How big should your stamp be?

Common stamp sizes

Round company and brand seals are usually 38–45 mm across, about 1.5–1.75 inches. Return address stamps are commonly 50–65 mm wide. Loyalty-card, journal and hand stamps work at 15–30 mm. Square monograms and name seals range from about 20 mm for calligraphy to 45 mm for packaging.

These are typical ranges, not rules. If a printer or stamp maker specifies a size, use that requirement instead.

• Round seal: 38–45 mm (1.5–1.75 in)
• Return address rectangle: 50–65 mm (2–2.5 in) wide
• Invoice or office status stamp: 50–60 mm wide
• Loyalty card, journal or hand stamp: 15–30 mm
• Chinese name seal: 20–30 mm square

From millimeters to pixels at 300 DPI

StampLoom PNG files are made at 300 dots per inch. Pixel width equals millimeters ÷ 25.4 × 300, so a 45 mm stamp is about 531 pixels wide and a 60 mm stamp about 709 pixels. Rectangles keep a 1.75 : 1 ratio and ovals 1.5 : 1, so a 60 mm rectangle is about 34 mm tall.

The selected width includes a small transparent margin, so the inked border is slightly smaller than the file. That margin keeps the border from being clipped when the file is placed, rotated or printed.

Keep small lettering readable

Very small stamps lose fine detail. Below about 25 mm, shorten the curved lines, choose a sturdy typeface such as Oswald or Nunito, and use little or no aging effect. Thin double borders can merge when a rubber stamp is made, so check your supplier’s minimum line width.

Use the center size control to give the most important word more room, and remove optional lines rather than shrinking everything.

Print and place at actual size

Download the PDF and print with scaling set to 100% or Actual size; Fit to page changes the dimensions. In a document, insert the PNG and type the width you want: Word and Google Docs both accept an exact image width.

Measure one printed proof with a ruler before you print a batch of labels or send artwork to a supplier.