Shapes, lines & the Pen
Cut contours & dielines
A cut contour (also called a dieline) is the line that tells a printer's cutter where to slice the sheet. Popcorn Editor builds one for you from any artwork — offset it, name its type, and it lands on a spot color the press reads as a machine instruction, not as ink.
What a cut contour is
A cut contour is a vector outline that hugs your artwork and marks the cut path for die-cut stickers, labels, tags and packaging. The key thing to understand: it is not artwork. It never prints as a visible line. Instead it rides on a spot color so it comes out of the RIP as its own separation — the layer a cutting machine (or a finishing department) follows.
Because it is a real vector, it stays razor-sharp at any size and any output resolution, and it exports cleanly to a print-ready PDF alongside your CMYK artwork.
When to use each cut type
Popcorn Editor offers three cut types. They differ only in what the cutter does — and each one is placed on its own named spot color.
| Type | What the machine does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Die cut | Cuts all the way through the material | A custom-shaped sticker, card or tag |
| Cut line | A through-cut outline for trimming | Trimming a shaped piece to its final edge |
| Kiss cut | Cuts the face material only, leaving the backing | Peel-off stickers on a sheet |
Kiss cut is the one for sticker sheets: the cutter scores the printed face so each sticker peels away, but the backing stays whole. Die cut and Cut line go all the way through.
Making a cut contour
- Select the artwork whose shape defines the cut. You can select several objects — the contour is built around the combined silhouette.
- Open the Make cut contour panel in the Properties panel (it appears when the selection is eligible), or use Object menu → Make cut contour for a one-click 3 mm die cut.
- Set the Offset and Type, then create the contour.
The tool traces a single outline around everything selected — filled shapes, closed paths, text, images and barcodes all contribute their area — and offsets that outline outward into the cut path.
Tip: Build a clean silhouette first. If your shape is made of several overlapping pieces, merge them with Pathfinder so the contour follows one tidy edge instead of tracing every internal seam.
Setting the offset
The Offset field (default 3 mm) sets how far the cut sits outside the artwork edge — the margin between your printed design and the blade.
- A positive value pushes the cut outward, leaving a border around the artwork (good for stickers, where a small bleed of color past the cut hides any misregistration).
- 0 mm sits the cut exactly on the artwork edge.
- A negative value insets the cut inside the artwork.
Push the inset too far and there is nothing left to cut. When that happens the app stops and warns: "The offset erased the shape — try a smaller inset." Dial the value back up until the contour reappears.
Choosing the type
The Type dropdown selects Die cut, Cut line or Kiss cut. This choice does more than label the line — it names the spot color the contour is placed on. Printers look for exactly these separation names (die cut, cut line, kiss cut), so picking the right type is what makes your file readable on their equipment.
When you are ready, click Create cut contour. The button reads Generating… while it works, then adds the contour as a stroked path on the matching spot color.
What it needs
A cut contour needs artwork with a fillable area — something with a real silhouette to trace. Shapes, closed paths, text, images and barcodes all qualify. Open paths and plain lines have no enclosed area, so there is nothing to offset around; if you try, the app tells you: "Select artwork with a fillable area first." Close the path (or add a shape) and try again.
The spot color and export
The finished contour rides a dedicated spot color so it outputs as its own separation rather than as printable ink, typically set to overprint so it marks the cut without knocking a hole in your design. You will see the swatch — for example one named die cut — appear in your swatches list. Spot separations only survive when you export from a CMYK document, so set your color mode early.
When you export, keep that separation intact so the cut layer reaches the printer. The details live in Spot colors & print separations, Swatches (process & spot) and, for the PDF itself, Exporting a print-ready PDF and Marks, overprint & rich black.
Next
Put it into practice with Make stickers that print sharp, or follow the full label workflow — artwork, cut line and print-ready PDF — in Design your own product labels.