a roll of steel used in the production of a <#plate>that prints <#engraving=engraved> stamps. The shape of the roll is not unlike a slice of a modest sized tree branch. Once a <#die> has been completed, a soft, blank transfer roll is pressed into it. In this way the design from the die is transferred to the roll in <#relief>. Several such designs are usually transferred onto each roll. After being <#harden=hardened>, the transfer roll is used to create a <#plate> by <#rocking> the <#design> into each position on the unhardened steel plate where a subject is to appear.