type > Illustration. I will use the same size as before: 320 x 270 px at a resolution of 72. I select "Create moving illustration"; I want it to be something simple, so my GIF will have 3 cels, where the donut's frosting will be dripping.

Select our first cel and go to [Layer > Create folder and insert layer]. Do this for each cel.

Inside the folder of our first cel, we will paste the folder containing our illustration. This can be done with Ctrl + V or [Edit > Paste].

Our illustration is larger than the canvas we are working on, so we adjust the size with Ctrl + T or [Edit > Transform > Scale up/Scale down/Rotate].

Now I will copy the folder where the donut is and paste it into cel 2. Since I have the editable file, I went to the layer with the donut's frosting and extended it with the brush.

Then I copied the folder I just worked on to cel three and did the same again: I painted on the frosting layer to make it longer, as if it were dripping.

When I finished, I clicked the "Play" button:

Our GIF lasts 0.5 seconds.

If you think your GIF is too fast, we'll see how to slow it down.

(1) This is our current timeline.

(2) Since I want to slow it down, I click on the top part of the blue marker and drag it to frame 6. When creating the canvas, we set the frame rate to 6 frames per second, so extending our GIF to frame 6 will make it last one second.

(3) Scroll down a bit on the timeline; we also need to move the paper. In the same way, drag from the corner of the paper and move it to frame 6.

(4) Select any of the cels and click "Delete specified cels." Do this for all of them.

(5) Now click on the first cel and click "Specify cels."

This window appears for selecting layers. Select layer 1 and click OK.

(6) We now have the first cel. Select frame number 3, so that the time each cel appears in the GIF is even, and click "Specify cels," now selecting layer number 2. Do the same with the third cel.

(7) This is what our new timeline looks like.

The GIF now lasts 1 second and is clearly slower than before.

Now let's save it. I will export this one in GIF format.

Go to [File > Export animation > Animated GIF].

After choosing the file location, the export settings window appears. To make the GIF repeat endlessly, remember to select Loop > Unlimited.

We're done!

4c. Animated stickers from an illustration (image only)

I have this PNG illustration to make a GIF. If your image doesn't have a transparent background, you can try to remove it however you prefer if you want it without a background.

 

We start by opening the canvas. In [File > New], I will use the same size as before.

Let's import the image from [File > Import > Image].

The image will appear larger than the canvas, so we adjust it to the desired size using [Operation > Object].

To rasterize the image, go to [Layer > Rasterize] or right-click on the image layer and select "Rasterize."

Go to [Window > Timeline].

On the timeline, click "New Timeline," and a configuration window will appear. In "Playback time," we can set the number of frames, seconds plus frame, or time code. I left it at 3 frames. Click OK.

Our timeline now looks like this:

Click "New Animation Folder."

Copy the rasterized folder of our image with Ctrl + C into the animation folder, according to the number of frames we will use. Then, rename the cels to keep them organized.

Select the first cel and click "Specify Layers."

In the window, select 1 and click OK.

Do the same with the other two cels.

Our timeline looks like this:

Now we create a layer folder for each cel in [Layer > Create folder and insert layer].

Our layers now look like this:

Inside the layer folder, I made some sparkles. On one layer, I put the stroke, and on another, the color.

Remember to select "Enable onion skin."

I copied and pasted the sparkle layers into the other folders for each cel, but I changed their color with Ctrl + U or [Edit > Tonal Correction > Hue/Saturation/Luminosity].

To move the sparkles, first we will combine their layers. Select the stroke layer and the color layer, right-click, and choose "Combine selected layers."

Now, with the [Selection > Lasso] tool, we can select the sparkles and move them around. The onion skin helps us see where the sparkles from the previous layer were located.

And that's it!

Thank you very much for reading this; I hope it has been helpful. 💛