Tips for photographing stamps and signatures

A good shot is the key to a good result

The quality of background removal heavily depends on the photo. Below are simple rules that work for both stamps and handwritten signatures.

How to shoot

Even lighting

Shoot in daylight or under a bright lamp. Avoid harsh shadows and glare from a flash pointing directly into the lens.

From above, without tilting

Hold the phone parallel to the paper. Shooting at an angle distorts the impression and worsens the cleaning.

Close-up

The stamp or signature should take up most of the frame. Do not shoot the entire page "from a distance".

How to upload a photo to SigCleaner

1

On a phone

Open the website in a mobile browser and tap "From camera" — the device's camera will open.

2

On a computer

Click "From phone camera", scan the QR code with your phone, and take a picture. The photo will be immediately imported for cropping.

3

From files

You can upload a ready-made photo or scan (PNG, JPG, PDF) or paste an image link.

What worsens the result

Typical problems
  • Very pale, smudged, or half-erased stamp
  • Strong tilt and perspective
  • Dark paper, strong shadows, glare
  • The entire document is in the frame instead of just the impression area

After shooting

4

Crop tightly

At the cropping step, leave only the stamp or signature — this is more important than perfect lighting.

5

Choose a mode

If you need one element from a "stamp + signature" pair — enable extraction. If there is a lot of form text — use aggressive cleaning.

[step title="Evaluate \"before / after\""]
If something is wrong — reshoot closer and straighter, or crop tighter and try again.
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