Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 11, 2021 20:03:32 GMT
Years ago, I began a project called The Community US Stamp Album, which was going to be my attempt to design a US stamp album of 21st Century stamps, since hacking mystic past 2005 was presenting a real challenge. I made supplements for 2001 and 2002 and then thing just kind of fizzled and died. Well, I have decided to bring it back and finish it, now that I am mounting 21st century stamps. I am making one change to the album, which should have been in the original album. Each page is going to have the year and type of stamp on the page. So, for 2003 the top of each page it will either say "2003 Commemoratives", "2003 Definitives", or "2003 Semi-Postals". The current layout has the only as the beginning of each section. So, page 1 would say "2001 Commemoratives" and the subsequent pages would have no headers, until the commemoratives were done, and then the next page would say "2001 Definitves." I found this confusing. But, since I am only into this for 2 years, I was curious if people could give me suggestions on other things that they think could be modified. The 2001 US Supplement cam be found here: stamphacks.com/wp/?p=590The 2002 US Supplement can be found here: stamphacks.com/wp/?p=772I'm debating not having stamp images on the pages. I need to see how much it actually would save me not to have the images. Any feedback greatly appreciated. |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 11, 2021 20:40:41 GMT
All the descriptions on the pages are from the US Postal Bulletin. Some are longer than others. Here is what one of the 2003 pages look like:  |
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clivel
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What I collect: Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Rhodesias, South Africa, Swaziland, Israel to 1980, Ireland predecimal, Palestine Mandate
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Post by clivel on Jan 11, 2021 20:56:19 GMT
It will take a considerable amount of effort to hunt down and where necessary crop images irrespective of what software you use to create your album, and once the stamps are placed the images are irrelevant. They do provide an initial wow factor, especially in full colour, but in practice, I am not sure if images inside stamp boxes are always worth the extra effort.
However, when I have seen images used, they seems best at no larger than about 80% of actual size, I have seen far too many pages with full-colour, full-size images which more or less makes adding the actual stamps irrelevant.
Clive
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 11, 2021 21:12:57 GMT
I'm using PostmasterGS's script for making pages. So, adding stamps to pages is pretty easy. It's just an extra column in the spreadsheet. But there is considerable time in collecting the images and converting them all to greyscale.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 11, 2021 21:15:06 GMT
OK, opinion time. Which of these two pages look better to you.
or
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daveg28
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Post by daveg28 on Jan 11, 2021 21:28:42 GMT
I honestly might use these if I could find matching cream-colored paper. I love my Mystic albums, but they seem to diddle around with how they do the se-tenents every year. it's inconsistent. I've found myself buying entire sheets, waiting to get my supplement, and then saving the stamps per what they show on the page. I don't have a problem doing that. I would just like how they do it to be consistent every year.
And I like option 1 on the amphibians better.
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philatelia
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Post by philatelia on Jan 11, 2021 21:40:10 GMT
Feedback - I much prefer the balanced layout of the first one. The second one makes my OCD twitch LOL!
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clivel
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What I collect: Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Rhodesias, South Africa, Swaziland, Israel to 1980, Ireland predecimal, Palestine Mandate
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Post by clivel on Jan 11, 2021 23:04:13 GMT
I'm using PostmasterGS's script for making pages. So, adding stamps to pages is pretty easy. It's just an extra column in the spreadsheet. But there is considerable time in collecting the images and converting them all to greyscale.
Use imagemagick to do the greyscale conversion at the command line, it takes only minutes to convert 100's of images, another possibility is to leave them in colour. Most printers seem to do a passable job when set to print in black only - the only real disadvantage though is that the coloured images make the album file much larger.
It still doesn't take away from the time to find, download and possibly crop and scale the images, even on AlbumEasy where it is only a matter of typing in the image name for each stamp - the program takes care of automatically reducing the size of all image by a preset amount.
Clive
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clivel
Member
Posts: 386
What I collect: Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Rhodesias, South Africa, Swaziland, Israel to 1980, Ireland predecimal, Palestine Mandate
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Post by clivel on Jan 11, 2021 23:52:07 GMT
Actually looking at your example pages, I must admit, I don't really like either. The column of text is far too close to the stamp box. As an experiment I quickly threw together these two pages, I think that they look more balanced, you may of course feel otherwise.  Clive |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 12, 2021 2:50:21 GMT
Actually looking at your example pages, I must admit, I don't really like either. The column of text is far too close to the stamp box. As an experiment I quickly threw together these two pages, I think that they look more balanced, you may of course feel otherwise. Clive Thanks! This is giving me some ideas. |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 12, 2021 2:57:33 GMT
I honestly might use these if I could find matching cream-colored paper. I love my Mystic albums, but they seem to diddle around with how they do the se-tenents every year. it's inconsistent. I've found myself buying entire sheets, waiting to get my supplement, and then saving the stamps per what they show on the page. I don't have a problem doing that. I would just like how they do it to be consistent every year. And I like option 1 on the amphibians better. My website has modified pages from 2005 back to the beginning of the album if you want some drop in replacements to fix Mystic's se-tenant issues.
And I think I have finally figured out Mystic logic with how they do se-tenants. And it's to maximize profit. If Mystic can get more strips of 4 out of a sheet than blocks of 4, they'll make it a strip of 4, because they can make more money out of each sheet they sell.
If a se-tenant will cause most of a sheet to go to waste, they they'll sell the stamps individually, in order to maximize the profit from those sheets.
They designed the Mystic album to allow them to sell stamps for maximum profit. Compared to other albums, it's still a hell of a deal. I wonder if they break even on the Heirloom album, or if all other albums are overpriced.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 12, 2021 3:37:02 GMT
I'm using PostmasterGS's script for making pages. So, adding stamps to pages is pretty easy. It's just an extra column in the spreadsheet. But there is considerable time in collecting the images and converting them all to greyscale.
Use imagemagick to do the greyscale conversion at the command line, it takes only minutes to convert 100's of images, another possibility is to leave them in colour. Most printers seem to do a passable job when set to print in black only - the only real disadvantage though is that the coloured images make the album file much larger.
It still doesn't take away from the time to find, download and possibly crop and scale the images, even on AlbumEasy where it is only a matter of typing in the image name for each stamp - the program takes care of automatically reducing the size of all image by a preset amount.
Clive
It would cool to add ImageMagick IN the script. Then I would not need to run mogrify seperately. The script would do it for me.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 12, 2021 7:10:02 GMT
Andy Pastuszak, I just emailed you a developmental version where the grayscale conversion works.
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angore
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Post by angore on Jan 12, 2021 12:01:38 GMT
I daveg28 I have a Mystic album and use Domtar Earth Choice 28/70 cream. This matches Mystic very well and use it for all my Steiner pages too. It is a tad thicker (5.3 mils vs 4.6 mils) than Mystic. It is not as smooth but not an issue for me. The Staples 67# cream paper matches well too. I can mail you a sample if you like. I have made around 250 pages for my Mystic. I was inspired by Andy's hacks and used Scribus too. Most were made to add minor varieties (tagging, etc.) but did redo pages that I did not like the Mystic layout, For example, I have no issue with taking strips of 5 and making 5 single spaces. I prefer than over a sideways mounted strip. The other interesting aspect is that my printed pages were blacker than Mystic and most noticeable when replicated on the backside page where there is a lot of text. I did reduce my Laser printer darkness setting and this helped but you can also change the fonts to 90% black. As for the layouts, the text at bottom seems most balanced to me but would that the style for all issues? I would recommend a style that is consistent (like always on same position in relation to image. |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 12, 2021 14:50:06 GMT
The pages are somewhat modeled after White Ace album pages. White Ace usually puts descriptions on the bottom of the page, but sometimes puts descriptions on the left and right of the stamp box, if needed. I did this page for 2002 and it allowed me to fit more stamps on the page and keep the description. I'm sure it will set off someone's OCD.  |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 12, 2021 14:51:53 GMT
Andy Pastuszak , I just emailed you a developmental version where the grayscale conversion works.
I didn't get it.
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Post by dgdecker on Jan 12, 2021 20:44:16 GMT
I would go with option 1 on the reptile page.
David
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 12, 2021 22:03:48 GMT
Just tried again. Let me know if you don't get it. |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 13, 2021 17:16:52 GMT
PostmasterGS Got it. Apple Mail flagged it as spam for some reason.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 16, 2021 21:14:54 GMT
So, I had this brilliant idea. I want Scott numbers on the pages, but I can't legally distribute Scott numbers. So I came up with this idea. Instead of having numbers on the page, I would have a fillable text box, and you could enter your own catalog number. I tried to do it for one page of stamps and it just took way too long to do. I can't imagine doing for a whole 15-20 page supplement.
Instead I am just going to add the numbers, and then change the style for catalog numbers to white to hide them. That's much easier.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 17, 2021 4:26:46 GMT
Ok, another couple of questions:
1. Are Priority Mail and Express Mail stamps considered commemoratives or definitives?
2. Should commemoratives and definitives be on separate pages or should they be combined together and just sorted by release date?
And now, the final question. The US Postal Bulletin used to put stamps in 3 different categories: commemoratives, definitives, and specials. It looks like they things they considered specials were the Love stamps, Christmas, Eid, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. The USPS eventually moved away from categorizing stamps in three categories. Now they're categorized by what they pay for. So....
3. Are these "Specials" stamps commemoratives or definitives?
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angore
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Post by angore on Jan 17, 2021 11:05:26 GMT
I would call Priority Mail and Express definitives,
My preference is to just intermix and not worry about a big distinction between definitives and commemoratives. This includes semi-postals. I would only lump definitives together if they were issued in the same year.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 17, 2021 14:27:56 GMT
Ok, I think I am done 2003. I'm still waiting for some stamps and mounts to arrive to test fit before I release. But this is the layout I came up with. I would love feedback. I'm sure the American Eagle page will set off some OCD in people.
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 17, 2021 14:31:35 GMT
Found my first error.... One of the definitive pages says 2003 Commemoratives. Sigh...
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 17, 2021 14:37:05 GMT
And another opinion question. What looks better. This:  or this:  |
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brightonpete
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Post by brightonpete on Jan 17, 2021 15:23:47 GMT
No matter how often you proof a page! I have the same problem too!
I like the first option with justified text. The centred one looks a bit messy to me.
And at least you could fit that long coil strip on one page!
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tomiseksj
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Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
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Post by tomiseksj on Jan 17, 2021 15:32:47 GMT
I agree with Peter and find the centered text difficult to read.
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Post by iswscwebmaster on Jan 17, 2021 16:18:21 GMT
I think the justified text looks better than the centred text.
All the best,
Alyn
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stanley64
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Post by stanley64 on Jan 17, 2021 17:04:11 GMT
Overall, nice pages Andy! I know the effort that goes into these ;-)
Agreed with those that have preferred the justified text, clean and simple - that's the way!
If I may, a few other observances: - be mindful of the margins, give the text some room to breathe - watch the spacing, be mindful of the page's centre line and keep a balance. - no details? perfs. printer, etc.? Great beginnings though and I can echo Pete's ( brightonpete ) sentiment, no matter how hard to you try, errors find their way into the 'final' printed page... Have fun and keep those pages coming... Happy collecting! |
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Andy Pastuszak
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Jan 17, 2021 18:30:32 GMT
Overall, nice pages Andy! I know the effort that goes into these ;-)
Agreed with those that have preferred the justified text, clean and simple - that's the way!
If I may, a few other observances: - be mindful of the margins, give the text some room to breathe - watch the spacing, be mindful of the page's centre line and keep a balance. - no details? perfs. printer, etc.? Great beginnings though and I can echo Pete's ( brightonpete ) sentiment, no matter how hard to you try, errors find their way into the 'final' printed page... Have fun and keep those pages coming... Happy collecting! I'm working on the margins and spacing. But I really have no interest in the details such as perf or printer. if a stamp has multiple varieties, then I will include it to help identify where the your variety needs to go, but for commemorative stamps, I really don't care. The description of what the stamp is about means more to me.
I bought a bunch of stamps from my local stamp store a few days ago to finish these sheets. I put them in mounts. But now I can't find the stamps. So, it's time to do some cleanup and see where they are.
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