Since officially created in 1935, self-adhesive pieces called stickers have grown more day by day to meet all of our sticker needs. We can enjoy these sticky beauties in all kinds of shapes, sizes and materials. Especially, from the traditional back adhesive, now there’s a unique sticker which has the front facing adhesive. This is a big move in printing and producing stickers, as those with the sticky side on the front are ideal for applying inside of an opaque surface and giving your stickers a long lasting life span.
In this article, let’s learn about the contrast between back and front facing adhesive stickers, thereby identifying the cases in which a sticker with front side adhesive should be used.
Types of adhesive on stickers
There are two different types of self-adhesive stickers: back adhesive and front adhesive. They have different gluing positions, hence the names; and the application therefore is also different.
Back adhesive
Back adhesive is the more common type between the two when it comes to custom stickers production. Your personalized design is printed and applied with the adhesive put on the back side. This makes it simple for both designing, printing and applying the stickers. Back adhesive allows your stickers to be adhered to almost anywhere, both inside and outside.
As mentioned above, application ideas for custom stickers with back adhesive are any surface that you could think of. However, it cannot be adhered to the inside of a glass door and seen from the outside. That’s why front facing adhesive stickers were invented.
Front adhesive
When applying your vinyl stickers for glass doors and expecting them to last for a long time, front adhesive is the best option.
Stickers with the adhesive on the front of the design are made a little bit different from back adhesive stickers. When printing them out, the design needs to be flipped so that customers’ logos and artwork are in front of the adhesive. After your design is reversely printed on clear vinyl, we applied to it a layer of adhesive and finally a thick backing layer for easier peeling. Your front facing adhesive stickers will look fantastic when applied to the inside of a clear surface thanks to this reverse effect.
Application ideas for custom stickers with back adhesive are:
- For easy sharing of product information in storefront windows or for branding your company.
- Using as window stickers and decals. Front adhesive allows your stickers to be applied on the inside of a car’s windshield, so it prevents them from being accidentally scraped off on icy mornings or harmed by daily driving wear and tear.
- As a giveaway. For a simple way to demonstrate support for and affiliation with the neighborhood business community, local business groups can distribute these stickers to participating companies and these companies can use them for their storefront displays of membership.
Back adhesive vs. front adhesive stickers
Is there a convincing winner between back vs front facing adhesive stickers? Actually, none of the two are perfect for all of your purposes. Here are a few considerations of pros and cons of the two when they are used on glassdoor:
| Back facing adhesive stickers | Front facing adhesive stickers |
| Can be used for almost any purpose | More affordable than alternative methods of storefront decoration |
| Temporary and permanent adhesive are both available | Easy to apply on and remove without any residue. Perfect for often changing display windows |
| Unaffected by the color or opacity of the glass | On tinted or opaque glasses, they are difficult to see clearly. |
| Directly affected by physical factors or weather, easy to fade or tear | Safe from the elements such as sunlight or dirts outside your glass surface |
| As a glassdoor display, they are likely to be peeled off by passersby | Tamper-proof |
When to use front adhesive stickers
Because these two types are created and applied not equally, it is important to know which one to use. So, when is it best to use back facing or front facing adhesive stickers? It’s all depending on your demands.
You need back adhesive if
- Your sticker is placed in a secure area that it’s not likely to be removed by passersby
- Even though you don’t have a storefront display, you still want to use personalized stickers to spruce up your facade.
- Your store glass door has a high level of opacity and so there is a high possibility that customers won’t be able to see your stickers and graphics from the outside when stickers are put to the interior.
You need front adhesive if
- You have large windows or glass doors that draw people’s attention.
- Your windows are crystal clean, and they are not likely to collect dirt or get otherwise obstructed by your stickers.
- You need to find a technique to enhance front-of-store promotion that is affordable.
How to make front adhesive stickers
How are front facing adhesive stickers made?
Front facing adhesive stickers are made up of more layers than ordinary back adhesive stickers. At CustomAny, it begins with a lamination, then the printed ink, a clear vinyl, the adhesive and finally a thick backing layer. The design will be printed reverse on the clear vinyl, and the best possible brightness, we print some colors with white ink behind. With the glue used on the front of the sticker, your design would stick to the interior windows. Thus, the stickers are then protected against water, sunlight, and scratches by the gloss laminating layer.
How to order front adhesive stickers online, fast and secure?
At CustomAny, printing front facing adhesive stickers is much easier than you thought. It’s a simple 3-step process:
- On our product page for front adhesive stickers, upload your sticker design. Select your desired size and quantity, and click Add to cart, then click Proceed to checkout.
- On the checkout page, fill in your billing and shipping information to finish your order.
- After that, we will send you a proof of your stickers, make any adjustment to fulfill your needs and within 7-14 business days, we’ll dispatch your front facing adhesive stickers.
Conclusion
Back adhesive stickers are the most common as they are meant for standard applications on nearly any surface. Meanwhile, stickers that are printed with the adhesive in front of your custom design are perfect for the inside of a transparent surface, such as a window or storefront display and as glass decoration stickers. So, using back facing or front facing adhesive stickers all depends on your purposes.
We hope that all the information in this article can help you in distinguishing and choosing between the two. If you have any demands on both back adhesive and front adhesive stickers, feel free to come to us at www.customany.com. We are honored to accompany you in fulfilling all your sticker needs.
