A steel cylinder plated with copper is engraved by laser, diamond tool or chemical etching. The design becomes a field of tiny cells, deeper or wider where the color must be stronger. The finished cylinder is proofed, then chrome plated so it survives long runs.

Stamp paper for lick-and-stick stamps arrives already gummed, usually with dextrin made by heating starch, or with polyvinyl alcohol. Self-adhesive stock instead carries a pressure-sensitive adhesive on a waxed or polymer-coated backing it cannot grip firmly.

The engraved cylinder dips into an ink tray as it turns. A doctor blade scrapes the surface clean, leaving ink only in the cells, and the paper picks it up as it presses past. Lithography and offset presses print other issues.

Rows of small pins punch holes between the stamps. The gauge counts holes in a 2-centimeter span, and modern stamps run from about 11 to 14. Holes too far apart make stamps tear, and holes too close make the sheet fall apart in a pocket.

A die cuts all the way through each self-adhesive stamp but not through its backing, which is only lightly rouletted so blocks tear off neatly. The cutting edge is usually wavy, copying the look of torn perforations, though the edges come out smooth.

Finished stamps are trimmed into sheets for post office counters, wound into coils, or folded into small booklets. Coil stamps are perforated on only two opposite sides.