Die-cut vs kiss-cut

Die-cutting is the key finishing step, at two depths. Full die-cut (through-cut) cuts the facestock and the liner, producing separate, individually shaped labels with no backing — for standalone shaped stickers. Kiss-cut cuts only the facestock and adhesive, just touching the liner, so labels stay on one continuous backing — best for applicators, easy peeling, roll labels, and sticker sheets. Kiss-cut needs tight depth control (~0.1–0.5 mm): too deep severs the liner and breaks the web, too shallow makes labels hard to lift. Done with rotary or flatbed dies, or laser for tooling-free short runs.