Stamping your prints

aslanivo · Oct 18, 2005

In the old days, photographers used to stamp the back of their prints with their company name, contact info etc. I'd like to do this -- how is it done? Do you use the regular office type rubber stamps and stamp ink pads? Any worries about the ink seeping through to the print? What info do you place there?

Dave Parker · Oct 18, 2005

You need to check with Porters Camera they used to sell stamps and ink designed for this very thing, if you use a normal office supply type stamp you run the risk of the ink bleeding through on the print.

I no longer stamp prints, but picked up some small clear Avery Lables that I print and stick on the back of the print..

Dave

John Cook · Oct 18, 2005

In the old days when I used to do that for my advertising studio prints, we had a custom stamp made by a local typesetting company and used a regular ink stamp pad. This was, of course, for fiber-based prints.

The information would individually pertain to your line of photography. Obviously name, address, copyright, etc. Date, negative file number or commercail job number. Whatever would facillitate finding the negative to make reprint orders.

RC paper requires a special spirit-based quick-dry ink. It is touchy to work with. The PPofA magazine used to carry classified ads for this sort of thing. Portrait people often make a lot of money from re-orders.

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 18, 2005

I think somewhere on the Library of Congress website there is a recipe for archival ink.

Dave Parker · Oct 18, 2005

The last three galleries that I have displayed in, requested that I use the clear lables over the stamping...

Dave

Mick Fagan · Oct 18, 2005

In my day job I'm a rubber stamp manufacturer. There are various ways of stamping your details onto the back of resin coated paper (plastic).

Depending on what country you are in I could direct you to some of the ways it is possible to do these days.

The normal way was to use a rubber (should be rubber not polymer) stamp and a solvent based ink.

The reason is that normal rubber stamp ink is water with a dye in it. The water which is the carrier, drys into the substrate (paper) and leaves the dye on top. With plastic or non porous surfaces, you require a carrier that will dry up when it hits the atmosphere, leaving the dye stuck to the surface, sort of like oil based house paint.

There is also the possibility of quick drying pre-inked stamps. Actually the latest in quick drying stamping products on the market today. The trade name is Ultifast and the stamps come in two sizes. The image area available for the smaller one is 19x19mm whilst the larger one is 55x19mm. They do work very well on all resin coated papers that I use, either colour or B&W.

I recently did a test on colour paper by processing a sheet of paper through my Printo roller transport RA4 chemicals. I then did a second run with a stamped impression on the back, it came out perfectly.

Mick.

Gay Larson · Oct 18, 2005

I like the idea of the clear labels. nice and easy...Thanks

tim atherton · Oct 18, 2005

Gay Larson said:
I like the idea of the clear labels. nice and easy...Thanks

and the glue will probably do very nice things to your print eventually - steer clear of them

Dave Parker · Oct 18, 2005

tim said:
and the glue will probably do very nice things to your print eventually - steer clear of them

Wrong,

if you purchase the archivial labels that Avery sells you will not have any problems at all, I have only been doing it for about 15 years now...

Dave

Davec101 · Oct 19, 2005

This is a bit different but i emboss my prints, you usually can get this done where you get rubberstamps done, they are more expensive but i personally like the look of it compared to rubberstamps. A number of recent exhibitions i have been to i have seen numerous well known photographers embossing there prints.

Anyway just thought i would add this.

Breunes · Oct 19, 2005

Dave

Could you describe how that embossing is done. I saw that in Paris and found it very nice.

Ben

Mick Fagan · Oct 19, 2005

Ben, I also manufacture embossing seals.

Basically you have a female and male plate.

The male is on the bottom with raised lettering, the female plate is on the top. These plates are either inserted into an old style cast iron machine (very expensive) or the modern LASER engraved plates, on a small machine. The small machine is sort of like a paper stapler on steriods.

http://www.mrmarking.com/sealpres.html

Hopefully this link will take you to a page of seal presses.

Mick.

Gerald Koch · Oct 19, 2005

There is a company (sorry can't remember the name) that make a devices that will print text on the border of a print. It contains a custom negative with the text and a battery and lamp. You place the device on the border and press the switch to photographically print the text. You then make your print as usual.

juan · Oct 19, 2005

Dave - what number Avery labels are you using? I corresponded with Avery a year or so ago and they told me that their clear labels are not archival and suggested I not use them for archivally processed photographs. I believe they said the clear ones are vinyl, which is well known for out-gassing. They recommended another (white) lable that is archival. I'd much rather use the clear ones if they are in fact archival.
juan

Dave Wooten · Oct 19, 2005

Both Brooks Jensen and Clyde Butcher use an embossed seal on some of their editions of original prints....it looks very good and doesnt detract etc.

aslanivo · Oct 19, 2005

How do you emboss a print without damaging it? It must be large print too, for the bumpy mark not to distract from it. How is mounting done, if at all?

Robert Hall · Oct 19, 2005

I've looked for embossing stamps. Dick Arentz uses one; that's where I saw it. Very classy.

Hard to use on silver unless you use the next size up for your prints.

I've not found a place yet that will do exactly what I would like without costing an arm and a leg.

Anyone have any references?

Davec101 · Oct 19, 2005

Breunes

I think others have answered your question well. I have embossed on resin coated prints and they have turned out fine. I like the way it is quite subtle and does not initially draw the eye away from your image, the way a signiture can sometimes do.

Robert

I had two embosess done, which was a total cost of about £140. This also included the press which is around £50. I thougt this was fair as they had to manually engrave some of the details on the press.

lee · Oct 19, 2005

I never stamp the back of prints. The back of drymount boards is another subject. I have a stamp that I got at a stamp making store

lee\c

tim atherton · Oct 19, 2005

Satinsnow said:
Wrong,

if you purchase the archivial labels that Avery sells you will not have any problems at all, I have only been doing it for about 15 years now...

Dave

I'll tell that to our conservator next time we have to try and figure out what to do aboutthe stains left on a print by the label... We haven't found the Avery ones to be very much better than any other

Flotsam · Oct 19, 2005

lee said:
I never stamp the back of prints. The back of drymount boards is another subject. I have a stamp that I got at a stamp making store

lee\c

I'd would guess that the drymount tissue would be an effective barrier to any unlikely chance of the ink ever bleeding through the board.

Stamping your prints

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency