Add a Stamp to a Photo

When to stamp the photo itself

Stamp the photo when the picture is the record: a proof of delivery, an expense receipt for the accounts team, a product shot marked as sample, or a page you only have as a scan. You can place as many stamps as you need, duplicate one with a click, and undo any step with Ctrl or Cmd+Z.

No stamp image yet? Design one in the online stamp maker or start from one of the stamp templates, save it to My Library, then pick it here from Add stamp. Signed-in free accounts can place the watermarked library preview while they try things out.

Settings that make a stamp look pressed in

Keep Blend with the photo switched on for paper. It multiplies the ink with the picture, so lines, creases and shadows show through the stamp the way they would through real ink. Switch it off on dark backgrounds, where multiplied ink would almost disappear.

Real stamps are rarely perfect, so small imperfections sell the effect. Lower the opacity to 80–90%, turn the stamp a few degrees, and try the Light or Worn ink texture to break up edges that look too clean. The ink colour presets cover red, blue, violet and black; Custom matches any other ink.

A transparent PNG gives the cleanest edge. A photo or scan of a stamp on white paper is cleaned up as it is added, so the paper is removed and the image is cropped to the ink. If traces of the paper remain, run it through Remove stamp background first and add the transparent file instead.

File formats and print size

JPG and PNG downloads keep the photo's own pixel size. JPG is the smaller file for email and upload forms; PNG is lossless, which suits scans with small print. PDF puts the photo on an A4, A3, A5 or Letter page with 10 mm margins, turned to landscape for wide photos and rendered at up to 300 DPI, so it prints at a predictable size.

The Size slider is a share of the photo's width. When the photo shows a whole A4 page, which is 210 mm wide, a 40 mm seal is about 19%: divide the stamp's real width by the page width to get the figure for any paper size.

Limits and what to do instead

Browsers cap image memory, so a photo above about 50 megapixels, or 16 on an iPhone or iPad, is scaled down when it opens; the header then shows the reduced size. If a HEIC photo will not open, save it as JPG on the phone and try again. The result is a flat image, so text in the picture cannot be selected or searched; when you have the original document, stamp that file instead.

Sometimes the stamp should hide what is beneath it, like a sticker over an old address. Give the stamp a solid backing with Add background to stamp, then turn blending off. Whatever you place, only use stamps and seals you are authorised to apply.