Creating Custom Image Stamps: Tutorial for Silver Clay Artwork and Handprint Jewellery

This is just a very quick video tutorial, to help students of my Artwork Jewellery and Handprint Jewellery Courses, who are having difficulty with their stamp making process and who need more help to understand how to make a stamp in word.

This short video tutorial is to compliment the more indepth training received on my Artwork Jewelleryand Handprint Jewellery Training Courses.  Therefore, please refer back to that more comprehensive training and use this short video tutorial, along with the extra bonus video tutorial's referred to at the foot of this article, to expand your knowledge of how to make a stamp for printing and how to turn a drawing into a stamp. 

Throughout my Artwork Jewellery and Handprint Jewellery Courses, you will be taken through all of the necessary stages of how to make a stamp at home, custom image stamp making and how to turn a drawing into a stamp, to produce beautiful, high quality Artwork Jewellery and Handprint Jewellery. 

First of all, before you begin organising your images in word, it is important to follow some important Stamp Preparation Guidelines and refer to my video on how to make a stamp in photoshop as it is imperative that you have edited your image in Photoshop, Gimp or any other image editing Software first, before you attempt to make a custom image stamp or turn a drawing into a stamp, otherwise you will not be successful in making a  detailed stamps, necessary to make Artwork Jewellery and Handprint Jewellery.

Once you understand how to make a stamp in Photoshop (Gimp, or any other image editing Software) you can then move onto the second stage; How to make a stamp in Word. 

How to make as Stamp in Microsoft Word for Printing

1. Open up a Word document (Microsoft or Mac version).
2. Create a rectangle shape, where you will need to place any drawings you wish to turn into stamps. The rectangle shape that you create, needs to be the same size or slightly larger than the Photo Polymer Gel Sachet that you are going to use to make your custom image or personalised stamps. You will see the dimensions of each of the Photo Polymer Gel Sachets in your Photo Polymer Stamp Making Kit.  They come in two sizes, medium and a small.  Once you know the dimensions of the Photo Polymer Gel Sachet that you wish to use, you can then calculate, what size to make your rectangle box in Word.  You can do this, either by using the Ruler Tool in Microsoft Word, or by holding the Photo Polymer Gel Sachet up to the screen to make sure that your rectangle shape is just a little bit larger than the Photo Polymer Gel Sachet that you will be using. To do this, first ensure that you are in 100% view in Word, then, you will find it very easy to size up your rectangle shape to the correct size.
3. To create your rectangle shape in word, go to Insert > Shape and insert a rectangle.  Then size it up as explained above. If the rectangles are not automatically created in black, left click on it and go to Format Auto Shape, to change the fill color to No Fill and change the line color to black.
4. Now that you have a rectangle with a black outline and no fill colour, sized up to the correct size for the Photopolymer Gel Sachet that you are using, we now need to insert some text boxes.  To do this go to > insert > text box and draw a little text box within your larger rectangle template.
5. Once you've inserted your text box(es) you then want to insert one of the inverted negative images that you should have previously created in Photoshop, or your chosen image editing software.   Go to Insert > Photo > Image from File and insert the inverted image into the text box that you just created. Then duplicate this process by creating another text box and inserting another image into it.  Continue this process until your rectange is optimised with all of the inverted images that you wish to make stamps of.  The reason for putting the images all into a text box, is because it makes it easier for us to move all of the images around, so that we can maximize and optimize the use of the Photo Polymer Gel Sachet's, allowing us to fill the rectangle template with as many images as possible.
6. Make sure that you've got a border of around 1 centimeter around all 4 eges of the rectangle, so that the inverted images are not too close to the edge.  This is important, as there is a seal around the inside edge of the Photo Polymer Gel Sachets which would cause issues with your stamp.  When we come to the actual stamp making process, it will be necessary to cut around this seam, so it's important that you don't position your inverted Images right up to the edge of your rectangle template, otherwise you will risk having to cut part of your images away.  
7. When you have filled your rectangle box with as many inverted images as you can, whilst leaving a good border around the edge and in between each text/box image, move the text boxes around to optimize the space within your rectangle template.
8. Next, you will need to adjust the images to the correct size to fit nicely on your Artwork Jewellery or Handprint Jewellery Charms.  To do this, left click on the image and go to Format Picture to select the size you want your images to be.  Typiclaly for most Artwork Jewellery or Handprint Jewellery Charms, you will want them to be about two centimeters square.  However, to double check that they are the correct size for whatever shape and size charm you are creating, get the Shape Cutter that you will be using to make your Artwork Jewellery or Handprint Charms and hold it over the screen to check that your inverted image fits within the shape cutter nicely, leaving enough room to add the hole for the jump ring, and also any writing or personalisation that you are planning to add.  So long as you are in 100% view, you can be confident that your images will be of the correct size.  Make sure that you are clicking on the actual image and not the text box to adjust your image size.  
9. Once you are happy with the size of your images, fill up the rest of rectangle template with images, to optimize your Photo Polymer Gel Sachets, ensuring that you leave a space around each text box/Image, so that they are not too cramped, otherwise you will find it difficult to cut out the images once they have been made into a photo polymer stamp.
10. Next, you will need to change the fill color of each of the text boxes that your inverted images are located in, to black.  To do this go to Format > Text box > Colors and Lines > Change Fill Color > black. You will need to repeat this process with each and every text box within your rectangle template. 
11. Once you have optimised your rectangle template with your inverted images, adjustd them all to the correct size and changed the fill colour of the text boxes to black, next left click on the actual rectangle shape and change the fill colour to black too.  
12. You should now have a black rectangle shape, filled with all of your inverted negatives, which are ready to print out.
13. When you come to print your Negatives, you need to do a couple of things, as follows:  a) Change your printer settings to print on photo matte paper b) Change your printer settings to print in black ink only. (Don't print in Color or Greyscale). People often find this confusing, assuming that because the image is black and white, that this won't make a difference, but it is very important that you adjust the ink settings to print in black ink only, to ensure that your Negative Arwork is true black. c) Change the ink density or ink volume to full ink.  Most ink jet printers will have the function to print in black ink only, but if for some reason your printer doesn't have this option and you can't get your negtives to print black enough, I recommend that you print your negatives out twice   and overlay them, to make them as black as possible and prevent any light from coming through.  d) When you print your negatives, make sure that you print them onto the special ink jet transparency film provided in the Photo Polymer Stamp Making Kit. This Transparency film has a special coated side and it's imortant that you print on the coated side.  To check which side is coated, simply lick your finger, touch the transparency film and you'll be able to tell which is coated side, because your finger will stick to it. e) When you have printed out your Negative Artwork,  hold it up to the light to check that you can't see any light coming through. If you can see light coming through, your artwork is not black enough. This usually means that you haven't adjusted the brightness and contrast in the image editing stage or your printer hasn't printed it out black enough. (Double check you have adjusted your printer settings to print in black ink only with full ink volume).

Once you are confident that you have created a negative which is solid black and won't let light through, you can move onto the process of how to make a Custom Image Stamp and turn your drawing into a Stamp.