The fine print, in plain English
Use it on anything you make.
Every asset in the Scrapbench library comes with one simple commercial license. Whether you join as a member or buy a single image or pack, you can use it in your own work, from shop signage to t-shirts to packaging.
Where our artwork comes from
Everything on our shelves started life as ephemera: trade catalogs, shop magazines and fashion books printed for storekeepers and their customers a hundred years ago. These pages were made to be thrown away. Most were.
We only stock pieces that are old enough to be in the public domain in the United States. Then we do the slow part by hand: we leave out anything that relies on harmful caricatures, cut the figures out onto transparent backgrounds, and clean and brighten the scans so they print well today. Members can see exactly which publication each pack came from.
So when you use our artwork, you’re getting a piece of real history, restored and ready for your shop, with the paperwork taken care of.
Go ahead and…
- Use assets in unlimited personal and commercial projects
- Print them on products you sell: apparel, stickers, art prints, mugs, packaging and labels
- Use them in branding, menus, signage and storefront displays
- Post them on social media, websites, video, and in print or digital ads
- Edit, recolor, crop, collage and build them into new artwork
- Use them in client work, as long as the client receives a finished design
- Keep selling products you made while you were a member, even after you cancel
Please don’t…
- Resell, share or give away the files themselves, as-is or lightly edited
- Put them in clip-art packs, stock libraries, digital papers, templates, mockups or kits for others to download
- Sell print-on-demand or digital products where the asset alone is the design, with nothing of your own added
- Register them as part of a trademark or logo
- Share your account or downloads with people outside your membership
- Use them in anything unlawful, hateful or defamatory
How to use your files
- Originals are full scans of the cards, catalog pages or prints, fronts and backs, at the size they were scanned. Nothing is upscaled or redrawn.
- Cutouts are transparent PNGs, outlined by hand. Drop them straight onto any background in Canva, Photoshop, Procreate, Cricut Design Space or your label software.
- Every cutout comes with the source card it was cut from, so you can see the original context and colors.
- For print, use the files at their full size. Scaling them up past about 150% can soften the old printing dots; scaling down always looks crisp.
- Old printing has texture, specks and slightly uneven color. That’s part of the charm, and we leave it in on purpose.
- Buying one image or one pack? The license below is exactly the same as for members.
Old brands and trademarks
Many trade cards advertised real companies, and a few of those brands are still in business. We keep the original cards whole as historical pieces, but we don’t make cutouts whose main subject is a still-active brand’s name, logo or package. Our license covers the artwork only. Trademarks shown in historical materials belong to their owners where still active, and no trademark rights are granted. Please don’t use brand names or logos from old artwork in a way that suggests you are, or are endorsed by, that company.
A note on historical content
Many of the illustrations in our collection were printed between the 1870s and the 1930s. In that era, demeaning caricatures of people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender and disability were common in advertising and print. We review every item before it goes into a pack, and we leave out material built on those stereotypes.
Even so, with thousands of images we may miss something. If you see anything on Scrapbench that you feel doesn’t belong here, please tell us using this form. We read every report, and we’ll review the item and remove it if it doesn’t belong.
Good to know
Can I sell t-shirts, stickers or prints with your images on them?
Yes. Physical products are fine in any quantity. We just ask that you make the design your own by adding text, color, layout or other artwork, rather than printing an untouched file and calling it a finished design.
Can I use them in my shop’s branding, menu or signage?
Yes. That’s exactly what the library is for. The one limit is trademark registration: you can use an asset in your branding, but you can’t register it as your own trademark, because other members can use the same artwork.
What happens if I cancel my membership?
Anything you created while you were a member stays licensed, so you can keep selling it. You just can’t download new assets or start new projects with files you downloaded once your membership ends.
Can I use assets for client work?
Yes. Designers can use assets in finished work for clients. Deliver the final design (a logo layout, a printed menu, a label), not the original asset files.
Do I need to credit Scrapbench?
No credit is required. We always appreciate a tag or a mention if you share what you made.
Can I use an asset in a template, digital download or Canva design I sell?
Not as an editable or extractable part of the product. Templates, kits and digital papers let buyers pull the artwork back out, which works like reselling the file. Flattened, finished art inside a larger original design is fine.
Are the brands in vintage artwork included?
Original cards are kept whole, so some show old product names or brand marks. We don’t make cutouts of still-active brands’ names, logos or packages. Our license covers the artwork, not any trademarks shown in it, so don’t use an asset in a way that suggests you are, or are endorsed by, a company named in it.
Planning something big?
Printing a run in the hundreds of thousands, building a template or kit you want to sell, or doing something this page doesn’t cover? Write to us and we’ll work out an extended license that fits.
This summary is a plain-English guide to how members may use the library. It is not legal advice.