How my own pages look in colour...

   Ruskystamps Russia stamp album pages   Ruskystamps Russia stamp album pages

Greyscale much cheaper to print...

  Ruskystamps Russia stamp album pages  Ruskystamps Russia stamp album pages

 

Album page design details...

Some of my page design details:

  • I adopted a 'decent' philatelic stamp page size: 240mm x 282mm (9.4" x 11.1") and not A4 or American Letter. This page size opened up many commercial philatelic binder options for me, including the Lighthouse "GRANDE Classic" ring binder (produced in 3 and 4 hole), springback binders; and the very commonly used 4-ring and 22-ring binders sold in UK and Europe via Stanley Gibbons and other provincial stamp retailers.
  • I used an old version of QuarkXPress Passport (version 7.3 from my publishing days) to do all the page layout work (with its brilliant page element library) but other alternatives are Adobe InDesign, CorelDRAW and perhaps MS Publisher. You might also want to take a look at AlbumGen (stamp album design software) which can combine with images and data from EzStamp.
  • I chose to have my pages to USSR punched with 22 holes. My collection to end USSR are housed in 16x identical Soviet red :) coloured philatelic ring binders (see binders page on market choices) with matching slipcases so that the collection can be stored correctly (i.e. vertically) to keep the stamps in great shape.
  • I have added spine labels produced with a Brother P-touch label printer and also looking include binder cover labels of the Coat of Arms of Russian Empire, RSFSR and USSR ...probably using the Avery® Online Print Service.

    Ruskystamps Russia stamp album pages high quality printing

  • 1200 DPI Digital Printing & Paper Choice
    In terms of printing and paper choice, pages were digital printed (pictured above) at 1200 dpi by commecial printers, not a high-street print shop. Many digital print shops exist on the high street but not all have the same spec machinery - do your research.
  • Paper spec: I used Mondi Colorcopy - 100% recyclable, ECF (elemental chlorine-free), FSC™ paper containing pulp from tree farms - this 160g/m2 paper has a special surface treatment, is non-toxic, CO2 neutral, carries the EU Ecolabel, and is ageing resistance ISO 9706 certified (guaranteed an archival life of over 200 years). Also has an environmentally friendly production ethos.
  • Pages are heavily illustrated, all numbered and stamps appear in Stanley Gibbons Russia catalogue Part 10 number order.
  • Most pages include stamp set titles, year and individual stamp captions often missing from mainstream commercial albums.
  • Odd snippets of Russian history included in run of pages.
  • My generous stamp border sizes allowed me to fit clear Hawid type hingeless stamp mounts to every stamp, protecting the whole collection. I also have about 300 glassine interleaves to additionally protect the most valuable stamps (first 5 volumes to 1952).
  • The generous number of illustrations makes it really easy to identify and place any stamps I still need.
  • Miniature sheets (as defined by SG (some catalogues refer to these as 'souvenir sheets') were also included in the date run of pages as were savings, tax, consular, charity and AIR stamps.
  • I printed off some extra 'topped and tailed' blank pages (with appropriate Russia crests) to accomodate my extra blocks, colour variations, etc.
  • Visit previews for more design and layout detail.
  • Visit my YouTube channel for more details...and (as @June 2020) to see other country stamp collections being sold on behalf of the widow of a late stamp collecting friend of mine who sadly died due to post Covid complications. Click Estate Sale logo (on right) to view these items and other clearance bargains!!

 

Russia Catalogues

I based my album pages on the excellent SG Part 10 Russia specialised catalogue. Now £29.95 in digital form - click image below.

Other Russia catalogues include those by Zagorsky, Michel and Scott.