Alana posted in her introduction about technology and computers in stamp collecting. One thing that we really need, and I don't have the skills to produce, is a color matching program. I know there are many members, like me, that will look at a stamp and say "That is (insert color)", when in fact it is actually something else. It would be nice to have the ability to scan a stamp, open a program, and have it compare the scan to say a Gibbons color database, and tell you, reliably, it is (insert color). The key is to make it affordable and geared toward stamp colors. Photoshop will do it, but only gives a number, and there are some I looked at that are so expensive that only owners of a C3a could use it. So, to all of our nerds with computer experience, any ideas?
I would do you one better. How about the same technology that could not only identify color, but the stamp issue as well? While we're at it, perfs, watermarks, fakes, etc. Maybe in our lifetime technology will come that far. Who knows?
@seanpashby, just a thought but if you scanned in the Gibbons colour guide with Photoshop, and spreadsheet the numbers then when scanning a stamp for colour identification you could cross reference the numbers.
Vic
Tim was working on that: the perfindicator, which was attached to the paper thickness gauge which, when rolled across the fibers, indicated whether it was laid, laid back, wove, wove-begotten, clay, clay pidgeon blood pink, or silk waste coat. When run in conjunction with the col-o-ramatic (TM), it IDs the various colors, for instance, bister, buster, buster brown, or bustier and lets you know whether that's Scott's bister, Yvert's bustier, or SG's buster, because we know each catalogue has a different set of colors. There's even a color fixerizer, to remove all the red from lake (except Middle Eastern lakes) and return it to its natural blue-green or aqua, and do it fast (aqua vite).
He hasn't quite mastered the fakes, facsimilies, or facmetaphors yet, but he says he's working on it.
It works on any Atari or Commodore 64.
At least I think that's what he said.
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
Wanting to bring the joy of stamp collecting to younger generations 13 May 2015 05:59:15am
re: Technology/Computers....Needs
It would be great to have an electronic "authenticator" color IDer. One person might say pink, another say magenta. Well which is it? OK well this one could be the regular issue and is worth 10 cents or I could have this super rare one which is worth $5. Those go into a Sherlock baggie as they require further investigation. For me that's half the fun is getting a mixed bag and IDing the stamps. I feel like a treasure hunter.
@Tuscan funny funny Mac.
Oh it's spelled Alanna. It rhymes with Banana, but if you call me Banana I'm going to split.