Stamp Your Photographs.

July 20, 2008

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Stamp Your Photographs.

by Elinor Stecker-Orel
Making Real Rubber Stamps Using Your Own Photos.

Article rating: 6.30

It's possible! You can make honest-to-goodness rubber stamps from your own photographs. No carving, no skills needed just a little patience and the supplies in a kit from a company called Artisan's Choice

You begin with a high-contrast black-and-white version of your photo, made either on the computer or in a copy machine; then use the compounds and supplies in the kit. There are several steps involved, all of them easy. The illustrated directions are generally clear, but click here for our helpful suggestions. The kit is $49.95 and refills are available.

Rubber Stamp Directions

Supplementary hints for making rubber stamps from Artisan's Choice rubber stamp kit.

Here's what to do:

Making a high-contrast image on the computer: You must eliminate all gray tones, leaving only pure blacks and whites. With your image-editing program, lower the saturation until you have a black-and-white image, or convert the image to grayscale. Then play with contrast and brightness to control which areas you want to be dark or light. You may need to draw some additional lines or eliminate some areas. Size the image to slightly less than 2 1/ 2 inches square.

Printing on transparency film: See your printer specifications for the correct settings for transparency film. Also set it for black ink, not colors. If you are using a transparency film not made by your printer's manufacturer, you may do better with a different paper setting, such as "glossy photo" instead of "transparency." Do some tests.

Powering the mini black light: The light requires four AA batteries (not included). Here's how they should be inserted: With the tube facing away from you, place two batteries on the right, plus-terminals up. Place the other batteries minus-side up, on the left. Since the battery case is not marked, it's a good idea to do it yourself with white ink.

Removing plastic "sealer sheet": Tweezers will help.

Filling with rubber: Before mixing the "RubberGoop," protect you work surface with paper towels or newspaper. After filling the mold, smooth it to make the mixture as level as possible.

Removing cured rubber: Before lifting it out, loosen the edges of the rubber with a pointed but not too sharp object, such as nail file.

Glueing stamp to wood block: Don't use too much glue; just enough to cover well. Spread it evenly over back of the stamp, using a craft stick or something similar. Be careful not to get glue on the front of the stamp. If you get glue on your fingers, you can remove it with nail-polish remover; UnDu doesn't work.

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