Free · 7 min read
How to design stickers: your first Telegram sticker pack
How to come up with a character, draw a set of emotions and prepare stickers for Telegram: 512 px, PNG or WEBP, animation in WEBM. Five steps.
- Go from a character idea to a small finished sticker set
- Prepare files to Telegram's specs: 512 px, PNG or WEBP, WEBM up to 256 KB
- Check that each emotion reads in a phone chat before you publish
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Your first sticker pack: 5 steps
- 1
Step 1
Come up with a character and a theme
- 2
Step 2
List the emotions and sketch them
- 3
Step 3
Draw the finals with small sizes in mind
- 4
Step 4
Prepare files to Telegram's requirements
- 5
Step 5
Upload the set and show it to people
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This guide is for you if you
Want to make your first sticker pack
For yourself, friends, your team or as a portfolio project, but don't know where to start.
Are learning illustration or graphic design
You want a task with clear constraints to practice characters, emotions and silhouettes.
Already draw, but your stickers don't work
Everything looks great in the editor, but in a chat on a phone the small details vanish and the emotion is lost.
In short
- A sticker pack is a good learning task: one character or theme, a set of emotions and strict technical requirements, like a real brief.
- Stickers are seen small on a phone screen, so what matters is a readable silhouette and one clear emotion, not fine detail.
- A static Telegram sticker is a PNG or WEBP file with one side exactly 512 pixels and the other 512 or less.
- Animated stickers come in two kinds: WEBM video (VP9, up to 3 seconds, up to 256 KB, no audio) and vector TGS made in After Effects.
- You upload a set through the @Stickers bot in Telegram, and a simple sticker from a photo can be made right in the chat with the built-in editor.
Your first sticker pack: 5 steps
- 1
Step 1
Come up with a character and a theme
Don't start by drawing; start with a short brief to yourself: who the hero of the set is, who the stickers are for and in which conversations people will send them. A sticker pack for a designers' work chat and one for a friend are different tasks with different emotions. The character can be an animal, an object, a letter or even your cat: what matters is a recognizable personality. Write down three words about it, for example "sleepy, sarcastic, kind", and check every sketch against them.
- one character or one clear theme for the whole set;
- a few simple shapes in the silhouette, so they're easy to repeat in every pose;
- a limited palette of a few colors, so the set looks consistent;
- a list of situations: hello, yes, laughing, tired, thank you, waiting.
💡 Make lots of quick sketches of the character in pencil or any editor and pick the one that's recognizable even at the size of a fingernail.
- 2
Step 2
List the emotions and sketch them
A first set doesn't need many stickers: a small set is one you'll actually finish instead of giving up halfway. Give each sticker one emotion and show it with the whole body: pose, hands, the tilt of the head, not just the face. Compare the sketches side by side: if two stickers read the same, one of them is redundant.
- basic reactions: yes, no, ha-ha, thank you, oops, waiting;
- one action or emotion per sticker, no multi-frame stories;
- if you need text, one or two words in a large font;
- the same character scale across the whole set.
💡 The silhouette test: fill the sketch with solid black. If the pose and emotion are still clear, the sticker will work at a small size too.
Test your stickers before you publish
In the community you can show character sketches, ask about formats and get feedback on your sticker pack before you publish it. Post a few stickers and ask which emotion people see in each.
Share your stickersFree. 1,504 designers are already in the community.
- 3
Step 3
Draw the finals with small sizes in mind
You can draw the finals in any editor that saves images with a transparent background, vector or raster. In a chat a sticker is shown small, so thick confident outlines, large shapes and contrast matter more than texture and fine detail. Telegram's own tip is a transparent background, a white stroke and a black shadow: that makes a sticker stand out on any chat background, light or dark.
- draw on a square canvas that's a multiple of 512 px so you can scale down without loss;
- leave a little free space around the edges so the stroke isn't cut off;
- keep the same line weight across every sticker in the set;
- zoom out to chat size regularly and check what still reads.
💡 Send a draft to your Saved Messages in Telegram and look at it on your phone in both light and dark themes. It's the most honest test there is.
- 4
Step 4
Prepare files to Telegram's requirements
Telegram has three sticker formats, each with its own requirements. For a first set it's easiest to start with static stickers and add animation later.
- Static: a PNG or WEBP file; one side exactly 512 pixels, the other 512 or less.
- Video stickers: WEBM encoded with VP9, one side exactly 512 pixels, up to 3 seconds, up to 30 frames per second, no audio stream, no more than 256 KB; ideally looped. Telegram notes that Handbrake and ffmpeg can encode WEBM with VP9.
- Animated vector (TGS): a 512×512 canvas, up to 3 seconds, 60 frames per second, always looped, up to 64 KB. They're made in After Effects with the Bodymovin-TG plugin, and some After Effects features are not allowed.
- Custom emoji (static and video) follow the same rules but must be exactly 100×100 pixels.
💡 If a video sticker comes out heavier than 256 KB, Telegram's encoding guide suggests checking that VP9 (not VP8) is selected, removing audio, using a constant 30 FPS and enabling 2-pass encoding.
Sticker unreadable in the chat? Show it to the community → - 5
Step 5
Upload the set and show it to people
Finished files are uploaded through the @Stickers bot in Telegram: it creates and manages sticker and emoji sets and walks you through the whole process. If you just want to turn a photo into a sticker quickly, Telegram has a built-in editor: open the sticker panel from the input field in any chat and tap "+". Once it's published, send the set to a few people and see which stickers they actually use: that's the best feedback on your choice of emotions.
- before uploading, double-check the size and format of every file;
- give the set a clear name that explains the character or theme;
- for your portfolio, put together a presentation: sketches, palette, every sticker on light and dark backgrounds;
- note which stickers didn't land and redraw them in version two.
💡 Share the set in the community and ask for feedback on something specific: does each emotion read at a glance, and does the set look like one series?
You're not alone with these questions
We counted what people ask about most in our community. Learning and portfolios lead, and a sticker pack combines both: it's an exercise and a finished case study at once.
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Introduce yourself
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Questions and answers
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What size should Telegram stickers be?
For static and video stickers, one side must be exactly 512 pixels and the other 512 or less. Vector animated stickers in TGS format use a 512×512 canvas. Static and video emoji must be exactly 100×100 pixels. Draw with room to spare on a square canvas that's a multiple of 512 px, then scale down before export. Leave a little space around the edges so the white stroke isn't cut off.
What format should I save stickers in?
Static stickers: PNG or WEBP. Video stickers: WEBM with the VP9 codec, no audio, up to 3 seconds and up to 256 KB. Vector animated stickers: TGS, exported from After Effects with the Bodymovin-TG plugin. For a first set, it's easiest to start with static PNGs on a transparent background and add animation in version two.
Do I need to be able to draw to make stickers?
No, though drawing helps. Stickers can be built from simple geometric shapes, letters or your own photos: Telegram even has a built-in editor that turns a photo into a sticker. A clear idea and one readable emotion per sticker matter more than technique.
Can a sticker pack go in a designer's portfolio?
Yes, it's a good small case study: it shows character work, consistency across a series and working within technical constraints. Show sketches, the palette, the final stickers on light and dark backgrounds, and explain who the set is for and why you chose those emotions.
Is the Spaceberry community paid?
No, Spaceberry Community is completely free. It's supported by Spaceberry Foundation, a non-profit public organization. All you need to join is a Telegram account: tap the button on this page, introduce yourself and ask your first question. The community has 1,504 designers who share their work, give feedback and take part in design games with the same brief for everyone. Conversations are in Ukrainian.
Share your sticker pack with the community
Join 1,504 designers who learn, share their work and play design games. Show your first stickers and get feedback. The community talks in Ukrainian.
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