Jpeg/PDF Viewer For Stamps

I have a collection of "stamps and their Overprints" which I really enjoy. At present I take printed scans of my stamps to the shows as my albums have become too heavy; I have 5 folders. The problem with that is:

• 
  
Every time I add a stamp I need to reprint the page
• 
  
Printing the pages takes a huge amount of toner as I have them in (black) Hagner sheets
• 
  

I was speaking to a dealer about this problem. He suggested I buy a little palm-top type viewer to view the scans.

What I would like to know is:
Has anyone tried this?
What successes and/or failures have you had?
How much am I looking at (US/Euro/Pounds are fine)?
Have you found this to be an effective way to bring your stamps to the shows?

You could try storing the pictures online. That way you can access them from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a computer or a mobile phone. That's what I do with my coin collection (see below). I haven't got as far as scanning all the stamps.

Steve

I would love to get an Ipad - it would be perfect for this kind of application, the only catch is it is pricey - Here in the UK you are looking at £450 - £650 range. The key thing here would be to make sure the device had a decent battery life. I have an Iphone at the moment and it is great for showing individual stamps - you can only show one at a time on the size screen.

Blackberry is also releasing its PlayBook which seems pretty good as well.

I take my stamps on the road,
I take the 400,000 images in my breastpocket external HDD
and just plug into a cheap laptop.

you can get any Microsoft OS hand held device, droid, etc.. a phone with an image viewer.. store the images on a chip and stick the chip the phone.. they make 32gb sim cards..

Try using a USB Thumb drive. 2-4GB can be found on sale for under $20. Just make sure it is compatible with your OS. Some will not work with all Operating systems. Then all you need is a cheep Laptop or Netbook to access them.

I pad is an interesting thought with a full page view and pdf scans. you could scan your entire album then page thru it at a show or friends house and trade for stamps you need not even having the ablums there, and they stay safely in your house.

An update on the situation.

I've scanned my overprint collection. The files are named using a code: the first two letters of the first country on the page alphabetically followed by a 2 digit number starting at 01. This allows access to any particular country quickly.

As I put a new stamp on a page a post-it note is placed on the back so I know to re-scan it. There are about 80 yellow post-it notes in the pad so when I get into the pink ones I know it is time to rescan.

I took these files on a lap top recently to a stamp show. It was quite successful.

The good points were:

• Stamps could be easily found. I could tell I had the stamp and the quality of the stamp and cancellation.
  
• Varieties could be easily identified by zooming in on the stamp
  

Problems (and some solutions) were:

• Shades were difficult to distinguish between.
  
• Software was a bit cumbersome. I need to make Xnview the default program to open the files to allow easy navigation.
  
• It was cumbersome to carry around the lap top along with the other catalogues. I need to use a smaller bag or combine them into the same carry bag, and perhaps leave the recharging pack and mouse in the car.
  
• The laptop ran out of charge before the show was over, but I didn't need to use it right to the end. Perhaps the settings need to be altered for shows.
  
• I was worried about losing the laptop, perhaps because it was the first time.

All in all it was a great asset and I filled in many more gaps than I would have done without it.

Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Peter, with due respect,
that is very clunky and wasteful.

If you have a dedicated image viewer as ACDSee
you need never to scan or print a page again.

You add each scan of every new stamp
and it finds its own hiearchy as to the numbering
system you employ.
With the "create a contact sheet" option
you digitally print a page whenever you like
no paper involved. No toner involved.

Example:
I have 4,555 stamp images in my US collection.
I want a page ONLY of US 7c stamps
In the "find" option I place "07c"
Finished
I print the page (digitally every time)
or, send to the printer if I want hard copy



If I have misinterpreted what you seek, please forgive.

Ipad v1 is now £299 in UK after the recent announcement of the v2 for anyone thinking about buying one.

I know nothing about an ipad Anthony,
does it load or can one use image programs
as ACDSee or Irfanview?
Any comments on the ipad?

guys, google's Picasa is a great way to record stamps and show them.
It even has a built in editor. and it is free.
Unless you have a 10 year old computer, then using 10 year old software is fine. Otherwise, stay current.
Rod I know you love the free version of ACDSee but there are better ones out there for anyone who is will to spend a few dollars.

Rod,
An iPad is like a 10mm thick laptop. You can view photos and PDFs on the 10" display as well as most other things you can on a PC or Mac.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

SV - I think you mean Google Picasa?

Anthony, yes that is what I meant. sorry, haven't had coffee yet.

I've read up a bit on Picasa and like what I've read. This seems a very good reason to give it a go. Thanks for the advice and feed back. I tried Picasa once before and it tried to take over so it got deleted. We'll see if it has improved since then. Knowing Google, it should be great.

Triggersmob----What a nice coin collection. I wonder how many of the stamp collectors here on SCF are also coin collectors? I have a nice 19th cent and 20th cent type set of US, as well as complete Washington Quarters, almost complete Buffalo Nickels, Walking Liberty Halves, Lincoln Cents and Mercury Dimes.

I have always liked the large size British, Canadian, and Australian Pennies. I compare them to the US Large Cents.