A Stamp For Every Country Album

hello all. sorry if this is a repeat but felt as if it needs to be known. a stamp for every country, stamp album; comprehensive. by john knudsen. it deals with stamps from a to z. a page for each country from the first stamp issued to the present. also does territories, possessions, and other stamp issuing entites, as a world wide collector I find this album very good and am enjoying it very much, so thank you john knudsen. regards ken

Thank you, Ken. I appreciate the kind words.

John

Thanks to John for posting his AlbumEasy source code on the AlbumEasy website. Using the source code, one can create a general worldwide album or other variation.

I have been focusing adding a few more political periods (colony, independence, occupation, etc.) with descriptive information and provisions for more than one issue for a given period.

This is one of my mock ups as I collect information. This variation uses the quadrille pattern feature. It prints lighter than it looks. I need to get through a number of pages to get an idea on how I can format the new information. It could be used as a "number ones" album. This helps we learn world history.



For descriptions, I have been using Linn's online entities information and the First Issues Collector Club's club website.

I bought this book in paperback and I have a question. Since the pages are bound will placing stamps on every page lead to the pages/book fan out from the extra layers of stamp?

I really do like the book, just not in its current format. I haven't used this yet and have been trying to figure out if there is a way I can safely deconstruct/cut out the pages and place them in 3-ring binders. Has anyone else taken the book apart and put them in 3-ring binders? I know that I can use an x-acto knife but I worry that the pages will be different widths and I don't have access to a paper cutter to make them all the same width. I'm not about to measure each one and cut them by hand either.

And no, I'm not about to wear my printer out and spend lots of money on ink to reprint these. This thing is over 500 pages. Any other suggestions?

I just thought of another question. This book is on what we in the adult coloring book community call "cheap Amazon paper." Is it acid free? Will it hurt stamps over time?

Oh, most definitely.

The printed book ( Amazon) version is actually 273 pages in length (single sided - the backs are blank). The print your own version (AlbumEasy site and StampSmarter site) is 268 pages in length (single sided - ditto).

There is quite a difference in the actual number of pages as outlined above compared to 500...

I would also point out that any bound album will be expanded in width when stamps are added. However, in an ASFEC album, the number of stamps on each page are generally significantly less than in a bound Scott Album, for example. Would that result in the same amount of bulging as a full Scott International Junior Album, for example? Or less? I honestly don't know.

Different strokes for different folks...

John

To make an obvious point, before using a bound album, put aside your Hawid/Showgard mounts.

Angore,

I like it!

The new quadrille pattern feature opens up many new possibilities for AlbumEasy users to create pages on the fly...

AlbumEasy rocks!

John

@angore,
Nice page. In Europe, however, no one would consider the Baltic States as being Northern Europe. It is nowhere near the most northern lattitude of the European continent. It, commonly, is considered Eastern Europe. However, geagraphically it is quite centrally located. It also is a sensitive subject as no traditional 'Eastern European' country considers itself to be that. The association with the backward European area controlled by the USSR is too strong.

@NSK, the country location description came from Wikipedia. Encyclopedia Britannica states "northeastern Europe". I like stating it is the most northern of the Baltic States.

I am also considering grouping by continent following the Stamp Atlas definition but even that is debate for some countries such as the island areas between the main continent of Asia and Australia. There are various lines (Webber) but Australasia can also work. There are a few countries that would be considered trans-continent.

The National Postal Museum in Washington, DC has an informative website on international philately that includes information on current and precedent countries, as well as other stamp issuing entities. Most of the descriptions are sourced from Linn's Stamp News.

Indeed. Most people start with the following Album:

https://stamps.org/Portals/0/albums...-Country.pdf
(from 2014)

The problem is that no two people will ever agree on what an ASFEC Album should contain,
or should not contain, not to mention how it should be presented. I chose alphabetical -
others choose geographical. Again, no solution will make everyone happy.

Therefore, it seems to me, the ideal solution is to have an easy editable solution so that
each collector can decide what is best. My editable AlbumEasy source files are located
at the AlbumEasy and StampSmarter web sites. Anyone can download the source files. It does
require some knowledge of how to use AlbumEasy files - but that only takes an hour or two.
AlbumEasy generates a PDF album page file from simple text source files.

Others like the idea of a hardcover/paperback single volume that they can place on their bookshelf.

The Amazon books (Comprehensive hardcover/paperback, Simplified hardcover/paperback) were
designed to fill that need. They are obviously not editable! No bound book is editable.

John

I am currently working on a 'A Stamp For Every Country Album' for myself; I can share it if others are interested. While it is similar layout to some of the existing albums, it is functionally different. I have added user editable text blocks which allow anyone to add/edit the existing verbiage on each page. You simply open the PDF file and edit directly in the PDF in your PDF reader, no special app or coding needed.

For example, you can add text under each stamp with a nice description for the stamp you have selected to use. Or if desired, you can add text for things like 'Catalog Number, Value, and Quantity Issued. The 'default' for this field is blank (it does not have to be populated if desired).

There are other editable fields such as the text under the Country name. The 'default' text is populated with the standard info such as population and size.

I also use an editable field under the stamp placement block. This allows folks who might like to add something like a catalog number and have it hidden under the stamp itself.

This approach allows you to customize the album pages without having to write code and spend large amounts of time in other apps.

NOTE: This is a PDF 'form' so it is best to download the PDF file and view/edit in your desktop PDF reader. (NOT in your browser; trying to use your browser requires all kinds of things to be configured to display and use a PDF 'form'.) I also recommend Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) when using PDF forms (it may work in other Readers but you are on your own).

You can download a Demo (just three countries but it will give you the idea of the functionality) here https://stampsmarter.org/features/d...emoPages.zip

Download and save the zip file to your device. Open the zip and copy the DemoPages.pdf to your desktop. Open Adobe Reader and then open the the DemoPages.pdf. The editable fields should be highlighted as shown here


Don

Very nice, Don!

John

Classic_Paper
ROFL
You made my day. Now I look back on this question, it was kinda of stupid.

Sounds like a fun project ......some of us old timers who already collect worldwide got a 50 or 60 year head start over you .

The issue all of you are going to have is with "what is a stamp " things like liberated area's ,princely kingdoms , city states ,private government organization and other stamp issueing bodies .