Quick Access to Frequently Used Stamps in Acrobat X

Acrobat allows you to use a number of stamps that “live” in the annotation layer of the document.

For example, you could quickly add a Confidential stamp to your document:

Picture of a PDF document with a Confidential stamp on it

Adding a stamp isn’t difficult in Acrobat X, but it is a few steps:

  1. Open the Comments panel
  2. Twirl open the Annotations section
  3. Click on the Stamp tool
  4. Choose a Stamp category
  5. Choose a Stamp
  6. Stamp it on your document

That isn’t hard, but it’s easy to reduce the number of steps. Here’s how . . .

Step 1: Add the Stamp to your Quick Tools bar

You can add your own favorite tools to the first row of tool icons in Acrobat.
Pictue of the Quick Tools area of Acrobat X

To add the Stamp tool to the Quick Tools area:

A) Open the Comments panel
B) Twirl open the Annotations section
C) Right-click on the Stamp tool and choose Add to Quick Tools

Picutre showing where to click to add the Stamp tool to the Quick Tools bar

The Stamp Tool is added to the toolbar:
Picture: The Stamp tool has been added to the toolbar

Step Two: Choose your Favorite Stamps

Acrobat allows you to easily access frequently used stamps without having to dig through sub-menus. Here’s how to “favorite” a stamp …

  1. Click the Stamp Tool and locate a stamp you like and stamp it on the document
  2. Click on the stamp on the page to select it.
    Hint: When selected, the stamp selection handles will be visible:
  3. Picture of a Confidential stamp which is selected
  4. Click on the Stamp tool menu and choose Add Current Stamp to Favorites
  5. Picture: Addiing the selected stamp to Favorites

Now, your favorite stamp is available to apply in two clicks:

Picture: The stamps menu now has the new favorite stamp

Bonus Tip 1: Use the Stamps Palette

The Stamps Palette is a floating, resizable window which offers a large preview of multiple stamps.

To open the Stamps Palette, simply go to your Stamp tool menu and choose Show Stamps Palette: Picture: Finding the Stamps Palette option in the Stamps menu

The Stamps Palette opens. Select a stamp and drag it onto your page:

Picture of the Acrobat X Stamps Palette

Bonus Tip 2: You can “favorite” from the Stamps Palette

Here’s another way to favorite a stamp . . . just right-click on it in the Stamps Palette:

Picture: Favoriting a stamp from the Stamps Palette