Oh! The program! I forgot to mention the good fortune!
I've been wanting a copy of StampManage for quite a while, several years actually, but the kind of budget we're on doesn't allow for such big purchases money wise. Then perusing a random yard sale hubby found a legit copy of StampManage 2009....with the registration number....full version. For $1. It works great but there's tons of features I've no idea about just yet. But I'm getting my basic functions down and I'm a good clip in to my Japanese section so far and it's looking wonderful.
So I decide to take a break from inputting info and checking out my favorite stamp forums over at stampcommunity. There was a rather lively talk about digital collections. Apparently there's a whole bunch of people scanning in their stamps and using programs to make album page layouts with said stamps, then displaying them online. So it's like having a physical album but on the screen. A wonderful way to visually keep track of your collection as well as display to others and even introduce possible new collectors to the hobby. So my break from StampManage led me to learn some basic PowerPoint and put together some pages of my own:
Still have plenty of work and practice to do but I think it's working out well so far. Until I figure out the best way to blog them I'm going to keep them on my Flickr account for viewing. I'll keep up my other main blog with the individual stamps but this view seems to be far better for web viewing. And it'll probably be far easier to upload to other sites that highlight people's collections as well.
So PowerPoint, scans and lots of patience can actually turn in to quite a nice digital album. Less than an hour to learn the program and I already had the first two pages done.
