How to Make a Rubber Stamp Effect in Photoshop

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You can turn just about any artwork, logo, or text into a rubber stamp by following a few simple steps. You can even combine multiple layers into a single stamp, turning them into a Smart Object so that you can edit the contents later if you want to.

Prepare your layers

You can use as many layers as you like to make the stamp. I’ve made a round-cornered rectangle as a Shape layer for the outer border, then made each block of text as a separate layer because it’s easier to size and arrange them that way.

Make a Smart Object

The first step is to turn all the layers into a single layer. But rather than simply merging them, which will prevent you from editing them later, choose Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object instead.

Make a Layer Mask

Use Free Transform to rotate the stamp to a jaunty angle, then add a Layer Mask so that you can selectively hide parts of the layer. Do this by going to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All, which will create an empty mask.

Add some texture

When you paint in black on a Layer Mask, you hide the layer. To produce a random effect, set the foreground colors to the default black and white (use the keyboard shortcut D) and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. This creates a random texture, with the black areas hiding the layer.

Modify the texture

It’s unlikely you’re going to get perfect results with the Clouds filter first time. But it’s easy to modify: use the Dodge and Burn tools, set to Midtones, to paint over the mask – the Burn tool to darken it, so hiding more of the layer, and the Dodge tool to brighten it to reveal the layer. Remember that when using either of these tools, you can hold the alt or option key to access the other one temporarily.

Add some blur

For a more authentic appearance, click on the layer’s thumbnail to switch from the mask to the layer, and use Filter > Blur > Motion Blur to add a small amount of smudging to the stamp. Because it’s a Smart Object, this will be applied as a Smart Filter, which means you can always double-click it to vary the effect later.

Reduce the blur amount

Every Smart Filter comes with a mask, which you can use to reduce the effect. Select this mask in the Layers Panel, and drag the Density slider in the Properties Panel to make the smudging less strong.

Finishing off

Change the mode of the rubber stamp layer from Normal to Multiply, using the pop-up menu at the top of the Layers Panel, to make it look more like it’s impressed upon the paper. If you switch to the Mask and choose Image > Adjustments > Levels, you can drag the midpoint slider beneath the histogram to make the stamp more or less visible overall, for a more authentic appearance.

Rubber Stamp Video Tutorial

Check out the video version of this tutorial below, and get a link to download the original artwork at https://www.2minutephotoshop.com/how-to-make-a-rubber-stamp/.

Steve Caplin is a freelance photomontage artist based in London, whose satirical illustrations have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. He is the author of the best-selling How to Cheat in Photoshop, as well as 100% Photoshop, Art & Design in Photoshop and 3D Photoshop. He writes regularly for CreativePro and is an instructor at LinkedIn Learning. His YouTube channel 2 Minute Photoshop is a library of over 100 Photoshop tutorials, each just two minutes long, hosted at photoshop.london. When he’s not at his computer Steve builds improbable furniture, which can be seen at curieaux.com.
  • Toby DeVoss says:

    The best way to add texture to the stamp is to duplicate the wood image channel that contains the most contrast, creating an Alpha channel. Increase the contrast on the Alpha channel and load it into the layer mask on the stamp image. The mask can be edited to manipulate the intensity to produce the desired effect.

    This will make the stamp really look like it is stamped on wood.

  • John says:

    You can make a rubber stamp effect from photos using a Photoshop action:

    https://graphicriver.net/item/rubber-stamp-generator-photoshop-action/2857046

    • Steve Caplin says:

      Yes, that’s true. But if you simply run an Action you don’t learn anything about the process involved. The important thing here is not so much to be able to mimic my rubber stamp, but to learn the techniques involved so that you can then apply them to other tasks.

      • John says:

        That is also very true, if you want to learn how to create a rubber stamp effect from scratch your tutorial is great :)
        A Photoshop action comes in handy when you want a quick result for a deadline. Plus if you have multiple images you can use the action and the Batch option.

  • Saqib Ahmad says:

    Its Really Nice and Easy Tutorial to create stamp! Maybe I can use this to create few of my next mockups :)

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