Stanley Koppel was born in New York City in 1911. He attended the National Academy of Design (1933) and learned etching in Mexico in 1939 and 1940. Koppel served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service in the Pacific in World War II and was honorably discharged in 1945. The G.I. Bill enabled Koppel to study at the Students League in New York City and The Institute of Design in Chicago.

Koppel's work was exhibited at The National Academy of Design, Philadelphia Print Club, Northwest Printmakers, California Society of Etchers, Graphics Against War, Fyns Grafiske Vierksted (Odense, Denmark), Anti-War Show (London), and solo shows at the Printmaker's Gallery in San Francisco, in addition to numerous group shows throughout Northern California. He regularly illustrated for union-related publications and leaflets, as well as anti-war materials.

Throughout his career Koppel was a member of Artist Equity, The Art Co-op of Berkeley, Center for Visual Arts, and the California Society of Printmakers. He was also a founding member of the Graphic Arts Workshop in San Francisco, opened in 1952 to continue the work of California Labor School after its forced closure in the 1950s. He is represented in private collections in the United States, Mexico, England, West Germany, and Japan.