A method of operating an apparatus for contacting and/or releasing a relief stamping surface of a flexible stamp to a stamp receiving surface of a substrate within an imprint lithography process, the apparatus comprising: - a system for holding and manipulating the flexible stamp and/or for holding and manipulating the substrate such that when the system holds the flexible stamp and the substrate, the flexible stamp can be locally bent to create, on a part of the stamp receiving surface, a contact area within which a part of the relief stamping surface is in contact with the stamp receiving surface while a further part of the stamping surface is not in contact with the stamp receiving surface, at least a part of the border of the contact area defining a contact front; the method comprising providing a contact area and at least one of the following steps: - a contacting step for contacting of the relief stamping surface to the stamp receiving surface, the contacting step comprising a controlling of the system to create contact near or at the contact front such that the contact front moves with a movement rate along the stamp receiving surface of the substrate along a movement direction substantially perpendicular to the contact front and away from the contact area, and - a releasing step for releasing the relief stamping surface from the stamp receiving surface in a contact area, the releasing step comprising a controlling of the system to break contact near or at the contact front such that the contact front moves with a movement rate along the stamp receiving surface of the substrate along a movement direction substantially perpendicular to the contact front and towards the contact area, wherein, the controlling of the system to create, or to break contact, comprises a first step and a second step, where in the first step, contact is created, or broken such that the movement rate has a first constant value over a first predetermined distance along the movement direction, the first predetermined distance including one of at least two different locations, and where, in the second step, contact is created, or broken such that the movement rate has a second constant value over a second predetermined distance along the movement direction, the second predetermined distance including the other of the at least two different locations, the first constant value being different from the second constant value, and wherein the first predetermined distance corresponds to a dimension of a first area of the relief stamping surface with a first relief topography and the second predetermined distance corresponds to a dimension of a second area of the relief stamping surface with a second relief topography that is different from the first relief topography. - a system for holding and manipulating the flexible stamp and/or for holding and manipulating the substrate such that when the system holds the flexible stamp and the substrate, the flexible stamp can be locally bent to create, on a part of the stamp receiving surface, a contact area within which a part of the relief stamping surface is in contact with the stamp receiving surface while a further part of the stamping surface is not in contact with the stamp receiving surface, at least a part of the border of the contact area defining a contact front; - a contacting step for contacting of the relief stamping surface to the stamp receiving surface, the contacting step comprising a controlling of the system to create contact near or at the contact front such that the contact front moves with a movement rate along the stamp receiving surface of the substrate along a movement direction substantially perpendicular to the contact front and away from the contact area, and - a releasing step for releasing the relief stamping surface from the stamp receiving surface in a contact area, the releasing step comprising a controlling of the system to break contact near or at the contact front such that the contact front moves with a movement rate along the stamp receiving surface of the substrate along a movement direction substantially perpendicular to the contact front and towards the contact area,