Rubber stamp

This article is about the craft. For the political metaphor,

see Rubber stamp (politics).
For other uses, see Stamp.
Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in

Ink pad from second half of the 20th century. From the Museo
del Objeto del Objeto collection

canized rubber image with an adhesive foam backing is

attached to a cling vinyl sheet which allows it to be used
with an acrylic handle for support. These cling rubber
stamps can be stored in a smaller amount of space and
typically cost less than the wood mounted versions. They
can also be positioned with a greater amount of accuracy
With modern laser-engraving technology, personalized rubber
due to the stampers ability to see through the handle bestamps are easy to use and it takes only minutes to make them
ing used. Temporary stamps with simple designs can be
in a store.
carved from a potato. The ink coated rubber stamp is
pressed onto any type of medium such that the colored
image is transferred to the medium. The medium is generally some type of fabric or paper. Other media used are
wood, metal, glass, plastic, rock. High volume batik uses
liquid wax instead of ink on a metal stamp.
Commercially available rubber stamps fall into three categories: stamps for use in the oce, stamps used for decorating objects or those used as childrens toys.

1 Business rubber stamps

There are three distinct types of rubber stamps: traditional, where the pad is in a separate container from the
stamp; Self-inking stamps, which have a self-contained
Example of stamp carved from wood, approximately 1940s.
die that rests against the pad until the die is ipped 180
Swedish text. English: Paid by collect on delivery".
degrees to make an imprint; and pre-inked stamps, where
which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied the die itself is actually impregnated with the ink.
to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser Rubber stamps for business commonly show an address
engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber. The rub- and corporate logo. They often have movable parts that
ber is often mounted onto a more stable object such as allow the user to adjust the date or the wording of the
a wood, brick or an acrylic block. Increasingly the vul- stamp. They are used to date incoming mail, as well as
1

RUBBER STAMPS AS AN ART FORM

4 Rubber stamps as an art form

rubber stamps seen in Museum of Genocide Victims Vilnius

Contour stamp

to denote special handling for documents. In some countries it is common practice for formal documents such as
contracts to be rubber-stamped over the signature as additional evidence of authenticity.
Business stamps are generally available from stationers or
direct from the manufacturer. Popular stamps include address stamps and check endorsement stamps. Among the
few areas where business stamps are seeing sales growth
is in the merging of the commercial stamp market with
the creative/art side. Many people are opting to add color
and art for a decorative eect to their address stamps.
Some artists have been using such stamps to decorate A toy rubber stamp featuring a pterosaur
pieces of art for special eects or in an ironic way.

Automated rubber stamps

Document marking can be done from within the users

word processor. This can be done manually by creating
the stamps to appear on the documents in automated
document marking software for Microsoft Word. This allows each page to be stamped as it is printed with the user
selected stamps created electronically. This provides the
user with a standardized and consistent document management solution for paper-based workows.

Making of stamp by photopolymer method

As rubber stamping increasingly gains popularity, mostly

in the United States, it also gains a reputation as an art
form. Some participants choose to carve their own rubber
stamps, either of old-fashioned gum erasers or eraser-like
rubber. Companies like Speedball or MasterCarve supply
sets to amateurs wishing to carve their own rubber
3 Ready made decorative rubber carving
stamps, with some including linocut tools. The print from
the carved rubber stamp is viewed as work of art on its
stamps (art stamps)
own, or one or more stamps are used to embellish a work
Art stamps have become fashionable in the United States, of art with other components.
more so than in Europe. While they are mostly regarded Other materials besides rubber may be used to produce
as childrens toys in Europe, in the U.S. they are available a stamp. Woodcut and linocut, the carving of linoleum,
in intricate designs and are used to decorate objects. Art are art forms based on the same principles. Linoleum is
stamps can be used for decoration of useful things like pa- much harder than rubber and thus requires special tools.
per for letters and greeting cards and similar things, but Woodcut is mostly used by professional artists, requiralso can be combined with other techniques to create tra- ing much talent and patience. Rubber carving material
ditional art.
can be purchased, but is marketed as a childs toy and

3
not widely used. Additionally, photopolymer stamps are 3. Marking Devices Publishing Company
growing in popularity. They are most often produced in a
set of coordinated images using a clear polymer material
on an acetate carrier sheet for storage and packaging. The 8 External links
stamps are peeled from the carrier sheet and applied to a
clear acrylic handle. This allows the stamper to view the
TAM Rubber Stamp Archive
image through the handle and eect precise placement
of the image where desired. Photopolymer stamps are
generally produced in the United States for sale domestically and internationally. Similar clear stamps made of
silicone are produced by U.S. companies in China. Silicone stamps have many of the same properties of the photopolymer stamps. The production of clear stamps makes
storage of a large collection of images easier, since they
are all used with just one set of various sized handles.
They are also often very economical being produced in
sets of several images which work together to form a cohesive look.
There are several possibilities to vary the look of carved
stamps. Paints, pigments and dye inks create dierent
eects, extending the use of rubber stamping from paper
to fabrics, wood, metal, glass, and so on. Ink pads can be
purchased that allow for embossing and there are markers
that can be used to ink stamp pads with colors for a multicolor look. The use of rubber stamps can be combined
with other materials. The image may be embellished by
the addition of chalks, inks, paints, bers and a variety of
other ephemera and embellishments.
Hand-carved rubber stamps are often used in mail art
or artist trading cards because they tend to be small and
allow the making of series. The TAM Rubber Stamp
Archive has a collection of prints of rubber stamps mailartists used since 1983 (see link). Stamping is also often used in handmade cardmaking, scrapbooking, and
letterboxing.

Stamping communities

Stamping has become a very popular home based craft,

and there are a number of forums, some with many thousands of members. Craft stampers tend to be associated with other paper crafts, such as card making and
scrapbooking.[1][2]

See also
Seal (device)

References

[1] Scrapbook Update. Splitcoast Stampers Sold.

[2] TradingMarkets. Internet Brands acquires Splitcoaststampers.com.

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Rubber stamp Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_stamp?oldid=713312699 Contributors: Zundark, Montrealais, JohnOwens,

Eurleif, Arpingstone, Ahoerstemeier, Vzbs34, Kaihsu, Popsracer, JonMoore, Morwen, Jeeveser, Bcorr, Chris Roy, Meelar, Hadal, Mlk,
Lady Tenar, Ancheta Wis, Snap Davies, Jfdwol, Solipsist, Wmahan, Andycjp, Jiy, Habbit, Sole Soul, MPerel, Atlant, Inky, Noahveil, Clubmarx, Vuo, BadSeed, Woohookitty, Dlauri, Julo, Sparkit, JHMM13, Ian Pitchford, Rell Canis, YurikBot, Redthing, RussBot, ScottMainwaring, SpuriousQ, Rsrikanth05, Mamawrites, Mhkay, Neier, SmackBot, Elonka, Ohnoitsjamie, Bluebot, Keith Bates, Can't sleep, clown
will eat me, OrphanBot, Nyletak, COMPFUNK2, Hateless, Dreadstar, Lisasmall, Salamurai, Kcaptk, Onionmon, Hgrobe, Newone, Gogo
Dodo, Thijs!bot, Sebasbronzini, Picus viridis, Goldenrowley, Tjpollard, JAnDbot, Leuko, LuvWikis, Indon, DGG, Jlf0612, Stoddo1,
Twich1, STBotD, Inwind, Sroc, Jacobrdavis, Dncbanks, AlleborgoBot, Kovanen, SieBot, ClaresOce, Xenobiologista, Yintan, Vantey,
Qzk9, Thelmadatter, Invertzoo, Cavendishy, Martarius, ClueBot, Craftmag, Crvenotopce, Rockfang, Addbot, Wsuk, AndersBot, Simplystamps, OsBlink, , Luckas-bot, Yobot, Stampo, Stampguru, AnomieBOT, Innab, Ulric1313, DynamoDegsy, Obersachsebot, TechBot, Petropoxy (Lithoderm Proxy), J04n, CellarDoor2001, Msprofessor, Miross11, Surv1v4l1st, Jc3s5h, Miross1111, Enobrev,
Serols, Kbdkbd, Mean as custard, Ross1091, Sbrs, John of Reading, DavidHachmeister, , AvicBot, ZroBot, Erianna, Terbearco,
Freediving-beava, 16bitz, Helpsome, Degvalentine, BattyBot, Lusiba, LukeSept, Jamesx12345, Coolalee, Mannsurjit, SpiritedMichelle,
SovalValtos, Philamann and Anonymous: 116

9.2

Images

File:Ambox_important.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work, based o of Image:Ambox scales.svg Original artist: Dsmurat (talk contribs)
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Dinosaur_rubber_stamp.jpeg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Dinosaur_rubber_stamp.jpeg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Liftarn using CommonsHelper. Original artist: The
original uploader was Eurleif at English Wikipedia
File:Kontur-stempel_hg.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kontur-stempel_hg.jpg License: CC BY
3.0 Contributors: own work, Schulhistorische Sammlung Bremerhaven Original artist: Hannes Grobe (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/User_talk:Hgrobe' title='User talk:Hgrobe'>talk</a>)
File:MODOInkStamp.jpg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/MODOInkStamp.jpg
License:
CC BY Contributors: Museo del Objeto del Objeto Original artist: Unknown<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718'
title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img
alt='wikidata:Q4233718'
src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/
Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png
1.5x,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/
Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050' data-le-height='590' /></a>
File:Making-of-stamp-by-photopolymer-method.svg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/
Making-of-stamp-by-photopolymer-method.svg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:
File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
File:RubberStamp_blank.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/RubberStamp_blank.jpg License: CC
BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Innab
File:Rubber_stamps_seen_in_Museum_of_Genocide_Victims_Vilnius.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/a/ab/Rubber_stamps_seen_in_Museum_of_Genocide_Victims_Vilnius.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work
Original artist: Kaihsu Tai
File:Wiktionary-logo-en.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Wiktionary-logo-en.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Vector version of Image:Wiktionary-logo-en.png. Original artist: Vectorized by Fvasconcellos (talk contribs),
based on original logo tossed together by Brion Vibber
File:Wood_stamp_with_imprint.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Wood_stamp_with_imprint.jpg
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Freediving-beava

9.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0