Search for “how to create e stamp online” and you’ll find two very different groups of people asking the same question. One group wants a clean electronic version of their company or office stamp to put on PDFs, invoices, and Word documents. The other, mostly in India, needs e-Stamp paper to pay stamp duty on a rental agreement or affidavit.
This guide covers the first group in full: what an electronic stamp is, three ways to make one, and a step-by-step walkthrough to create, export, and apply it. It also explains why e-Stamp paper is something you buy from an authorised channel, not something you design, so you don’t end up with the wrong document.
What Is an Electronic Stamp?
An electronic stamp (e-stamp) is a digital image of a stamp or seal, made to be placed on electronic documents. It does the same job as a rubber stamp on paper. It shows who is acting, such as a company, department, or professional, or what state a document is in, such as APPROVED, PAID, or RECEIVED.
A typical electronic stamp contains:
- Organisation name, often curved around a round seal or set in a rectangular box
- Identifying details, such as a registration number, tax ID, licence number, or address
- A status word or role, such as AUTHORISED SIGNATORY, PAID, or VERIFIED
- An optional date field for received, approved, or posted dates
Because it’s an image, an electronic stamp is quick to apply and easy to standardise: every invoice gets the same, sharp mark in the same place. That’s also its limit. An image proves nothing cryptographically, which we’ll come back to in the security section below.
If you need a refresher on what a company stamp should include, our company stamp format guide lists the required fields by country.
e-Stamp vs e-Stamp Paper (Stamp Duty): Don’t Confuse Them
In India, “e-Stamp” also refers to the electronic replacement for physical non-judicial stamp paper. It’s used to pay stamp duty on documents such as rent agreements, sale deeds, affidavits, power of attorney, and loan agreements.
The two have nothing in common except the name:
| Electronic stamp (document e-stamp) | e-Stamp paper (stamp duty) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A visual stamp image you design | A government-issued stamp-duty certificate |
| Who issues it | You or your business | Authorised channels only (e.g. SHCIL or a state e-stamping system) |
| Purpose | Identification, approval, branding, status | Proof that stamp duty has been paid |
| Cost | Free to design | The stamp duty amount set by state law, plus any service fee |
| Verification | Visual only | Unique certificate number, verifiable online |
| Can you make it with a generator? | Yes | No |
How e-Stamp paper is actually obtained
Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) is the Central Record Keeping Agency for e-stamping in most participating states. Depending on your state, you can usually get an e-Stamp certificate by:
- Visiting an Authorised Collection Centre (ACC), such as a bank branch, SHCIL office, or approved vendor, filling in the application, and paying the duty
- Paying online through the SHCIL portal or your state’s own e-stamping or registration system, where that option exists
- Using a state-specific system, since some states run their own platform for stamp duty
Each certificate carries a unique identification number, and anyone can check that it’s genuine on the official SHCIL e-Stamping website. Rules, duty rates, and available channels differ by state, so check your state’s registration department before you pay.
Important: No stamp generator, including ours, can create e-Stamp paper. A self-made image that imitates a stamp-duty certificate has no legal value, and passing it off as genuine can be a criminal offence. If you need stamp duty paid, use an authorised channel.
Everything below is about the document e-stamp: the visual stamp you put on your own PDFs and Word files.
3 Ways to Create an e-Stamp
1. Online stamp generator (fastest)
A browser-based generator gives you stamp-specific tools: curved text on round seals, borders, star separators, ink colours, and transparent export. You don’t need design skills, and you get a clean vector result.
- Best for: most businesses, freelancers, and office staff
- Time: 2–5 minutes
- Output: transparent PNG, SVG, or PDF
Our free Stamp Studio works this way, and it has ready-made company and LLC templates and status stamp templates (PAID, APPROVED, RECEIVED) to start from.
2. Scan your existing rubber stamp
If you already have a physical stamp and want the electronic version to match it exactly:
- Stamp it firmly on plain white paper with fresh ink.
- Scan at 600 DPI (a phone scanner app works if the lighting is even).
- Remove the white background in an image editor and adjust the levels until the ink is solid.
- Save it as a transparent PNG.
- Best for: organisations that need the electronic stamp to match an existing physical one
- Downsides: uneven ink, paper texture, and a slightly blurry edge at larger sizes. A scan is a raster image, so it can’t be scaled up cleanly.
3. Design software (Illustrator, Inkscape, Canva)
General design tools give you full control, but curved text on a circle, consistent spacing, and transparent export take more work to get right.
- Best for: designers creating a stamp that’s part of a wider brand identity
- Downsides: a slower learning curve and easy mistakes, such as upside-down bottom text on round seals
Our recommendation: design in a generator for a sharp, vector result. If you need to match an existing physical stamp, recreate it in the generator using the same text and layout rather than relying on a scan.
Step-by-Step: Create, Export & Apply an e-Stamp
Step 1: Choose a shape
Open the Stamp Studio and pick a shape:
- Round (38–45 mm): company seals, authorised signatory stamps, professional seals
- Rectangular (about 58 × 22 mm): address stamps, status stamps, bank and accounts stamps
- Oval: a traditional look for departments and associations
Our standard stamp sizes guide lists common dimensions if you want the e-stamp to match a physical one.
Step 2: Add your text
- Outer ring or top line: the full registered name of the company or organisation
- Inner ring or middle: registration number, GSTIN, VAT ID, or city
- Centre: a status word, role, logo, or star
Use your exact legal name. Counterparties, banks, and auditors compare the stamp to your registration documents.
Step 3: Pick an ink colour
Blue is the most common choice because it makes the stamp stand out from black printed text and looks like an original rather than a photocopy. Red suits status stamps such as PAID or URGENT. Black suits documents that will be printed and copied in greyscale.
Step 4: Export
- Transparent PNG at 300+ DPI for PDFs, Word, and email
- SVG as your master file and for physical stamp production
- PDF if your printer or vendor asks for it
Our SVG vs PNG vs PDF guide explains when to use each format.
Step 5: Apply it to your document
On a PDF: open the PDF & Word Stamper, drop in your PDF, place the stamp on the right page, resize it, and download the stamped file. The whole process runs in your browser, so the document isn’t uploaded to a server.
On a Word document: insert the PNG and set wrapping to In Front of Text, or use the stamper to place it without shifting your layout. Our guide to adding a transparent stamp to Word covers both methods and fixes the common “white box” problem.
Pro Tip: Place the e-stamp so it slightly overlaps the signature line or the authorised signatory’s name, the way a physical stamp would be applied. A stamp floating in empty space looks pasted on.
Making Your e-Stamp Secure
A stamp image is easy to copy. Anyone who receives a stamped PDF can crop out your stamp and reuse it. These steps reduce the risk and make your documents harder to tamper with.
Flatten before you send
A stamp placed as a movable object in Word or as an editable PDF annotation can be moved or deleted. Flatten the final document so the stamp becomes part of the page content:
- In Word, export to PDF before sending.
- In a PDF, use a tool that merges the stamp into the page. Our stamper writes the stamp into the page content when you download.
Flattening makes casual editing harder. It doesn’t make tampering impossible, because anyone with a PDF editor can still alter the page.
Add a digital signature for proof
If you need to prove who issued a document and that it hasn’t changed, add a certificate-based digital signature or electronic seal as the final step. Use this order:
- Finalise the content.
- Apply the e-stamp.
- Apply the digital signature last.
Stamping after signing either breaks the signature or flags the document as modified. Our digital signatures vs digital stamps guide explains the legal differences under ESIGN, UETA, and eIDAS. The stamp and sign PDF guide walks through the workflow.
Control access to the stamp file
- Store the master PNG and SVG in a restricted folder, not on a shared drive everyone can open.
- Limit the stamp to staff who are authorised to issue documents on the company’s behalf.
- Keep a simple log of which documents were stamped, by whom, and when, for invoices and certificates in particular.
- If someone with access leaves, update the stamp design slightly, for example by adding a version mark, so you can tell old copies from new ones.
Add context that’s hard to reuse
A stamp that includes a date, document reference, or signatory initials is far less useful to someone who copies it than a generic company seal. For approval workflows, a dated status stamp, such as APPROVED · 13 OCT 2026, ties the mark to a specific document.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing e-stamp with e-Stamp paper. If you need to pay stamp duty, a designed stamp won’t do. Go to an authorised channel.
- Using a JPG. JPGs don’t support transparency, so the stamp lands on the page inside a white box.
- Exporting at low resolution. A 72 DPI image looks fine on screen and blurry when printed.
- Abbreviating the legal name. Banks and auditors may reject documents where the stamp doesn’t match registration records.
- Stamping after signing. It invalidates or flags the digital signature. Stamp first, sign last.
- Sharing the stamp file widely. Treat it like a company letterhead with a signature on it.
Final Thoughts
An electronic stamp is a designed image of your company or office stamp for PDFs and Word files. You can make one free in a few minutes. e-Stamp paper is a government stamp-duty certificate that only authorised channels can issue. Keep the two separate and you avoid the most common mistake behind this search.
For the document e-stamp, design it as a vector in a generator, export a transparent PNG for everyday use, flatten documents before sending, and add a digital signature where proof matters.
Create Your Electronic Stamp
👉 Launch the Free Stamp Studio: design a round seal, company stamp, or status stamp in minutes. 100% free, no watermarks, with SVG and high-res transparent PNG export.
Then apply it to any PDF or Word file with the PDF & Word Stamper, processed entirely in your browser.