http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/ Ruminations on stamp collecting and postal news. en-us Copyright 2009 Kevin Blackston http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:27:11 EST http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/2012-u-s-stamp-program-loaded-with-landscapes_445.php <p>The United States Postal Service last week finished unveiling its <a href="http://www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview/">2012 stamp program</a>, and it’s full of goodies for landscape collectors like myself.</p><p>The following stamps will feature images of landscapes across the <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr>:</p><ul><li>Louisiana Statehood (Flat Lake, Louisiana)</li><li>Arizona Statehood (Cathedral Rock, Arizona)</li><li>New Mexico Statehood (Cerro de Santa Clara, Cerro de Guadalupe, and Rio Puerco)</li><li>Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania</li><li>Glacier National Park (Logan Pass, Montana)</li></ul><p>Several of the stamps from a planned “Earthscapes” sheet will also meet my requirements for consideration as landscape stamps.</p><p>Other notable commemoratives include the final 10-design coil in the long-running Flags of Our Nation series; a new set of five stamps honoring Pixar movies like <cite>Toy Story 2</cite> and <cite>Finding Nemo</cite>; and a variety of stamps picturing individuals best known for their work in the fine arts.</p><p>Interestingly, the <abbr title="United States Postal Service">USPS</abbr> has also announced multi-design issues at the 65¢ one-ounce non-machinable or two-ounce rate, and the 85¢ three-ounce rate.</p><p>In each case, the stamps in question depict animals, and may very well be popular with topical collectors. One could argue that the number of stamps being issued (five in each denomination) is a bit excessive, but such complaints are more likely to come from collectors rather than the general public, who have little reason to care whether a pane of 20 stamps contains 20 different designs or only a single design repeated 20 times.</p><p>Take a look at the <a href="http://www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview/">entire 2012 stamp program</a>, and then let me know: what do you think of this year’s stamps?</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/2012-u-s-stamp-program-loaded-with-landscapes_445.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/2012-u-s-stamp-program-loaded-with-landscapes_445.php Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:27:11 EST http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-posts-2012-stamp-program_444.php <p>Following in the footsteps of other stamp-issuing entities that announce new issues ahead of time, Philosateleian Post has released a <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post/news/2012-stamp-program/">preview of its upcoming 2012 commemorative stamp program</a>.</p><p>Among the highlights of the Post’s planned new issues is a stamp honoring <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/in-memoriam-aunt-donna_442.php">Aunt Donna</a>, whose death I recently mentioned in this blog. This stamp will be issued on World Local Post Day (January 30, 2012).</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 232px; width: 356px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/post/aunt-donna-stamp.jpg" alt="Private local post stamp with stylized image of Aunt Donna" title="Aunt Donna (1933–2011) stamp"></a><div>Aunt Donna (1933–2011) stamp</div></div><p>You can read more about the Aunt Donna stamp and the other stamps planned for 2012, plus learn how to get copies of these stamps for your own collection in Philosateleian Post’s <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post/news/2012-stamp-program/">press release</a>.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-posts-2012-stamp-program_444.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-posts-2012-stamp-program_444.php Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:32:17 EST http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/new-cover-added-to-american-indian-exhibit_443.php <p>There’s a new addition to Philosateleia’s featured exhibit <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/14-cents/">14 Cents: the American Indian Stamp</a>. J. Emory Renoll, a Pennsylvania stamp dealer, mailed <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/14-cents/united-states/pennsylvania-cover/">this registered cover</a> in 1930.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 240px; width: 419px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/american-indian-pennsylvania-cover.jpg" alt="Front of cover bearing 14-cent American Indian stamp, pair of 2-cent Ohio River Canalization stamps, and 3-cent Victory stamp" title="14¢ American Indian registered cover"></a><div>14¢ American Indian registered cover</div></div><p>Read all about <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/14-cents/united-states/pennsylvania-cover/">the cover</a> and the postage rate it exemplifies.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/new-cover-added-to-american-indian-exhibit_443.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/new-cover-added-to-american-indian-exhibit_443.php Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:26:22 EST http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/in-memoriam-aunt-donna_442.php <p>Earlier this evening, I learned that my Aunt Donna died. We weren’t actually biologically related—she was the sister of a longtime family friend—but for the better part of two decades she filled the “aunt” role about as well as anyone could ask. I will miss her friendship.</p><p>You may wonder why I’m writing about this here; this is, after all, a blog about stamp collecting. The simple answer is that, although not a stamp collector herself, Aunt Donna had a huge influence on my pursuit of the hobby. Indeed, had it not been for her support, I don’t know that I would be a collector today.</p><p>I first learned of Aunt Donna when I was a kid. It was either 1992 or 1993 when she started sending letters to me, and with those letters, stamps. Not just United States stamps, either, although there were plenty of those. One of the first things she sent to me was an Elvis souvenir sheet of nine stamps from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a country I had no idea even existed. If I had to point to a single event as getting me “hooked” on stamps, that would be it.</p><p>Over the nearly two decades between then and today, Aunt Donna and I exchanged dozens of letters. Our correspondence became somewhat less frequent as I went off to college, started my career, and got married, but we managed to stay in touch. And with most of those letters came a batch of stamps she pulled off mail she received, or some packet acquired through a mail order offer. I have no idea how many thousands of individual stamps she must have sent to me over the years.</p><p>Far more important to me than the stamps, however, is that Aunt Donna took an interest in me and my interests. To a kid, especially, there’s little that’s better than that. Her encouragement is a big part of why I collect stamps today, and by extension a major reason that Philosateleia even exists.</p><p>There’s much more that I could write, but I’ll just close by saying that I’m grateful for the influence Aunt Donna had on my life, and I look forward to seeing her again in the future.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/in-memoriam-aunt-donna_442.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/in-memoriam-aunt-donna_442.php Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:47:08 EST http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/u-s-stamp-prices-on-the-rise_440.php <p>The cost of mailing a letter is going up once again in the United States.</p><p>The <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> Postal Service <a href="http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_116.htm">recently announced</a> that, beginning on January 22, the cost of mailing a 1-ounce letter within the <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> will increase by a penny to 45¢.</p><p>Other significant changes include postcards, which will go from 29¢ to 32¢, and international letters. Letters and cards bound for Canada and Mexico will cost 85¢ to mail instead of 80¢, while sending a note to someone in any other country will cost $1.05, an increase of 7% from the current 98¢ international rate.</p><p>My guess is that most customers probably won’t pay much attention to the change in prices; with the recent advent of “forever” stamps, the face value is no longer indicated on the stamp. There’s less of a reminder that what you paid for your stamps the last time you went to the post office isn’t the same as what you’ll be paying the next time you go. Those of us who collect stamps, however, may notice the change, whether because of the increased cost of new issues, or because of the amount of mail we send to other collectors.</p><p>What do you think of the proposed rate hikes? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/u-s-stamp-prices-on-the-rise_440.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/u-s-stamp-prices-on-the-rise_440.php Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:49:45 EDT http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/milestones-of-stamp-collecting_439.php <p>The past month has been pretty quiet for Philosateleia, but that’s not because anything’s going wrong. Quite the contrary—the last few weeks have been very philatelically productive for me. I feel like rambling a bit about what I’ve been up to.</p><p>Since December 2009, I’ve been working off and on on the only thematic, or topical, collection in which I’ve ever taken an interest: landscapes on stamps. We’re talking mountains, rivers, forests, and so forth from all around the world. Think Yosemite Valley, Mount Everest, and the Amazon River, and you’ll know the kind of scenery we’re talking about.</p><p>It’s a funny sort of collection, in a way. The irony of trying to display huge chunks of the Eternal God’s creation on tiny scraps of paper is not lost on me. It’s amazing, though, the number of styles stamp designers have used to illustrate those marvelous works.</p><p>At any rate, I digress. I’ve been making a big push to “finish” this project, and last night I did just that: finished organizing my landscape stamp collection—or, more accurately, finished organizing the landscape stamps currently in my collection. For there’s always room for growth, is there not?</p><p>I ended up scanning one stamp depicting each site, then doing some image manipulation and using the results as the backgrounds of my album pages. Here’s an example of one of my Yosemite Valley pages at an intermediate stage; I added another stamp to it at a later date.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 500px; width: 332px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/external/bears-stamp-family/20110706-landscapes.jpg" alt="Stamp album page holding stamps depicting Yosemite Valley" title="Yosemite Valley stamp album page"></a><div>Yosemite Valley Stamp Album Page</div></div><p>Thus, the page for each landscape has a different background.</p><p>The benefit of this approach? Not just the stamps, but the pages themselves, change as you leaf through my albums. My <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/album/"><abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> stamp album pages</a> are formal, with the spaces for the stamps laid out in neat rows. The pages for my landscape stamps have some uniformity to them, too, in terms of font size and style, but there’s also a certain randomness, an unpredictability from one page to the next, that I’ve never encountered before in stamp collecting. And I’m not saying it would work for every collection, but for this particular grouping of stamps, it does. It does.</p><p>A negative of building my pages this way? The time involved. I estimate there are presently 350–400 stamps in my landscape collection. I haven’t counted them or even made a proper list just yet, but that’s my gut feeling. I designed, trimmed down to size, and three-hole punched 336 pages. As mentioned earlier, that did take the better part of two years. Was it fun? Yes, but there was a time investment, too, to the extent that I feel both a sense of accomplishment and a sense of relief to be “done.” So if you’re thinking of doing the same thing, count the costs in advance.</p><p>Now, to bring an end to this long-winded summary of my recent philatelic pursuits…I’m working on the October issue of the <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post-horn/"><cite>Post Horn</cite></a>, and then I have some commitments that will keep me busy over the next two or three weeks. Hopefully after that I’ll be able to get back to adding some new content to Philosateleia. I hope you’ll join me for the ride.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/milestones-of-stamp-collecting_439.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/milestones-of-stamp-collecting_439.php Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:13:09 EDT http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/fall-2011-update-for-the-philosateleian_438.php <p>If you’ve acquired any new <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> stamps for your collection over the past few months, you’ll now have a place to keep them! The <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/album/updates/20110904.zip">Fall 2011 Supplement (198 <abbr title="Kilobytes">KB</abbr>, 4 files, 15 pages)</a> for <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/album/"><cite>The Philosateleian <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> Stamp Album</cite></a> is now available for you to download.</p><p>This update includes space for over 40 new issues, including this year’s federal duck stamps. Enjoy!</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/fall-2011-update-for-the-philosateleian_438.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/fall-2011-update-for-the-philosateleian_438.php Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:06:55 EDT http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-post-stamp-to-commemorate-wedding_437.php <p>My wife and I are not William and Kate, but it still seemed reasonable to have our own commemorative stamp to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. So I decided to do something about it.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post/news/sarah-kevins-wedding/">Sarah & Kevin’s Wedding stamp</a> will be issued on September 19, our anniversary. This is probably a limited interest stamp, but if you’d like a copy for your collection, please read the <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post/news/sarah-kevins-wedding/">press release</a> for instructions on how to request one.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-post-stamp-to-commemorate-wedding_437.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/philosateleian-post-stamp-to-commemorate-wedding_437.php Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:12:56 EDT http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/camp-douglas-prisoner-of-war-cover_436.php <p>The American Civil War was one of the darkest and most bloody chapters in our nation’s history. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in the fighting that began 150 years ago this past April.</p><p>Much of the surviving mail that was sent during the Civil War paints a vivid picture of what life was like during those tumultuous years. An envelope often has a story to tell even if the letter it carried is no longer around. That is certainly the case with my <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/gallery/1861/camp-douglas-pow-cover/">Camp Douglas <abbr title="Prisoner of War">POW</abbr> cover</a>.</p><div class="featuredItem"><a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/gallery/1861/camp-douglas-pow-cover/"><img class="stamp" style="height: 112px; width: 193px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/gallery/1861/camp-douglas-pow-cover-lg.jpg" alt="Front of cover bearing 3-cent George Washington stamp and Camp Douglas prisoner's letter marking" title="Camp Douglas POW Cover"></a><div>Camp Douglas <abbr title="Prisoner of War">POW</abbr> Cover</div></div><p>There’s a bit of a story behind me even owning this piece. A friend of mine worked at a folk life museum/archive, and although the people there had no interest in old envelopes—they wanted only the letters inside—someone fortunately had the good sense to not throw old envelopes away, but rather store them in a box. I had the opportunity to purchase this several years ago, and the rest, as they say, is history.</p><p>I hope you enjoy the accompanying <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/gallery/1861/camp-douglas-pow-cover/">writeup about this cover</a>. If you have any <abbr title="Prisoner of War">POW</abbr> covers in your own collection and you’d like to share an image with other readers, please <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/contact/">let me know</a>. http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/camp-douglas-prisoner-of-war-cover_436.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/camp-douglas-prisoner-of-war-cover_436.php Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:33:54 EDT http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/how-to-make-a-local-post-stamp_435.php <p>Making your own local post stamps is a lot of fun. But how do you get started? How do you turn your idea for a “stamp” into a finished product that you can stick on an envelope and mail to a friend?</p><p>Today we’ll take a look at the process of creating a local post stamp from start to finish, including how to design your stamp using a graphics editing program on your computer. This is more or less the process I use to design stamps for <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/post/">Philosateleian Post</a>, my private local post.</p><p>Before we begin, I want to thank reader Karl F. for suggesting this topic. Now, let’s get started.</p><h3>Contents</h3><ul><li><a href="#what">What you need</a></li><li><a href="#designing">Designing your stamp</a></li><li><a href="#printing">Printing and “perforating” your stamp</a></li></ul><h3>What you need</h3><h4>Software</h4><p>In this tutorial, we’re going to take a look at how to design a local post stamp using <a href="http://www.getpaint.net">Paint.NET</a>. Paint.NET is <em>not</em> the same Paint program that is included with Microsoft Windows, but it is free, so if the program is not already installed on your computer, I recommend you <a href="http://www.getpaint.net">download it now</a>.</p><p>Note that Paint.NET is designed for use on Microsoft Windows; you’ll need to find an alternative if you’re using a Mac or Linux, and the exact instructions provided here may not apply.</p><p>Also, there’s no requirement that you use Paint.NET even if you are using Windows. If you’re more comfortable using Adobe Photoshop, <abbr title="GNU Image Manipulation Program">GIMP</abbr>, or another graphics program, that’s okay. (I do not recommend the Paint program that’s included with Windows because of how basic it is.) Just note that the screenshots and directions in this tutorial will apply to Paint.NET specifically, so if you’re using a different program you may have to figure some things out on the fly.</p><h4>A picture</h4><p>What do you want to commemorate on your local post stamp? A family member? A local landmark? You’ll need an image with which you can work, whether it’s a photo or a design you’ve drawn by hand, scanned, and saved to your computer’s hard drive. (You can save this <a href="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-picture.jpg">photo of a dog</a> to your hard drive if you want a picture to experiment with.)</p><p>Keep in mind that you shouldn’t use an image that belongs to someone else. Is your favorite major league baseball team or movie star going to know you sent a “stamp” with their logo or photo on it to a friend? Probably not. If you start hawking the things on eBay, though, you could end up in legal trouble.</p><p>Technically, a stamp doesn’t have to have a picture on it—Uganda’s first stamps, for example, were produced with a typewriter—but most stamps do.</p><h4>A printer</h4><p>You have to have some way of printing your masterpiece when it’s done.</p><h3 id="designing">Designing your stamp</h3><p>Okay, you’ve installed Paint.NET (if necessary) and picked an image to use, so we’re ready to begin. Start Paint.NET and we’ll get going!</p><h4>Adding a picture</h4><p>By default, Paint.NET opens with a blank white picture. Press <kbd>Control + W</kbd> to close this.</p><p>Next, press <kbd>Control + N</kbd>. In the new window that appears, change the resolution to 300 pixels/inch. (Using the default resolution of 96 pixels/inch can cause your stamp to look blurry when you print it.) In the “print size” section, enter the size you want your stamp to be. Modern horizontal <abbr title="United States">U.S.</abbr> commemoratives measure approximately 1.57×0.98 inches (a width-to-height ratio of about 8:5), but you can make your stamp as large or small as you want it. Click <kbd>OK</kbd>.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 288px; width: 285px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-01.png" alt="New Image Dialog Box in Paint.NET" title="New Image Dialog Box in Paint.NET"><div>New Image Dialog Box in Paint.NET</div></div><p>In the status bar at the bottom of the window, you should see numbers representing the width and height of your stamp in pixels. Make a note of these numbers.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 355px; width: 440px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-02.png" alt="Location of Image Dimensions in Paint.NET" title="Location of Image Dimensions in Paint.NET"><div>Location of Image Dimensions in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Now, open the photo you’re going to use as your stamps design. To do this, press <kbd>Control + O</kbd>, then find your file, select it, and click <kbd>Open</kbd>.</p><p>You can use the Rectangle Select tool to select the area of the photo you want to use on your stamp, then press <kbd>Control + Shift + X</kbd> to crop the image.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 277px; width: 54px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-03.png" alt="Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET" title="Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET"><div>Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Because your photo is probably wider and taller in pixels than your stamp, you need to resize it. Press <kbd>Control + R</kbd>, and enter the new width and height for the image, then click <kbd>OK</kbd>. If your stamp, like mine, is 471×294 pixels, you want to make sure neither the width nor the height to which you resize your photo is less than that. It’s okay if either the width or the height is greater; we can crop off what we doṉt need in the next step.</p><p>If the width of your image is greater than the width of your stamp, or if the height is greater, use the Rectangle Select tool to trim off the excess pixels. You can see how many pixels you have selected with the tool by looking at the status bar while still holding down the left mouse button.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 355px; width: 440px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-04.png" alt="Location of Selection Dimensions in Paint.NET" title="Location of Selection Dimensions in Paint.NET"><div>Location of Selection Dimensions in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Once you’ve made your selection, press <kbd>Control + Shift + X</kbd> again to crop the image.</p><p>Next, press <kbd>Control + Shift + A</kbd>, to select the entire photo, then press <kbd>Control + C</kbd> to copy it. Switch back to your stamp by clicking its thumbnail in the upper right corner of the window.</p><p>Press <kbd>Control + V</kbd> to paste your photo onto the stamp. Good job! The tricky part is done.</p><h4>Adding text</h4><p>Now let’s add the name of your local post to the stamp. It’s easiest to this by creating layers so that if we make a typo, we can correct just the text part of the image instead of having to start over.</p><p>To create a new layer, press the <kbd>+</kbd> button in the layers box in Paint.NET.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 184px; width: 173px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-05.png" alt="Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET" title="Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET"><div>Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Next, click the Text tool button. Choose your font, font size, and font style from the toolbar at the top of the window, and choose the color for your text from the color picker window.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 355px; width: 440px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-06.png" alt="Location of Text and Color Tools in Paint.NET" title="Location of Text and Color Tools in Paint.NET"><div>Location of Text and Color Tools in Paint.NET</div></div><p>If you don’t like the text color you chose when it’s on top of your picture, go ahead and choose a different color.</p><p>(Note: except for changing font information or text color, clicking anywhere but on your stamp can deactivate the text tool. If this happens, make sure the text layer is selected in the layers box, then press <kbd>Control + A</kbd>, then press <kbd>Delete</kbd> and restart the text entry phase.)</p><p>After you’ve typed your local post’s name, press <kbd>Control + A</kbd>, then click the Move Selected Pixels button and drag the text to where you want it on your stamp.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 277px; width: 54px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-07.png" alt="Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET" title="Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET"><div>Tools Toolbar in Paint.NET</div></div><p>For each individual bit of text you want to add—the stamp’s value, for example, or a caption describing the subject—add a new layer. You’ll be able to move the individual bits of text around separately until you get everything just like you want it.</p><h4>Preparing your stamp for printing</h4><p>After you’ve finalized your design, press <kbd>Control + Shift + R</kbd>. Make sure Anchor is set to “Middle”. Add about 0.2 inches to both the print width and height, and click <kbd>OK</kbd>. This step adds a bit of “white space” around the stamp so you have room for perforations later on.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 438px; width: 304px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-08.png" alt="Canvas Size Dialog Box in Paint.NET" title="Canvas Size Dialog Box in Paint.NET"><div>Canvas Size Dialog Box in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Press <kbd>Control + M</kbd> repeatedly until only one layer is left in the layers box.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 184px; width: 173px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-09.png" alt="Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET" title="Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET"><div>Layers Toolbar in Paint.NET</div></div><p>Press <kbd>Control + A</kbd>, then press <kbd>Control + C</kbd> to copy your stamp image.</p><p>Press <kbd>Control + Shift + R</kbd> again and set Anchor to “Top Left.” Under Print size, triple the values in the width and height boxes. Click <kbd>OK</kbd>. This step changes the canvas size so that you have room for more stamps!</p><p>Press <kbd>Control + V</kbd>, then drag the stamp you just pasted to a blank area of the canvas. Repeat this step until you have nine stamps.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 355px; width: 440px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-screenshot-10.png" alt="Completed Image in Paint.NET" title="Completed Image in Paint.NET"><div>Completed Image in Paint.NET</div></div><p>(Note: when resizing the canvas, you can make it large enough to hold as many stamps as you want. Just keep in mind that the printable area of an 8½×11 inch sheet of paper is around 7½×10 inches, or 10×7½ inches if printed in landscape mode.)</p><p>Save your image, then close Paint.NET.</p><h3 id="printing">Printing and “perforating” your stamp</h3><h4>Print</h4><p>Open the Paint program that comes preinstalled on Windows. (It’s probably on the Start menu under All Programs > Accessories.) Open the image you saved earlier.</p><p>Press <kbd>Control + P</kbd> to bring up the print dialog box, then click <kbd>OK</kbd>. Your sheet of stamps should print. Congratulations!</p><h4>Perforate</h4><p>There are many options for separating your stamps. The simplest approach is to leave them imperforate, and separate them by cutting or tearing. That’s how the world’s first postage stamps were issued, and it gives them a rustic feel.</p><p>Another option is to use a paper cutter. This is what I currently use for Philosateleian Post stamps. This particular handheld model is made by Recollections; I purchased it at a Michael’s craft store.</p><div class="featuredItem"><img class="stamp" style="height: 300px; width: 440px" src="http://www.philosateleia.com/images/blog/2011/local-post-paper-cutter.jpg" alt="Recollections Paper Cutter" title="Recollections Paper Cutter"><div>Recollections Paper Cutter</div></div><p>To give your stamps a real-life perforated appearance, you can a) perforate them by setting them on top of a block of styrofoam and using a thumbtack to punch holes; b) take your chances with a sewing machine (if you own one); or c) have them perforated with a genuine perforator. If you’re <em>really</em> lucky, you own such a machine yourself; if not, operations like <a href="http://www.theolatheposte.com/">The Olathe Post</a> can perforate the stamps for you.</p><p>Having someone else perforate your stamps for you can be expensive, as they have to configure their equipment to fit your stamp size. They may sell pre-perforated paper, but in that case you’ll have to design your stamps to be sure they fit. That’s outside the scope of this tutorial.</p><p>My personal preference is to keep the entire production in-house (and inexpensive), which is why I’ve gone with the rouletting wheel.</p><h3>Summary</h3><p>Making your own local post stamps takes time and patience, but it’s also a lot of fun. Give it a try, and use your creations on your outgoing mail.</p><p>Finally, you might want to consider joining the <a href="http://www.localcollectorspost.org/">Local Post Collectors Society</a>. I’m a member. The annual dues are quite reasonable, and the LPCS’s bimonthly publication, <cite>The Poster</cite>, will give you a glimpse of the stamps other local post operators are creating.</p> http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/how-to-make-a-local-post-stamp_435.php#comments http://www.philosateleia.com/blog/entries/how-to-make-a-local-post-stamp_435.php Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:03:00 EDT