How to stamp clean and clear images?

[Gramma Ann]

I am returning to stamping.  I have been doing a different type of crafting my turning my photographs into cards.

I have also been purging my craft room, I was often more of a collector of stamps and other card making materials.  So I have been purging and selling and giving away a large number of material.  Now I want to get back using what I have kept.  But I am having problems being able to stamp a clear, clean image.  Have this problem with both wooden and clear stamp.  Any and all suggestions would be helpful.  I am excited to get back with this forum.

[wavejumper]

ok....

well for cling and clear a lot of people are using stamp platforms because you can stamp more than once to get a good print. The famous one is the MISTI, but there are other brands out there that come in different sizes and lower prices. The MISTI is launching it's next generation one as it happens now or soon. 

But back to basics for any kind of stamp...

You have a gushy under pad of some kind right? That is huge for me to get good images. They have dedicated ones you can buy or you can use a mouse pad for the computer. In the beginning I just stacked a bunch of copy paper. (mags slide around too much) 

You want to go down straight and do not rock it. Go down, hold it carefully with one hand and push straight down with your finger tips of other hand. Rocking can equal smearing. Do not push too hard as you can smush the image lines. Esp in outline images with a thin rubber line. 

You have a good ink like versafine....now there is versaclair which comes in colors and some people feel is even better for delicate images. 

That's about it. Dont use a paper with a coating on it as that can smear. 

[harvestmoon]

I totally agree with Wavejumper. Good ink and good paper are essential. Another thought: Are your stamps old? Different materials may deteriorate over time.

[howdyheidi]

Great tips above!

Some of the cheaper card stock wicks the ink out into the fibers, and then your image will look blurry even if you stamped it well. 

Is your inkpad juicy, but not too juicy?  I like Versafine black ink for crisp images on very detailed images. (But you do want to wipe off the stamp pretty quickly to clean this.)  I also find that it is easier to ink most stamps up by pouncing the inkpad down onto the stamp and then you can see if you got even coverage.

Padding under your cardstock helps. I use fun foam.  Also, just making sure that you have a good solid surface to stamp on. A sturdy table, or countertop.  Not a rickety card table.  

For large background stamps or large images, I sometimes will have the rubber side up, and then lay paper over top of it and just evenly smooth over it with my hands.  

I have had one or two stamps that were too brittle as they got old and those just didn’t work anymore.  

All that being said, sometimes I just practice on scraps of copy paper till I get the feel of a certain stamp.