How to measure a tapered tumbler for a template
A tapered wrap needs three numbers: the top diameter, the bottom diameter and the height between them, all taken where your design starts and ends. Here is where to put the tape, and how to check the result before you print a batch.
Step by step
- Mark where the wrap starts and ends. Most tumblers have a lip or lid seat at the top and a curve or ridge at the base that a wrap can’t lie flat on. Put a strip of masking tape on each line so every measurement uses the same two lines.
- Measure the top. Calipers across the outside give the diameter directly. No calipers? Wrap a flexible tape, or a strip of paper you mark and then lay flat on a ruler, around the cup on the top line. That is the circumference: enter it and choose Circumference. The tool divides it by π for you.
- Measure the bottom on the lower line the same way. On a tapered cup this number is smaller than the top.
- Measure the height between the two lines. Stand the cup on a table and measure straight up, keeping the ruler vertical. If it is easier to lay a tape along the sloping side, use that length and choose Along side.
- Make a paper test. Enter the numbers, download the PDF, print it at 100% (“Actual size”) and check the scale square. Cut the template out and wrap it around the cup before you print on transfer paper or vinyl.
Getting it right
- Measure your own blank. Cups sold as the same capacity often differ between brands and batches, and a supplier’s template size is only right for that supplier’s cup.
- Circumference is usually more accurate than diameter. A small error across the cup becomes about three times bigger around it. A 1/16 in mistake on the diameter makes the wrap about 3/16 in too long or short.
- Diameter is outside to outside. Measure the widest point across the line, not across the opening on the inside.
- Height, not side length, unless you say so. On a tapered cup the side is a little longer than the straight-up height. Mixing them up bends the template slightly too much or too little, so tell the generator which one you measured.
- Leave room for a handle. On a handled cup, measure the gap you want to leave at the rim and enter it as the handle gap. The ends of the template are pulled in by that much at the top and in proportion at the bottom.
Reading the paper test
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Ends overlap or leave a gap evenly from top to bottom | Both diameters are off by about the same amount. Re-measure the circumferences. |
| Ends meet at the top but gap or overlap at the bottom | The bottom diameter is off. A gap means it was measured too small, an overlap too big. |
| The top edge climbs or drops as it goes round | The curve is wrong: check the height and whether it was measured straight up or along the side. |
| The template is too tall or too short | The two lines you measured between are not the ones you wrapped to. Re-mark them with tape. |