Chinese seal maker and chop generator, in red ink
Type the characters, pick a square or round frame, and the layout follows the convention: red ink, characters read top to bottom and right to left.
Chinese seal maker and chop generator, in red ink templates, ready to edit
Open the stamp maker with any of these
Every preview on this page carries a faint Estamplab watermark. Your own download does not: the editor renders your stamp again, clean, as a transparent PNG, an SVG or a PDF. See the full template library.
A Chinese seal is laid out by rules that have not changed much in two thousand years, and getting them wrong is instantly visible to anybody who uses one. The ink is vermilion. A personal name seal is square. The characters are arranged in columns read from the top down and from the right, not the left. A company chop is usually round with the registered name curved around it and a star or a registration number in the middle. All of that is the default here rather than something to build by hand.
What you get
- Square name seals and round company chops, each with their own layout rules.
- Vertical character columns read right to left, which is how a seal is read.
- Vermilion red by default, the colour a seal paste actually leaves.
- A frame that can be plain, doubled, or worn the way a carved stone seal prints.
- Latin text alongside the characters where a company uses both.
How to make it
- Open the stamp maker and pick a shape, or start from a template.
- Type your wording, then set the colour, border and size.
- Add the date, time, serial number or logo, and position each one.
- Preview it live, then download. Designing and previewing are free.
Questions
What colour is a Chinese seal?
Red, specifically the vermilion of the cinnabar paste seals are pressed into. A black Chinese seal reads as wrong to anybody familiar with them.
Should the characters read left to right?
No. Traditional seal text is read from the top of the rightmost column downwards, then the next column to the left. A seal set left to right looks like a graphic rather than a seal.
What is the difference between a name seal and a company chop?
A name seal is personal, usually square, and carries a name. A company chop is the business mark, usually round, carries the registered company name and often a registration number, and is what a Chinese company uses in place of a signature on contracts.
Is a digital company chop accepted in China?
Electronic chops are recognised in Chinese law under conditions about control and reliability of the data, and many companies use them. Where a specific chop, a physical impression or a registered electronic chop is required by a counterparty, an authority or a bank, that requirement comes from them.
Can I make a Japanese hanko instead?
Yes. A hanko follows its own conventions, usually a round or oval seal with the family name, and the same maker handles it.
Estamplab is a design tool. This page describes common commercial practice rather than giving legal, tax or financial advice, and practice changes. Where a specific document matters, check the requirement with the body receiving it. Only produce a mark your own organisation or your own credentials are entitled to use.