Hey folks. I had need of a stamp saying Thank You for some cards I’m making, so I thought I’d walk folks through the process in case you want to try it. First of all, I’m using Art Stamp Laser Polymer from Jackson Marking Products. I prefer it for my stamping as you can mount it to an acrylic block and see through it to where you are stamping. They do also supply the opaque rubber laser stamp material as well, and you would prepare the file the same way, but your settings would be different in the Glowforge. I haven’t used it so I can’t advise further on it.
Here are the steps I used to make the stamp:
In Photoshop, create a canvas larger than the image needs to be. Fill it with black. Then create a new layer.
On the new layer create the image in white. I typed the Thank You in a nice font and cropped the image down to the size of the final stamp:
And this is what your Layers palette looks like:
If you are making a text stamp, now would be the time to rasterize the type (Layer…Rasterize…Type).
Right click on the top layer and choose Blending Options. Click on Outer Glow.
Here are the options I chose for my outer glow:
I did create a custom contour for this but I doubt it made much difference. You can just use the one called Half Round.
This step is Very Important, especially if it is a text stamp! You will need to flip the image sideways to make the stamped image read in the right direction (Image…Transform…Flip Horizontal):
Now save it as a PNG and bring it into the Glowforge.
If you are using the Art Stamp Laser Polymer from Jackson Marking Products, it comes with three layers: a stiff backing layer (this is what I worried might be PVC), a gooey middle raw polymer layer, and a PVC thin plastic top protective film. Trim with scissors a piece of the material to a size a little larger than you need and remove the top protective film. Secure the blank stamp to the tray with tape or pins.
Center your design on the piece. Don’t forget to enter the thickness (mine was 0.144") in the Unknown Material area. These engrave settings worked well for me:
Run the engrave. When you are done, take the stamp and wash it well with detergent and water–the lasering leaves an oily byproduct on the surface of the stamp (probably melted polymer). Here’s what it looks like at that point:
Peel the stamp off the backing layer and trim the unengraved portion off with scissors. You can store the stamp on the backing layer when not using it.
I like the Outer Glow as well, but with the “More Precise” option, rather than “Softer”, which seems to make a more distinct “ramp” as the gradient forms a more consistent ring around the image to be stamped.
Depending on the size of the stamp though, AND the DPI of the image, I’ve found the SIZE and RANGE sliders need to be played with a little, but not much. The 3rd image is the settings i used on the inked stamp image with the shoulders highlighted below.
For these settings, if you put the range lower than 50-51%, the white starts to grow and will make a plateau around your design instead of a slope - the opposite of what we want!
That dot is just the tiniest bit to the right and below center, but you can see that it’s actively represented in the image of the physical stamp above. The GF does a good job of replicating that slope!
You’re my hero for this one…I have a sudden need of making a rubber stamp for a company event. You’ve got some great instructions (and even the settings) here!
This is a FABULOUS tutorial. I am using Inkscape for a tiny stamp with detail that definitely needs to be “built up”, but I do not know where to find or what the inkscape commands are for outer glow blending option and “rasterize”. Can anyone out there help me out?
@seanhunter79 and @eeriearmory: Sorry, I’m not an Inkscape user so I can’t answer you. Actually, I’m thinking you should use the free program GIMP (similar to Photoshop) for this. My tutorial was written with a bitmap/raster editor in mind rather than a vector editor.
