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Creating Custom Rubber Stamps with Neon Studio

Making high-quality rubber stamps with your Neon is a straightforward process once you understand how to create the necessary relief. This guide covers the design setup, mirroring, and material-specific tips.

1. The "Negative" Design Strategy

To create a stamp, the laser must engrave the background and leave the letters untouched (raised). In Neon Studio, we achieve this by using a black background and white text.

  1. Create the Base: Draw a black rectangle that will serve as the outer boundary of your stamp. Move this to your engraving layer.
  2. Add Text: Create your text or logo. Change the fill color to White.
  3. The Logic: The Neon only fires where it sees black pixels. By placing white text over a black rectangle, the laser will remove the background and leave the white areas at the original height of the rubber.

2. Alignment and Precision

For a professional look, your text must be perfectly centered within the stamp base.

  1. Select your text, hold Shift, and then select the black rectangle.
  2. Navigate to Object > Align and Distribute.
  3. Click the buttons for Center on Vertical Axis and Center on Horizontal Axis.

3. Mirroring: The Golden Rule

Remember: for a stamp to read correctly when pressed onto paper, the design on the rubber must be a mirror image.

  1. Select your entire design (Rectangle + Text).
  2. Click the Horizontal Flip (Mirror) icon in the top toolbar. Your text will now appear backward—this is correct!

Figure 1: Flipping the design horizontally for correct stamping (Coming Soon)

4. Material Tips: Working with Stamp Rubber

Not all rubbers are the same. Here are the professional standards for the Neon:

  • Engraving Side: Most laserable rubbers have a matte side and a glossy side. Usually, you should engrave on the matte side (confirm with your supplier).
  • High Resolution: For crisp text, change the engraving resolution to High in the top-right settings of Neon Studio.
  • Hardness & Parameters: * Softer rubbers may use Speed 100 / Power 20.
    • Harder, high-quality "low-odor" rubbers may require Speed 50 / Power 100.
    • Note: Harder rubbers might not cut all the way through in one pass. It is often easier to finish the outer cut with a utility knife once the deep engraving is done.

Pro Tip: Clean Up

Laser engraving rubber produces a fine gray dust. After the job is done, clean your stamp with a soft toothbrush and slightly soapy water to remove any residue from the crevices before mounting it to a handle.

Need help with rubber settings? Different brands require different "burn-in" depths. Contact Neon Laser Support if you need a parameter test file specifically for stamp production.