yea I take a small peice of paper and folder it in half and use that straight edge to evenly spread the paste on the die, this is one of the best ways to do it I think. If you just put a drop and throw on the heatstink, you're likely to give yourself a higher avg. temp because it's not tranferring heat evenly, or if paste squishes out the sides, that can lower your overall temp also. Even spread paper thin = icey temps on a hot day =)