How a seal is cut
Four steps, from talking about the characters to handing over the stone. No rush jobs: stone gives you one attempt.
The four steps
The script
Seal, clerical or regular script, decided by where the seal will be stamped. Regular script is legible on a document; seal script belongs on a painting.
The arrangement
The same characters laid out three ways, stamped on paper, looked at together. You pick one. This is the step that takes the time.
Onto the stone
The chosen layout is written onto the face in reverse before any cutting starts. It can still change here. After the first cut it cannot.
Finishing
Burrs ground off, one proof stamped, and the stone handed over with it.
What it costs
The fee follows the stone, the character count and the script. We talk it through before any cutting starts, rather than quoting a number first.
Looking after it
Put the lid back on the paste. Stone does not like being dropped, and does not like sun.
Yifang Seal Studio does not exist. The shop, its street, its opening hours and every sentence on this page are invented; nothing here can be bought, and no message reaches anyone.
A Kush Digital Solutions Lab concept — read how it was built.
Yifang Seal Studio · Datong, Taipei