Getting started  : Stamp Images from the Web

In order to start using the Stamp Analyser, you will need  images of the stamps that you want to analyse.

There are three ways of obtaining the images.

  1. Scan your stamps; simple and by far the best method, click here for the procedure;
  2. Photograph your stamps; tricky but doable, click here for the procedure;
  3. Obtain the stamp images from any website, see below

Obtain the stamp images from any website

You can use Safari to copy and save images to your photo collection or save them to the pasteboard, as follows:

  1. Use Safari to navigate to a web page that has an image you want to save.
  2. Tap and hold your finger (long Press) on that image until the contextual menu appears.
  3. If the menu shows you the options “ Save Image, Copy and Cancel” you can either Copy the image to the pasteboard or Save Image into your photo collection. If the image is also a link to another web page, you might see options to” Open” that page; Open that page and then either Copy or Save the image from the new menu that will be displayed.
  4. If you have selected Copy, you can the go the Stamp Analyser and  select the “Paste Image” options from the tools menu of the Stamp Analyser.
  5. If you have selected to Save Image you can then go the stamp Analyser and select the “Photo Library” option from the tools menu of the Stamp Analyser to access the image.

 On the Mac you can drag and drop the image directly from the web page. When dragging images from a website into the Stamp Analyzer, try to get an image size which gives crisp results. Normally, if you click or double click the image on the website you will get a larger image.  A very large image also gives poor results as it contains too many interpolated pixels.  If you are buying the stamps online then the seller will usually be able to provide a larger copy and the DPI at which the stamp was scanned.

The DPI of most web images is normally set to an arbitrary value of 72. This number does not correspond to the DPI at which the original image was scanned.  For accurate results the DPI at which the stamp was scanned must be known.  If the DPI is not known then  the perforation & stamp frame  measurements will be incorrect. The determination of the centering information is not effected, as this is a relative value and does not depend on the DPI.

This site http://www.dpiphoto.eu/dpi.htm has a good description of DPI.