Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I'd like to make pages for a topical collection instead of storing it in a stockbook. However I want to leave spaces for stamps I don't have yet. When looking them up in my Scott Catalogs I find that the size is rarely given (seemingly only when it might be needed for identification?) and then it is the size of the image, not the size of the stamp.
Is there some resource out there that gives the sizes of stamps?
Chris
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With something so open-ended it would seem that you might want to go with just blank or quadrilled pages ?????
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Thanks, but no. I searched the digital Scott Catalogs to make a checklist of sorts, so I know what stamps I want to look for, but I don't know how big they are.
(Yes, I may find a few more that evaded my search, but I don't think there'll be many.)
Chris
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I rarely make a page until I actually have the stamps for it in hand. That's partly because stamps from the same set do not necessarily have the same dimensions. Here's an example (though not the best one, for reasons I'll explain):
These two stamps are actually different in the sense that the one on the right is a reprint, but it has the same Scott number as the one on the left.
Here's another example:
One problem you might encounter is the misfit between Imperial measurements of stamps (inches and fractions of inches) and the way computers work (decimal measurements in either the Imperial or metric system). With some difficulty I found a steel ruler which has an Imperial scale in tenths of inches as well as a metric scale. Very useful when making album pages!
Bob
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I agree with Bob. If you have made up the page before hand and end up with a plate number single or one with selvage attached, it won't fit in the nice little rectangle you made.
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Measure the stamp and add 1 cm horizontally and vertically. This gives me 5 mm per edge, enough room to make the stamp look great.
David
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This is a good question. I typically pad my stamps with 2-3 mm on each side. This may be tight for some, but with clear mounts it looks pretty good. Pre-making (is that a word??) pages before I had the stamps has created a lot of re-work. I really need the stamp in hand. Look at this page as an example:
The selvage really adds to that airmail stamp, in my opinion.
One suggestion: If you have access to the Steiner pages (no affiliation) and a catalog, you can measure the boxes and use this information for your topical stamp album pages. I know that this is work, but beyond having the stamp in hand, I'm not sure how to do it.
Cheers,
Don
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I collect French Stamp and they tend to be fairly standard sizes except the Art series.
I know that the standard definitive is 7 across and 8 tall. Commemoratives are 8 x 12. Otherwise I put the stamp on the pages and count the boxes before producing the page on Excel. (I have a spreadsheet setup with the boxes the same as the album page.)
It is too difficult to line up the printer exactly with the boxes on the page so I add the boundary afterwards. I always make them a little big to allow space for the perforations.
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Thanks for the ideas everyone!
I do love me some selvage, but honestly I prefer my selvage to hang outside the rectangle. In the above air mail example, to me that rectangle implies that the plate number was part of the design and was meant to be collected that way. If the rectangle was the size of just the stamp, it's immediately apparent that the plate number is a nice bonus. YOMV.
I thought about just looking at the Steiner pages, and if it comes to it I will, but he must have found the information somewhere to make them in the first place. Since our members often have access to a wealth of information I thought I'd ask. Perhaps he gets every stamp and measures them by hand? Seems far more likely that the information is out there somewhere, if we only knew where to look...
Chris
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First I put a stamp into its Prinz standard black strip and trim it carefully. Then I measure a millimetre further on each side. Finally I insert and resize a rectangle on my album page. I use the 'view gridlines' feature on my Word document to position the rectangles. (I also use ivory tinted paper rather than white.)
It is quite a tight fit compared to some suggestions above. As Bob hints, there is also a problem with stamps I do not have, in which case all sorts of recalculations have to be made from a catalogue image which is two-thirds size. But if the worst comes to the worst I have to remove the stamps, resize the boxes and reprint the page.
This is not actually a very good example (but it is one I have immediately to hand):
Points to improve:
1. cutting the strips to a proper rectangle - you can actually get a machine for this, and I normally do a bit better!
2. ensuring the stamps sit properly in their strips before slipping into the sheet protector
What to write on an album page, where to write it and in what font and size is a whole other matter for consideration. I use Garamond 9, 10 and 11 point, italic and roman for various standard purposes. I don't like the writing to overpower the image, but I do want to include a certain amount of information. It's a balancing act.
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I have found that Stanley Gibbons catalogue part 22 covering USA does give stamp measurements in metric for quite a number of issues especially m/s another site that does album pages but only for USA is Philosateleia - Posthorn, their pages don't have spaces for m/s but only for the stamps i.e. With wildlife series of m/s other sites give a space only for the m/s but Philosateleia gives a space for each stamp found in m/s. And the site is free to join.
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I've been reading about and enjoying the pages folks have created themselves. I have made a few pages myself before, (e.g. instead of using Steiner's US 'supplements' of six pages of Officials with one stamp on each page I put all six on one page) but in that case I knew the size of the stamps that would go on the page.
I'd like to make pages for a topical collection instead of storing it in a stockbook. However I want to leave spaces for stamps I don't have yet. When looking them up in my Scott Catalogs I find that the size is rarely given (seemingly only when it might be needed for identification?) and then it is the size of the image, not the size of the stamp.
Is there some resource out there that gives the sizes of stamps?
Chris
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07:12:42pm
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
With something so open-ended it would seem that you might want to go with just blank or quadrilled pages ?????
Login to Like
this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
Thanks, but no. I searched the digital Scott Catalogs to make a checklist of sorts, so I know what stamps I want to look for, but I don't know how big they are.
(Yes, I may find a few more that evaded my search, but I don't think there'll be many.)
Chris
Login to Like
this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
I rarely make a page until I actually have the stamps for it in hand. That's partly because stamps from the same set do not necessarily have the same dimensions. Here's an example (though not the best one, for reasons I'll explain):
These two stamps are actually different in the sense that the one on the right is a reprint, but it has the same Scott number as the one on the left.
Here's another example:
One problem you might encounter is the misfit between Imperial measurements of stamps (inches and fractions of inches) and the way computers work (decimal measurements in either the Imperial or metric system). With some difficulty I found a steel ruler which has an Imperial scale in tenths of inches as well as a metric scale. Very useful when making album pages!
Bob
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this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
I agree with Bob. If you have made up the page before hand and end up with a plate number single or one with selvage attached, it won't fit in the nice little rectangle you made.
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this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
Measure the stamp and add 1 cm horizontally and vertically. This gives me 5 mm per edge, enough room to make the stamp look great.
David
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this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
This is a good question. I typically pad my stamps with 2-3 mm on each side. This may be tight for some, but with clear mounts it looks pretty good. Pre-making (is that a word??) pages before I had the stamps has created a lot of re-work. I really need the stamp in hand. Look at this page as an example:
The selvage really adds to that airmail stamp, in my opinion.
One suggestion: If you have access to the Steiner pages (no affiliation) and a catalog, you can measure the boxes and use this information for your topical stamp album pages. I know that this is work, but beyond having the stamp in hand, I'm not sure how to do it.
Cheers,
Don
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07:20:27am
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
I collect French Stamp and they tend to be fairly standard sizes except the Art series.
I know that the standard definitive is 7 across and 8 tall. Commemoratives are 8 x 12. Otherwise I put the stamp on the pages and count the boxes before producing the page on Excel. (I have a spreadsheet setup with the boxes the same as the album page.)
It is too difficult to line up the printer exactly with the boxes on the page so I add the boundary afterwards. I always make them a little big to allow space for the perforations.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
Thanks for the ideas everyone!
I do love me some selvage, but honestly I prefer my selvage to hang outside the rectangle. In the above air mail example, to me that rectangle implies that the plate number was part of the design and was meant to be collected that way. If the rectangle was the size of just the stamp, it's immediately apparent that the plate number is a nice bonus. YOMV.
I thought about just looking at the Steiner pages, and if it comes to it I will, but he must have found the information somewhere to make them in the first place. Since our members often have access to a wealth of information I thought I'd ask. Perhaps he gets every stamp and measures them by hand? Seems far more likely that the information is out there somewhere, if we only knew where to look...
Chris
Login to Like
this post
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
First I put a stamp into its Prinz standard black strip and trim it carefully. Then I measure a millimetre further on each side. Finally I insert and resize a rectangle on my album page. I use the 'view gridlines' feature on my Word document to position the rectangles. (I also use ivory tinted paper rather than white.)
It is quite a tight fit compared to some suggestions above. As Bob hints, there is also a problem with stamps I do not have, in which case all sorts of recalculations have to be made from a catalogue image which is two-thirds size. But if the worst comes to the worst I have to remove the stamps, resize the boxes and reprint the page.
This is not actually a very good example (but it is one I have immediately to hand):
Points to improve:
1. cutting the strips to a proper rectangle - you can actually get a machine for this, and I normally do a bit better!
2. ensuring the stamps sit properly in their strips before slipping into the sheet protector
What to write on an album page, where to write it and in what font and size is a whole other matter for consideration. I use Garamond 9, 10 and 11 point, italic and roman for various standard purposes. I don't like the writing to overpower the image, but I do want to include a certain amount of information. It's a balancing act.
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04:39:11am
re: When making album pages, how do you know how big to make the spaces?
I have found that Stanley Gibbons catalogue part 22 covering USA does give stamp measurements in metric for quite a number of issues especially m/s another site that does album pages but only for USA is Philosateleia - Posthorn, their pages don't have spaces for m/s but only for the stamps i.e. With wildlife series of m/s other sites give a space only for the m/s but Philosateleia gives a space for each stamp found in m/s. And the site is free to join.
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