Welcome behind the scenes of the Paw Manufactory!

I wanted to start this article with the words "You may have already noticed our vinyl stickers on cars, laptops or kitchen spices". That would be great! But the truth is that I am just starting out and I could count my sales on the fingers of one hand. But I would say that the fewer orders I have, the more personal each one is to me and the more motivated I am to make you, who have given me your trust, happy.

I'm Lukáš, and together with my four-legged "managers and quality controllers" Archie and Casper, we make vinyl stickers for you at Tlapková manufaktura. Each sticker passes through human hands (and sometimes through the curious eyes and paws of my cats 😺), because I believe that hand-made production brings, in addition to the final result, a unique story connected to your piece.

Whether you choose a cute mountain cow, an elegant Siberian cat, or a spice sticker for your kitchen, each piece is made with the same care and love. And for those of you who are interested in how we do it all, I decided to show the entire production process.

How do we choose designs?

Most of our designs come from talented artists who sell their work on Etsy. Each of them brings something unique and distinctive to our collection. Let's start with the one who is kind of responsible for it all.

Jehadah from AddToCrafts

While looking for a sticker to represent my cats to put on my car, I came across her series of illustrations of just about every cat breed in existence. Her depictions of Siberians and Ragdolls captivated me so much that I bought a cutting plotter and made the stickers myself.

Jehadah sells on Etsy as AddToCrafts and offers amazing designs for all occasions - from cute animal motifs to interior decorations to signs and logos. I was immediately impressed by her precise work and attention to detail. Jehadah is where most of our cat motifs come from.

John from EasliDoneDesigns

Our second favorite is John , who can be found on Etsy under the brand EasliDoneDesigns . His cute mountain cow was love at first sight and the first design that made me think about an iron-on version. John's unique style brings a breath of fresh air and new possibilities to our collection. You can look forward to images with a crocodile or a frog.

Own creation

In addition to collaborating with talented artists, we sometimes do our own design work. For example, a collection of stickers with children's motifs was created right here at Tlapková Manufaktura. Each design is created with love and care to bring joy to us and our customers.

Whether it's a design from our favorite artists or our own creation, each sticker must go through a careful editing process to be suitable for vinyl processing. In the next chapter, I'll show you how we prepare such a design for production...

From artwork to vinyl sticker

Our stickers are a little different. When you compare them to regular stickers, you'll notice two things - they're full of detail and look much more luxurious at first glance. This is because each one is actually a small piece of art that, thanks to vinyl cutting technology, blends perfectly with the surface you stick it on.

The secret to a luxurious look

Regular stickers are printed on a white background. If you want the sticker to be more interesting, it is printed on transparent plastic. In both cases, it is then cut out of the background as one piece along its perimeter. This ensures cheap and quick production and simple application.

Our vinyl stickers are different - they are cut exactly according to the contours of the design. Thanks to this, they do not create any visible transition on the substrate and elegantly blend in with it. There is a simple rule - the more luxurious the surface on which you stick our sticker (be it your laptop, car or perhaps a designer spice rack), the more exclusive it will look. We dare say that with industrially produced stickers, the exact opposite is true. The more luxurious the surface you choose, the more out of place the sticker will look.

The journey from the original to the final form

Preparing a design for vinyl cutting is a bit of alchemy. Each motif must be carefully edited to be technically feasible, but at the same time not lose any of its original beauty. It's like walking a fine line between preserving artistic intent and technical possibilities.

This is our original custom image from Jehadah:

Some details in the original design are too small for vinyl cutting - it can be small dots, thin lines or fine lines. These elements must either be sensitively enlarged or removed from the design. With each such modification, we are careful to ensure that the resulting sticker retains the expression and aesthetics of the original work. It is a job that requires an eye for detail and respect for the original artistic intent.

Example of details that need to be adjusted:

In the next chapter, I will show you how to turn this prepared design into a finished sticker...

Cutting, preparation and inspection

The production of a vinyl sticker itself takes place in three stages. Each of them is important for the final quality and durability of the sticker.

preparing the foil for cutting

Cutting on a plotter

The first phase of production begins in a cutting plotter. According to the prepared design, it cuts all the lines of the future sticker into the vinyl film. It is a kind of computer-controlled scalpel that follows every curve of the design with millimeter precision.

cutting demonstration

Manual processing and feasibility check

This is followed by purely manual work, which is the most time-consuming part of production.

freshly cut sticker

We remove all the parts from the cut foil that are supposed to be transparent in the finished sticker. It is during this phase that details that are too small to be practically glued on often appear. In such a case, we have to go back to the digital template, adjust the problematic parts and repeat the entire production process. It is like gradual fine-tuning - each production can show us the places that need to be adjusted to make the sticker not only beautiful, but also practical.

preparation of transparent parts

Quality control

The last but not least stage is quality control. Here we focus primarily on making sure that we have not scratched, torn, or otherwise deformed the sticker while working with the tweezers. In this step, we also check all line ends and sharp transitions.

It may happen that some curves are easy to make, but their ends taper very slowly, creating needles. Imagine, for example, cat whiskers or individual hairs. These details can stretch, break, or otherwise be damaged when removing transparent parts. They also run the risk of premature peeling. If we find a sharp long tip or a sharp corner, the sticker fails the inspection and the whole process starts again.

sticker check

Final step - transfer foil

Once the sticker has successfully passed the quality control, it undergoes the final production step - covering it with a transfer film. This protects the sticker during handling and also helps you apply it to the selected surface later.

transfer film application

Only when the sticker has gone through all these stages is it ready to go to you...

Completion of the shipment and its journey to you

Each shipment contains several parts:

• Order - here we see what we produce for you and in what quantity
• Ordered products
• Invoice
• Protective cardboard
• Bubble envelope
• Our address label
• A label with your address
• Label with our logo
• Shipping label
• Personal letter
• Small gift

These eleven items are used by us to be able to provide a quality service. By comparing the order and the stickers produced, we check that we have produced everything you wanted. The comparison with the invoice serves as a second verification that we have everything for you.

To prevent the stickers from getting wrinkled during shipping, we pack them between two pieces of cardboard, which we get from the boxes that the treats for our two furry managers came in. Because we want the stickers to feel like they're in a duvet, we send them nicely in a bubble envelope for even better protection during shipping.

shipment completion

In addition to the stickers, we will include an invoice in the envelope (also available in electronic form), a personal letter in which we try to highlight the most important aspects of your stickers and tips for successful application, and a small gift.

We will provide the envelope with a shipping label from the selected carrier and, for added convenience, we will put your and our contact information on the back of the envelope in case the shipment gets lost or the shipping label is damaged.

After we hand over your shipment to the chosen carrier, you will receive a tracking number and can look forward to your package.