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Participant
March 31, 2020
Answered

Added a custom stamp - it's sideways - how to rotate?

  • March 31, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 14126 views

I made a simple stamp with two words and everything is good except that it's vertical instead of horizontal. I don't want to rotate the stamp every time I place it, so how do I change the stamp itself?

Correct answer jeff_7499

It is unfortunate, but Acrobat does not provide information about the page rotation in the UI. The only way to know the page rotation is to run this script in the console window. 

 

this.getPageRotation(nPageNum); 

 

If you create a stamp from a PDF that has a rotated page, then it is placed rotated. Many applications create rotated pages when a page is originally in landscape orientation, but not always. Which is why the fix is to rotate the page in the stamp file.  

 

You can read about page coordinate spaces here.:

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/PDF-Page-Coordinates.cfm

 

 


I finally figured it out. I had to go back to the original drawing I created in AutoCad and rotate the stamp there. Once I created the PDF in that configuration, the stamp looked right side up. I have been fighting this for years.

6 replies

Participant
March 17, 2025

You might need to edit the stamp design in your software. If you're using a graphic tool, try rotating the text before saving it. If it's in a PDF editor or a stamping tool, check for an option to adjust the orientation. Let me know which software you're using, and I can suggest more specific steps!

Participant
February 6, 2025

It's absolute nonsense and very bad programming. It feels like this has been done deliberately to upset users and make life difficult and waste time. This is expensive software that doesn't work properly and I am appalled.

Participant
October 18, 2021

Has this been solved yet? I have had the same issue for some time now. The image is right-side up in AutoCAD and remains so when published as a .pdf, then ran through Illustrator and then publishing as a .png from AI (this is to illustrate that the .png remains right-side-up, although only the .pdf publish is used to create the Adobe Stamp). It remains right-side-up as as a thumbnail in Adobe Acrobat DC when browsing to the .pdf in the "Select Image for Custom Stamp" dialog box, and still under the "Create Custom Stamp" dialog box after import. The first instance of a 90° rotation occurs when actually selecting the stamp for placement on the page, or in the thumbnails of created stamps through selecting "Custom Stamps / Manage". The .pdf imports into Bluebeam Revu right-side-up as well (though the image does note a rotation of 270° in that software).

 

Just for a test, I did rotate and save the .pdf page in other orientations. The rotation is reflected in the .pdf; however, the stamp always reverts back to the same sideways (left readable) orientation when selecting the stamp to place. Additionally, I republished the original .pdf from AutoCAD using a landscape orientation, rather than portrait (the plot settings do include an icon that rotates 90° when switching between the two; however, the plot preview and produced .pdf both have a right-side-up orientation for either page orientation setting).

 

I of course can, manually rotate the image upon placement, but the default placement is what I would like to address.

Participant
March 15, 2022

Full disclosure, I'm not an admin, just a regular user that had the same problem and through trial and error found a solution. Try creating the object you wish to turn into a stamp as a .jpg image file and choose that as the source file for the stamp.  I was having the same issue when trying to use a .pdf as my source image for the stamp.

Participant
December 5, 2022

Thanks for this...

Thom Parker
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 31, 2020

You can change the stamp by rotating the page in the stamp file. I don't mean rotate the view. The actual page needs to be rotated

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScriptingUse the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often
try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 31, 2020

To rotate a stamp click it and then click the little circle that appears at the center of the top border, and drag to rotate the stamp. Hold down Shift to make it rotate in intervals of 45 degrees.

Clarabess
Participant
September 6, 2021

That doesnt work - deleted stamp and puts "Draft" in the box

 

Thom Parker
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 31, 2020

So you are saying that the stamp was created in the correct "horizontal" orientation, but when it is placed it is rotated 90degrees? If so this is because the PDF page is rotated.  Stamps are placed according to the page rotation. Try placing it on other pdfs that are not rotated. 

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScriptingUse the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often
Clarabess
Participant
September 6, 2021

My PDF is not rotated - works fine for awhile then Adobe randomly decides to rotate it