How to use a Chinese name seal — ink, press, placement
A good impression is three decisions: what ink, how you press, where the seal lands on the page. The first two are technique; the third is etiquette.
Ink: cinnabar paste, not a stamp pad
A seal is inked from 印泥 (yìní): cinnabar (朱砂) suspended in oil with silk floss, sold in a little pot and stirred before use. Office ink is too thin — it floods the hairlines of carved strokes and muddies the impression into pink. The paste is thick and slightly tacky, bites into paper, and keeps its color for centuries.
The red is for the living: black or pale prints belong to mourning. No paste yet? Print your digital seal (transparent PNG) onto the page, or hand it to a seal carver as the artwork for a real stone.
The press
Load the face against the paste with a gentle twist, evenly and without overloading. Set the seal on the paper over a blotter or mousepad and press straight down with even weight — rocking smears the strokes. Lift straight off. Test on a scrap first: a cinnabar impression is permanent.
Where the seal goes
On a document: below or beside the signature — Chinese convention also allows the seal to overlap the edge of your own written name, locking signature and seal together. On a letter: seal your own corner (upper left of the envelope, or below your signature at the close).
On painting and calligraphy: smaller than the work it signs, placed low, below or after the inscription; a second, ornamental seal (引首章) may crown the top corner. Never stamp over the recipient’s name. The seal counts as punctuation of the composition — place it where the empty space needs weight.
Digital use
A high-resolution transparent PNG covers the rest: stamp it into letters and PDFs, watermark photographs, set it as a chat avatar, or send it to a print shop to cut in stone. That PNG, free and unwatermarked, is what the generator makes.
More seal guides
FAQ
What is SealsCrafter?
SealsCrafter (sealscrafter.com) is a free Chinese name seal generator: it transliterates your English name into a real Chinese name — characters chosen for sound and meaning — then carves it as an authentic seal (印章) in genuine seal script. You export a transparent PNG instantly: no sign-up, no watermark, no cost. The carving uses the Zhongshan King (中山王) bronze-inscription seal script, supplemented by the Academia Sinica Chongxi Small Seal (崇羲篆體) for characters the main font lacks.
What is a Chinese name seal?
A personal stamp — classically a small stone engraved with your name in seal script and pressed in red cinnabar ink — used in China, Japan and Korea for 3,000 years in place of a signature. Full guide: what is a Chinese name seal.
What is the difference between 朱文 and 白文?
朱文 (zhūwén) prints the characters in red on paper; 白文 (báiwén) prints them white out of a solid red field. Both are authentic modes of carving — see zhuwen vs baiwen. Both are one click away in the generator above.
Is it a seal, a chop or a stamp?
Seal (印章) is the carved stone; a chop is the same object called by its Anglo-Indian colonial-era name (from Hindi chhāp, common in Hong Kong and Singapore); a stamp is usually the modern rubber office version. More: seal vs chop vs stamp.
Is it really free?
Yes — free, no login, no watermark. Ad-supported.
What font does it use?
The Zhongshan King seal script (中山王篆), a Warring-States bronze-inscription style, released under the SIL Open Font License.
Can I use the PNG commercially?
The seal design is yours to use. The font is OFL-licensed; exporting the image is fine for any personal or commercial use.