How to Create a Stamp in Adobe Acrobat (2026): Custom, Dynamic & Faster Alternative

To create a stamp in Adobe Acrobat, open your PDF, go to the All tools menu, select Add a stamp > Custom stamps > Create, then Browse to your image, choose a category, name it, and click OK. That's the short version — below we cover custom stamps, dynamic (auto-date) stamps, and how to add a stamp in Adobe manually with shapes and text. If Adobe feels too slow or the Pro price puts it off-limits, we also show a faster AI-powered alternative in UPDF that generates a stamp from a text description in one step.

Part 1. How to Create a Custom Stamp in Adobe? (2 Methods)

Adobe Acrobat has a feature to create a custom stamp. However, it only supports uploading an image which means that you have to create the custom stamp in image format with another tool, then, upload it to your Adobe Acrobat. If you are not in a rush, you can also use its shapes and add text features to create the stamp in Adobe manually. I will show you how to use these two methods to create the stamps you need.

Way 1. Create a Custom Stamp in Adobe With Creating Stamp

• Step 1. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat. From the All tools menu on the left, select Add a stamp.

• Step 2. In the stamp panel, select Custom stamps > Create > Browse to choose the image you prepared in another tool (e.g., Photoshop). Click OK, pick or type a category (choose Dynamic if you want an auto-updating stamp), name it, and click OK to save.

• Step 3. To apply it, select Stamp, open your saved category, choose the custom stamp, and click on the page to place it. Drag it to reposition or use a corner handle to resize.

Way 2. Create a Custom Stamp in Adobe by Adding Shapes and Text

If you do not have a tool to create image stamp on your computer, you can also use Adobe Acrobat's shapes and text features to create custom stamp in Adobe manually.

• Step 1. In the quick toolbar on the left, select Rectangle​ from the shape options, then click and drag on the page to draw it.

• Step 2. Right click on the Rectangle, click on the Properties, select the border style, thickness, color and fill color you need. Click on the OK to save the settings.

• Step 3. Click on the Type text from the quick toolbar on the left and click on the page to add the content. Then, move it over the rectangle. If you need to add the date, you can repeat the same steps. Now, everything is OK. You can save your PDF.

Part 2. How to Create a Custom Dynamic Stamp in Adobe

To create a custom dynamic stamp using Adobe Acrobat, use the following steps;

Step 1: Open Adobe Acrobat on your computer. This feature may not be available on the free online version of Acrobat, so you may need to purchase and install the desktop version.

Step 2: From the All tools menu, select Add a stamp > Custom stamps > Create.

Step 3: In the dialog box that opens, click Browse to choose a stamp image from the file types shown in the "Open" dialog box. Select your file and click OK — the file will be converted to PDF.

Step 4: In the Create Custom Stamp window, select Dynamic in the Category field, name the stamp, and click OK.

Step 5: This will take you to the "Create Custom Stamp" window. Here, choose Dynamic in the category, name the stamp, and click OK.

Step 5: Navigate to the following directory and open the newly created PDF stamp file:

• PC: C:\Users[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\Stamps
• Mac OS: /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/DC/Stamps

Step 6: Go to All tools > Prepare a form > Create form.

Step 7: Make sure the stamp file you just created is selected. Select Text field and place it on the stamp where you want the date to appear. Then switch to the Select tool and double-click the text field.

Step 8: In the Text Field Properties dialog box, go to the Calculate tab.

Step 9: Select Custom calculation script, then click Edit to open the JavaScript Editor.

Step 10: In the JavaScript Editor, type the following script and click OK:

event.value = util.printd("h:MM tt, mmm dd yyyy", new Date());

Step 11: Click Close in the Text Field Properties dialog, exit Prepare a form mode, and save the file.

Part 3. Disadvantages of Using Adobe to Create a Stamp

A Dynamic Stamp like the one you can create using the steps above can be very useful in numerous ways, especially since it can validate the date and time that the stamp was added to any PDF. But Adobe doesn't make it very easy to create a PDF stamp.

In our tests, we found that there are several disadvantages you will have to contend with when attempting to create a stamp in Adobe Acrobat. They include the following;

• The process to create the stamp is complicated and it is very easy for something to go wrong in the implementation. We had to try more than once to get the date and time right and you may find that you will as well, thereby wasting valuable time.
• This feature is not available on the free version of Adobe Acrobat. To create a Dynamic Stamp, you have to purchase the full version of Acrobat which can be quite expensive.
• We also found that Acrobat can be slow to load large PDF files which was certainly a problem for us when we tried to add the stamp in numerous locations on the document.

If you just need a stamp on a document today — without buying Pro, hunting through file directories, or writing JavaScript — the next method takes under a minute.

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Part 4. How to Create a Custom Stamp with the Best Acrobat Alternative

So, does this mean that you can't create a custom stamp for your PDF without Adobe Acrobat? No. Acrobat may be the most publicized tool to create, edit, and manage PDF documents, but it is not the only solution. It isn't even the best one out there by far.

There is another PDF solution that can allow you to create a custom stamp for your documents at a fraction of the cost and in just a few simple steps. This tool is known as UPDF and its creators had simplicity and ease of use in mind when they designed it, as it proved to be the easiest way to create and add custom stamps to PDF documents by AI.

The following step-by-step guide shows you just how easy it is to create a custom stamp using UPDF;

Step 1: Download and install UPDF on your computer by clicking the below button. The program has a free trial version that you can have a try.

Step 2: Open it and click "Open File" to import the PDF file. This is the file to which you will add the stamp.

Step 3: Click on the "Comment" button in "Tools" from the toolbar on the left. This should open all the annotation tools that are available to you, including the stamps.

Step 4: Now simply click on the "Stamp" icon at the top. Click on the "Custom" tab and select "Create."

Step 5: Simply enter your preferred style and content in the dialog box, and the AI will automatically generate three high-resolution stamp images that match your description.

How to Create a Custom Dynamic Stamp

In addition, you can also create custom dynamic stamps by yourself.

Step 1: Now simply click on the "Stamp" icon at the top. Click on the "Custom" tab and select "Create."

Step 2: This will open the "Create Stamp" dialog where you can start to design the stamp you want.

Step 3: Start by choosing a template from the options below the preview box. Click on the "Sample Text" section to add the text you want to appear on the stamp.

Step 4: Click on the "Calendar" icon at the top to choose a date to add to the stamp and the "Time" icon next to it to add a custom time.

Step 5: Finally click on the "Color" icon to choose a custom color for your stamp. Then simply click "Create" and click on any section of the document to add the custom stamp.

Conclusion

Now, you know how to create a stamp in Adobe Acrobat. But while you can create a customizable version of stamp in Adobe Acrobat, the process is lengthy and complicated.

Using UPDF to create an easily customizable stamp that you can then add to your PDF is the best option when you don't want to spend too much time on the task. Unlike Acrobat, UPDF significantly simplifies the process, making it easy for you to annotate the PDF in numerous ways. Try it now!