Turn a photo into a sticker

What a WhatsApp sticker needs

A WhatsApp sticker is a small square image with a transparent background, so it floats over the chat instead of sitting in a box. WhatsApp's sticker guidelines for app developers spell out the format: each sticker must be exactly 512 by 512 pixels, in WebP, with static stickers no larger than 100 KB. A pack needs between 3 and 30 stickers, and the tray icon is a separate 96 by 96 pixel image. The same guidelines recommend an 8 pixel white stroke around the outside of each sticker so it reads on any chat background.

WipeMark does the cut-out part: it removes the background and gives you a transparent WebP or PNG at full size. It does not resize to 512 pixels, add a stroke or build packs. A sticker maker app, or WhatsApp's own sticker tool, handles that step. WhatsApp added that built-in sticker maker to WhatsApp Web and iOS in January 2024.

Choose a photo that makes a good sticker

Stickers are viewed at the size of a large emoji, so the best ones have a bold, readable shape.

• One subject, large in the frame. A face that fills half the photo becomes a clear sticker. A full-body shot from across the room becomes a speck.
• A strong expression or pose. Stickers are reactions. A raised eyebrow, a laughing face or a pet mid-yawn works better than a neutral portrait.
• Clear separation from the background. A friend standing in front of a plain wall cuts out more cleanly than one in a crowd, where arms and shoulders overlap other people.
• Sharp focus. Motion blur turns into a smeary edge once the background is gone.

Getting a clean sticker outline

At 512 pixels, nobody sees individual hairs. A tidy silhouette matters more than perfect strands. After the cut-out, zoom out to see the whole subject at roughly sticker size. Then:

• Use Erase to trim off a stray bit of someone else's shoulder or a fragment of furniture at the edge.
• Use Restore for an ear, a paw or a hand that got clipped. A missing ear is far more noticeable than a slightly rough edge.
• Leave a small amount of space around the subject when you size it in the sticker app, so the white stroke does not run off the edge.

Problems people run into

The background comes back as white. Somewhere the file was saved as JPG or sent as a compressed photo. Download WebP or PNG, and move it to your phone as a file.

The sticker app says the file is too big. A full-size cut-out is far over 100 KB. That is expected. Let the sticker app resize it to 512 by 512 and compress it. Starting from a full-size, clean cut-out gives that resize the best material to work with.

Pet fur looks fuzzy. Soft edges on fur are partly transparent, which is correct, but at sticker size they can look like a faint halo over a dark chat theme. A white stroke added in the sticker app hides this well.

Which format to download

Download WebP. It is the format WhatsApp uses for stickers, it keeps transparency, and many sticker apps accept it directly. Download PNG if your sticker app does not accept WebP. Do not use JPG, which fills the transparent area with white.