Best Source For Stamp Images?

Does anyone know of the best source for getting images of worldwide stamps?

These will be used for illustration purposes and I would prefer mint stamps on a black background.

Can you cut and paste stamps from the Scott Catalog on CD? If so, is it legal?

I have thought about trying an online service like Shutterstock, but don't know anything about them.

Is there any specific stamp images you are looking for? I do think the images on the Scott CD are protected so I wouldn't recommend it, but if it is not for profit you can always try asking for a release letter for the photos. I have done this several times for some coin projects I worked on and several of the auction houses granted me permission to use the photos as long as it was a non profit thing.

Chief

http://worldstampalbum.com/main.aspx?MenuId=1
This is the collection that Scott used to photograph their catalog. On the FAQ page the first question is can I copy pages answer is Yes.

Chief- I need to be able to find stamps topically for worksheets and other educational philatelic projects for kids. For example, I just recently needed images of penguin stamps- lots of penguin stamps. It was rather difficult to find clean images that were on a black background. (The black makes the whole project look more "finished" instead of having a mixture of backgrounds.)
Maybe I should just check with the Scott catalog people and see if they would give me a release to use their images.

Irishjack- thank you for the link. I will definitely add that to my sources. The only drawback to that site is that you can't search for stamps topically, which is what I need!

Many thanks for the suggestions!

Two sources I use that can also be searched by keywords such as "penguin" are the APS stamp store (you don't have to be a member to search) and Poppe-Stamps. I don't know whether the images on either site are of sufficient quality for your needs, though.

Im sure if you tell them what you are doing and that it is to further the hobby by passing an interest to children and that it is a not for profit project they shouldn't have too many issues. The largest problem I have found is when you want to use their ( numbering ) system. I sent in a request to ask for release for the use of the numbers so I could make pages for the stamp club I'm working on starting for my kids school. They flat out refused, but Amos sent me some vouchers for album pages to start the project. So it sort of helped, but the use of the numbers would have helped more.

Chief

One word: rod222.

Hey that's two words smauggie!

1840- I love the APS store idea! I haven't heard of Poppe Stamps but will look into it.

Smauggie- I'd love to see Rod's stamps anytime! I'm sure his
data base is to die for!

Bayern- Many thanks for the tip on using Germany's Wikipedia. I'll remember the site when I need German stamps.

Thank you all so much!

Spanishmoss, for your educational projects, you are welcome to take from my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomdo...23065351445/

Probably a very limited resource for your needs, but it is growing. There might be something useful in there for the young collectors.

Scifi7, Thank you SO very much for that offer. You have some gorgeous stamps! The toy stamps from Thailand are perfect for an upcoming project, as well as the animal stamps. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the peacock sheet! WOW!

Many, many thanks!

Glad to help, Spanishmoss, all the best with your projects!

postbeeld.com is another site which I usually use to get stamps for most countries....

I also think SCcott dvd images are not copyright proteted.