Album Page Color & Style

I've been looking at paper and see there is a grade for white. I going to use clear mounts. Which do you think would stamps look would better on - a super white paper or a more antique ivory?

And then there's style - canvas, linen, parchment for added effect. But would mounts have a had time sticking to these?

I prefer the paper that is like a natural linen color. I have tried both it and white and like the effect of the paper that is more of a beige color. The paper I get has 25% cotton, I get it at staples, it is only 24bls but feels sturdier. It is archival. I have gone through about 6,000 sheets so far.

Dianne

I like the beige or creamier colour of paper as well. If you use white paper, I find it's way too bright for the stamps and they don't seem to show up as well. The paper sort of glares out at you. Even if you have the black mounts.
Also I find that the white paper starts turning colour around the edges as well, and you can really tell the difference when you look at it, especially when you add new pages.
If you put each page into a plastic page protector it doesn't change colour, or at least not by much, but they can be costly as well. Although I have quite a few pages in them, and it does look really nice. It's worth the cost.

Although some album manufacturers do use white paper (Mystic, Davo...), most mass-produced commercial album pages are "other than white".

Any sort of minor darkening/toning/discoloration of the stamp will stick out like a sore thumb if you use white paper. Of course, if all your stamps are perfect...

I personally prefer grayish paper. However, I'm the odd man out. Most collectors prefer natural/parchment/soft coloring of the paper. I would suggest you try out a few shades to see what works well for YOU, because it's YOUR collection!

Most copy centers have a nice selection of lightly colored paper that they would be willing to sell by the sheet.

Have fun choosing!

k

Just my $.02. I use bright white 32# paper and haven't had any discoloration problems but I've not been using it that long. W'll just have to see. I use black mounts and like the effect against the white paper but, like so much else in this hobby, it's what fits you personally.

Personally I don't like stamps displayed directly on a white or off white background, as the perforations and margins blend into the page, and they're an important part of the stamp to me. For printed album pages I prefer a bone colour, but with a black backed mount, so the stamp has a black background behind it.

You can see an excellent example of this at this site: http://www.album.dweeb.org/ Along with some other useful info on printing album pages.

Balf