Scanning Program/Flatbed Scanner/Appx 10,000 scans to make as a "new" seller

Hi All,

I noticed this has been addressed in past but I'm looking for most recent advice please.

I only became aware of Hip Stamps site a few months ago & love it. I began purchasing over the past month.

I'm retiring in a few months & looking to also become a seller now on Hip Stamp. I've, been a collector over 50 years! (since 10 years old...became APS member & maintained membership since 1976! )

I would greatly appreciate advice on what the best scanning software is. ( previously investigation showed Iranview or Stamp Image Bursting/(Drake) If this remains, which do users prefer & why?
I am not very tech savvy & i probably have over 10,000 scans to take of items to sell, so I would want the easiest software program to navigate through with easiest ability to scan quickly with a quality photo.
(my son will help this retiring tech lacking senior learn it....eventually, hopefully)

Any step by step learning, shortcut advice to read/follow up on greatly appreciated .

Also what flatbed scanner (as inexpensive as possible to do job, I have HP Office Pro 8630 Printer/Scanner and Epson V300 Flat bed, old, never used it)

Anything else I'm missing that I should be aware of?

( On a separate posting I will seek advice on tips on how to begin selling, all beginnings are difficult & this seems like a daunting challenge. ie: Charging for shipping handling?, whether to sell to buyers in different contries, etc, etc)

PS- I'm looking so forward to the relaxation & fun that stamp collecting/buying & hopefully now also selling brings. It brings back amazing "bonding" moments with my dad of blessed memory who would drive & accompany me to all the major stamp shows & we'd collect as a "team", me doing the selecting of the stamps from the dealer & my dad of blessed memory doing the paying!

ANy guidance, advice so greatly appreciated!

Comments

  • 8 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I would go with the V300 and use the software that comes with it. That will give you the ability to preview a whole page of stamps and scan each of them individually. You will have control over size, resolution and quality all from the same software. It should last you well over the 10K scans you have to do. My V600 has over 50K scans and is still going strong.
    You can use Irfanview or Photoshop to "fine tune" your images if you want. I would suggest you also invest in a stamp database to keep track of what you have posted. Much easier than wating through a bunch of excel files. I use "StampManage" and it not only allows me to enter full info about the stamp but also straightens and crops the images. It even produces the CSV file for bulk posting on HipStamp.
    Selling on HipStamp is a lot of fun. The extra cash is nice too! Welcome - and have a good time!

    wayne
  • I second Wayne's comment. Epson V550 in my case but essentially the same and StampManage. Perfect combination for me.
  • I also use the V550 and still going strong after at least 25K scans
  • Where are you guys getting your accumulative number of scans for the Epson scanners?
  • Thomas:
    I use mine almost exclusively for HipStamp images so the 25K was the estimate of how many listing I have entered over the years since I got this scanner. It is likely more as I sometimes have more than one image per cover
    Mike
  • I have an Epson 4180 that is almost 10 years old now and probably has done way over 50K in scans. I also have a GT15000 that I have had for about 15 years and is still going strong.
  • I use a Canon LIDE 300. Cost less than $100. Works great. I scan images at 600DPI into JPEGS which are deposited into a folder on my Mac. Used to use Picasa to edit scans but now it is unsupported by Google and buggy so I abandoned it. Looked at a bunch of photo manipulation software. Most of which usually had too many bells and whistles for what I am trying to do... quickly.

    My process is simple. SCAN into a predetermined folder. DUPLICATE(as I usually scan 5 or 10 items per page), ROTATE(if necessary), CROP(get a nice border around an individual item quickly), STRAIGHTEN(easier to do on the computer than on the scan sheet), WATERMARK and finally NAME(my private id on Hip). I was able to write some plug ins through the Finder on the Mac so effectively I have my own scan editing software. Cost? My time to figure out how to do it.

    Hope this is helpful.

    Bob
  • Oh right... I forgot one step... RESIZE.... I shoot for 250kb files for faster upload. At 600DPI(which gives excellent resolution) there is little to no loss of detail.

    Bob
Sign In or Register to comment.