PhotoLine Stamp

Stamp is a weathered feature in PhotoLine for painting “stickers” on an image to create borders or other decorative effects. This attribute is similar to brushes found in apps like Affinity Photo and ON1 Photo RAW. To apply the tool in PhotoLine, select a stamp, then drag the cursor across the image to add a curved or straight line of various-angled stickers. The Stamp brush can be resized before clicking by CMD+Left Mouse Button and dragging. Use the Intensity slider in the PhotoLine Tool Settings to add a level of transparency, if desired.

This is one of the stamps included in PhotoLine, this one representing the app itself. It has been enlarged beyond its optimum size, suffering from a severe case of jaggies. Note the placement of the "i" and the "e" compared to the other letters. An indication that no time was spent on designing this stamp.

The sticker concept, once very popular with scrapbookers, originated in version 5 of the old JASC Paintshop Pro, where they called it Picture Tubes. Unfortunately, the stamps in PhotoLine don’t live up to the quality or quantity of Paintshop Pro tubes. Picture Tubes were raster images, and many users shared new Tubes with fellow users of PSP. The stamps that come with PL are very simple vector images (layered to get a rotation effect) in the app’s native PLD format.

A set of stamp brushes, the effect created by drawing the left-mouse cursor across the image. This is perhaps the best of the stamp sets included in PhotoLine.

But the PL Stamps tool can also be used to efficiently add your own watermark or other small custom sticker to a larger image. It’s the fastest way in PhotoLine I have found to add a watermark. A Stamp brush can be a cutout with a transparent background or a standard raster image. Select the stamp, move the cursor to the desired position on the image and click (don’t drag). Stamp brushes are merged with the layer below, and there’s no way to select and move once you’ve committed with the left-click. However, a location mistake can be corrected with CMD+Z, repositioning the clicking again. 

To make a custom image to use as a watermark or sticker, create text with a transparent background in PhotoLine, open an existing image or create your own. If creating text, a shadow background might make it look better. Resize the file to the largest size you expect to use but probably no more than 300px wide. (Stamp brushes can be resized, but enlarging can lead to loss of quality). 

Save the image in PNG, PLD or SVG format. Other formats PhotoLine can read would work but are impractical for this use. Because installation of new versions of PhotoLine can replace all of the Stamp brushes, store your customized brush in a separate personal folder. Beginning the file name with a number puts it ahead of the default Stamp brushes in the PhotoLine list, making it easier to find once it’s added to your PhotoLine Stamp library.

To Add Your Personalized watermarks and sticker brushes to PhotoLine Stamp (Directions for Mac desktop)

Stamp brushes are contained in a hidden folder that can be accessed this way:

1. In Applications, open the PhotoLine folder (or the folder where you have installed the app).

2. Right-click on the PhotoLine icon.

3. From the drop-down menu that appears, select “Show Package Contents.”

4.Double-click the Contents folder to open it.

5. Double-click the Resources folder to open it.

6. Double-click the Defaults folder to open it.

7. You have now reached the Stamp folder. Double-click to open it. If you have Finder set to show icons, some of these brushes are so small they will be represented by blank icons. Most of the names have not been translated from German. By default, they will appear as option selections in PhotoLine in alphabetical order.)

8. Select any new watermarks and/stickers in your personal folder you wish to add, copy, then paste inside this Stamp folder.

An image with a customized stamp brush that was created outside PhotoLine and saved as an SVG file, then copied to the PhotoLine Stamp folder. The advantage of the SVG format for illustrations is the ability to enlarge it without the problem of jaggies.

Note: Any creations you add to this folder will be deleted when you replace this version of PhotoLine with a new update. Thus, is is important to achieve your brushes in a personal folder. After updating PhotoLine, you’ll need to go through this addition process again.

These tests were conducted in PhotoLine Beta 22.90B10 for Mac. Users of the Windows version of PhotoLine should be able add their own brushes to the PhotoLine Stamp, too, but procedures will be different.