But I learned that there's more to it than that. About.com Rubber Stamping Guide Kate Pullen explains:
Digital stamps, or digi stamps, are black and white digital images that are downloaded onto a computer where they can be manipulated before printing out. At their most basic, when they are printed out digital stamps are just like traditional rubber or clear stamped images. One of their attractions, however, is the fact that the images can be resized, flipped (create a mirror image) or manipulated in other ways before printing it out and colored in the same way that a rubber stamped image is colored.
Read more about Digital Stamps
Hmmmm... sounds a lot like clip art, doesn't it? Kate has an answer for that to:
The main difference between digital stamps or digi stamps and clip art is that digital stamps have specifically been created with the stamper in mind. This means that the images are typically black and white outline images that allow stampers to add color and other embellishments as required. Clip art is often created as a 'finished' design that requires little in the way of further embellishment.
Read more about Digital Stamps vs. Clip Art
Some stampers love them, some hate them. If you don't do rubberstamping you might automatically dismiss them. But wait. They are simply a specialized form of clip art, aren't they. And clip art (good clip art) is a great tool to use in many desktop publishing and computer crafting projects.
The features that make digital stamps suitable for rubberstamping (such as high resolution) make them a better choice than much of the low-rez gif images out there on the Web. Some companies and individuals producing digital stamps even make them available in super print-friendly EPS and TIFF formats. Some offer free images. Kate has a great list of Digital Stamp Companies that includes at-a-glance information on licenses, formats, and freebies.
As with any clip art, check the licensing information. Typically you can use the images for personal projects and it may be acceptable to use within projects that you create for sale (such as greeting cards) but you can't resell or distribute the individual images. Always check the policy on the site where you obtain the digital stamps.
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Good Article. I have seen the turn myself, but did not really understand what was meant. Thanks.
Once I started looking into them more I’m finding some really great clip art (uh, I mean digital stamps) out there. Beautifully done images.
Thank you for this article. I am one of the artists behind Digi Stamps. I offer freebies, tips, tutorials on how to color in my weekly newsletter. I know this is a NEW concept for many. It may seem like clipart but it’s not. Many of us draw these images by hand where as clipart is computer generated. THUS…Digi Stamps are the artist behind the image!
If I can help answer any questions or offer any other Digi Help…PLEASE let me know. I love to help. I’m learning as I help others!! Email me at sue@mcmahonfivedesign. com or visit my website http://www.mcmahonfivedesign.com.
Again, great article!
Thank you!
Sue McMahon
Great article and I soooo love Kate! She and I have been emailing for a while now. She’s great!
Hi Sue, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I would differ with you on one point though. “You said, It may seem like clipart but it’s not. Many of us draw these images by hand where as clipart is computer generated. ”
Not all clip art is computer generated. In fact, the term clip art originated from printed pages of images — usually handdrawn images — that were “clipped out” and used in layouts that were then photocopied, photographed, or other wise used in traditional publishing (think, Dover Clip Art books back before they included CDs with digital copies of their images). While a lot of clip art these days is indeed computer-drawn the term generically can apply to handdrawn images, scans of objects, etc. that have been digitized or put into computer-friendly file formats. (some of the free clip art on this site are images that I drew by hand then scanned into the computer.) Digi stamps, because they are in a graphic format, are a specialized (and often quite beautiful, I might add) form of clip art.
Great article! There are a lot of differing views of digital “stamps” / images, some good and some bad, but I guess what it all comes down to is what you’d like to use them for!
There are pros and cons to all things right?
Thanks for all the articles being written regarding digital stamps, rubber stamps and clip art… very informative
I too have a digital “stamp” company “The Character Cafe” and am always interested in how people perceive our art!
Thanks again,
Kendra
Great article, I love to use digitals.
I have a digital stamping blog http://www.yourspecialdelivery.blogspot.com, if you love to digi come and join us.
I also have a digital members page where digital designers will post one free image a month for members only to take, the page is currently open doors, but will close when all members slots are full.
From my blog click on the members tab to find out more and join in the fun