Intaglio / line engraving
Recessed lines in a die hold ink; pressure transfers the inked design to dampened paper. The process can produce fine line detail and a tactile impression.
Evidence: npm-production
Materials Lab
Materials & making
Treat the stamp as a layered production object: substrate, image transfer, adhesive, separation and later postal handling.
Construction chain
Design becomes matter.
The National Postal Museum’s production-equipment history shows why “printed paper” is too shallow a description: die preparation, plates, ink transfer, drying, gumming and perforating can each leave evidence.
Flat plate and rotary workflows
The Smithsonian describes both flat-plate production and later rotary-press systems, where continuous paper could move through printing, drying, gumming and perforation stages.
Evidence: npm-production
Adhesive is part of construction
Traditional gum and pressure-sensitive systems change how stamps are activated, stored and separated. The adhesive should be documented rather than treated as invisible.
Separation study
Edges tell a production story.
A cut edge, punched perforation and die-cut serpentine edge can look superficially related while recording different making and handling systems.
Imperforate
Cut apart rather than torn along punched holes. Inspect the type →
Perforated
Rows of punched holes create teeth; gauge can matter for identification. Inspect the type →
Evidence: npm-tools
Die cut / self-adhesive
A cut edge on backing can imitate a perforated silhouette without being produced by punched perforation. Inspect the type →