1. Buy the Steiner page-printing CD disc (or subscribe for one year) and upload the countries you want to your computer:
https://stampalbums.com/2. Upload each of the uploaded files you want to work on to a 'PDF to (Microsoft) Word' program such as this one:
https://lightpdf.com/pdf-to-word 3. These files are now in MS Word and can be (somewhat) altered as you would any Word document. You can change headings, remove borders, and add descriptions. It's a little fidgety, I will admit, but I've been able to get good-looking redone page designs with improved fonts and no page borders out of these files. I can then print them on bordered blank paper using a photocopy machine (at someplace like Fedex).
NEW PAGE HEADINGS: Type up the heading in the font and size you prefer, choose "cut" or "copy," then highlight the old heading on the page and hit "paste". The new heading will take the place of the old one. I use larger fonts (12 or even 14 points) in a slightly fancier style than the originals. Try 'Engravers MT,' for example.
REMOVING BORDERS: To remove the border from a page in Word, simply place your cursor on one of the corners of the border and hit "backspace" to delete it. If that doesn't work, select a different corner of the border and try again. Sometimes it takes two clicks of the backspace key to work. Like I say, it's a little fidgety. Generally I do this first before any editing of pages. It's a bit mindless . . . so it's very relaxing.
DESCRIPTIONS: Same as adding new headings. Type what you want to put above or below each stamp, then "copy" and "paste". I've found this is the least likely to work -- unfortunately -- due to the formatting (or whatever) of the pages. Even converted to Word documents, it's difficult to add more than a short description. And it's often difficult to add the description exactly where I want it. But be patient. You can make most of this work.
Also, using the 'Layout' option (at the top of the Word document), selecting 'Left' or 'Right' can spread out the words more. But only to a point. It would be nice if you could type a longer description and have it fit comfortably, but short phrases of few words work much better.
Despite some obvious limitations with this system, it has the advantage of your being able to reuse the stamp boxes from the original page layouts, and so on, which is a major benefit compared to making each stamp box yourself one-by-one. I can make new improved pages at the rate of one every 2-3 minutes, often faster. I omit stamps or entire pages I don't wish to collect by deleting those stamps from a page's layout. It's a bit tricky moving stamp boxes around, etc, and I'm not always successful. But it can be done.
This should also work with any other digital page layouts, I imagine. Once they're in Word, you can edit them for your use. There is another option I've read about using PowerPoint, but though I've tried it I haven't been able to make it work well at all.
I do this so I can print on Scott bordered blank pages. I end up with Scott-looking pages with the Steiner layouts on them, including only the stamps I wish to collect and omitting the others.
The Steiner page rules forbid selling his pages, including "improving" them for sale or profiting from his page layouts in any way. Makes good sense. What you do with the page layouts for your own use appears to be just fine, and in any case, can't be knowable (if they're only for your use). I started by making borderless 'originals' on my home printer to print (photocopy, really) on Scott-bordered 'blank' paper in order to fill in small gaps in my albums. I didn't want to buy an entire 50-page group of Scott pages just to get one or two missing pages. This method worked very well for that. From there, I started making better-looking foreign album pages with improved headings for countries and topics no album publisher sells pages for. And so on.
Have fun.
Posted 10/03/2021 1:37 pm
