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Digital stamp library
29 August 2026 ยท Estamplab
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A team with one stamp uses it for everything, including documents it does not fit. A team with twenty uses the wrong one, because nobody can tell them apart in a folder. Both are the same problem, and more stamps is not the answer to either.
Open the stamp maker and start from any of these
The set most teams actually need
Four or five, not twenty:
- The company mark, for identity, on anything going out.
- A dated RECEIVED mark, for anything coming in.
- A dated PAID or APPROVED mark, for the sign-off step.
- A signature block with a name and title line, for routine authorisations.
- A status mark or two, usually DRAFT and CONFIDENTIAL, which prevent the two accidents that actually cost money.
Everything beyond that should earn its place. The four stamps every small business needs makes the case for the core set.
Name them so the right one is obvious
The commonest cause of the wrong stamp on a document is a filename like stamp_final_2.png.
A name that works has three parts: what it is, who it belongs to, and what it is for.
estamplab-company-seal-blue.png
estamplab-received-dated.png
estamplab-approved-jm-signature.pngInclude the colour if you keep more than one. Do not include a version number: a stamp that needed a v2 should have replaced v1, and both existing is how the old address stays in circulation for two years.
Keep the source, not just the image
Store the SVG alongside the PNG. The PNG is the working file; the SVG is the one a stamp maker can cut a die from and the one that survives being resized. When a detail changes, editing the design here and re-downloading beats trying to patch a bitmap.
Custody matters for exactly one of them
The signature stamp.
A signature stamp is a delegation of authority whether or not anybody wrote that down. A physical one in an unlocked drawer is available to everybody in the building; a shared file on an open drive is the same thing with a bigger blast radius.
Three controls, none of them onerous:
- Say in writing which documents it may be used on. One line is enough, and it is the difference between a control and an assumption.
- Keep it in an account rather than a folder, so access is something you grant and revoke.
- Add a date, and a serial number where it matters, so an impression can be tied to one document rather than being one of a thousand identical marks.
The rest of the reasoning is in signature stamps explained.
Retire a stamp properly
When an address, a registration number or a signatory changes, every stamp carrying the old detail is now wrong, and the failure is silent: it keeps working, it just says something untrue.
Delete the old file rather than renaming it old-. A file called company-seal-old.png is a file somebody will use.
This is one of the quiet advantages of the digital version: a rubber die that has gone out of date sits in a drawer looking usable for years, and a set of six dies across three offices goes out of date all at once. We put numbers on that in what a rubber stamp actually costs.
Common questions
How many stamps does a team need?
Four or five. Identity, received, approved or paid, a signature block, and a status mark. Beyond that they stop being distinguishable at a glance, which is when the wrong one starts appearing on documents.
How should I name stamp files?
What it is, whose it is, what it is for, and the colour if you keep several. No version numbers: replace rather than accumulate.
Who should hold the signature stamp?
One named person, with a written note of which document types it may be applied to. It is a delegation of authority and worth treating as one.
How do I stop an out-of-date stamp being used?
Delete it. Renaming it keeps it in circulation, and a stamp carrying a former address does not look broken, which is exactly the problem.
Can several people share one stamp design?
Yes, and for the company mark they should: one design used consistently is the point. The signature stamp is the one that should not be shared.
Read next: the four stamps every small business needs, and serial numbers on stamps.