Wet ink stamp
A stamp pressed onto paper in real ink, as opposed to a stamp image applied to a file.
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The phrase only exists because of what it is contrasted with. Nobody said wet ink until documents began being marked on screen, and now it is the term a registry, bank or counterparty uses when it wants the physical sheet, marked by hand.
A wet signature is the same idea for a name rather than a mark, and a body that asks for one usually wants both. The requirement, where it is real, comes from whoever receives the document rather than from any general rule, and it differs by jurisdiction and by document type.
Printing a file and calling the toner wet ink does not satisfy it. If the requirement has been stated, use a physical stamp on the physical sheet; if nobody has stated it, the printing step is one you invented.
Related terms
- Self-inking stamp: A rubber stamp with a built-in ink pad that re-inks the die after each impression.
- Digital stamp: A stamp that exists as an image file, placed onto a document on screen rather than pressed onto paper.
- Rubber stamp: A hand stamp with a moulded rubber die, inked from a pad and pressed onto paper.