How to Make Custom Stamps to Use with the Acrobat 4.0x Stamp Annotation Tool



Adobe Acrobat 4.0x includes a variety of stamps you can use with the stamp annotation tool. You can also make custom stamps. To make a custom stamp, you must create a PDF file, provide the PDF file with a title, and set up each page in the PDF file as a page template:


1. Make a PDF file of the image you want to use as a stamp. You can place more than one stamp image into a PDF file -- you should put each image on its own page, however, since Acrobat considers each page a single stamp.

 

(Copyright PDF files are available at: \\castor\dig_res$\copyright. The staff webpage provides instructions titled “How do I access the Digital Reserve file are located on Castor”.


2. Place the PDF file you created in step 1 into the C:/Program Files/Adobe/Acrobat 4.0/Acrobat/Plug-ins/Stamps folder (Windows) or the Adobe Acrobat 4.0:Plug-Ins:Stamps folder (Mac OS).


3. In Acrobat 4.0x, open the PDF file you placed in the Stamps folder in step 2.


4. Choose File > Document Info > General. Make sure that the name in the Title field provides a useful description -- the Stamp Properties dialog box displays this name in its Category pop-up menu, so you can choose the PDF file from which you want to take stamps. You'll also use this name in step 5, so you may want to keep it brief. When you're done, click OK.



Note: You may find it easier to manage your stamp file if you use the PDF filename for its title. For example, the filename and title could both be "mystamps.pdf."

 

5. Choose Tools > Forms > Page Templates.


6. In the Name field, enter a name for the page using the following syntax:

[category name]=[stamp name]

[category name] is the name you specified in step 4. This name will appear in the Category pop-up menu when you select a stamp. [stamp name] is the name of the stamp on the page you're viewing. You can use any name for the stamp.

7. Click Add to add the category and page name.

Note: You must click Add to create the page template. If you click Close, Acrobat will not create the page template, and you won't be able to use the page as a stamp.

 

8. Click Yes to confirm that you want to create the page template; the template's name should appear with an eyeball icon next to it.


9. Click Close.


10. If your PDF file has more than one page, move to another page and then repeat steps 5-9. (Repeat these steps for each page you want to use as a stamp.)

To use a custom stamp you created:


1. In Acrobat 4.0, open a document you want to stamp and then select the stamp annotation tool.


2. Drag a box on a page to open the Stamp Properties dialog box.


3. Choose the stamp file's category, or title, from the Category pop-up menu. Each page of the stamp file that has been made into a template will be listed below the Category pop-up menu, and a thumbnail of the selected page will appear to the right. If the stamp file's category isn't listed, either the file is not in the Stamps folder, or one of the steps above was not completed.


4. Select the stamp (i.e., the page) you want to use, and then click OK. The stamp will appear on the page.

 

 

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