The Use clear background option controls only the background of the generated notary seal image. Turn it on when you want the seal artwork to sit directly on top of the document without a white rectangle behind it.
Open in app: https://app.notarycentral.org/search/settings/get-new-notary-seal
What the option does
When you generate a notary seal, NotaryCentral can create the PNG in one of two background styles:
- Clear background: the seal has a transparent background, so only the seal artwork is visible when placed on a document.
- White background: the seal is generated on a white background, which can appear as a white square or rectangle if the document underneath is not white.
The seal text, border, and required commission details are not changed by this setting. It only changes whether the area around the seal artwork is transparent or white.
When to use a clear background
Use Use clear background when:
- You want the seal to blend cleanly into PDFs, certificates, or forms without covering nearby lines or shading.
- The seal may be placed over a non-white page area.
- You want a cleaner appearance in remote online notarization documents.
When a white background may be okay
A white background can still work when:
- The document area where the seal will be placed is plain white.
- A receiving agency, internal workflow, or downstream document system expects a seal image with a solid background.
- You are comparing output styles and want the most traditional image preview.
If you are unsure, the clear background version is usually the safer choice for digital documents because it avoids adding a visible white box around the seal.
Oregon notary seals
For Oregon commissions, NotaryCentral generates seals with a clear background automatically. You do not need to choose the setting manually.
How to generate the seal
- Open Get New Notary Seal in NotaryCentral.
- Confirm the title that should appear on your seal.
- Select Use clear background if you want the PNG background to be transparent.
- Choose whether to save the seal to My Digital Files, download it to your device, or both.
- Generate the seal and review the image before using it in a notarization.
Always confirm that your generated seal is legible and meets your state or receiving-party requirements before using it on an official document.