postcard.co.uk

Can anyone recommend software to use for my postcard collection? I use a Mac; I've found countless programs, including freeware and shareware, for Windows, but (frustratingly) - none for the Mac...

Thanks for any help. I am prepared to become deeply (!) geeky with my hobby, by scanning all my cards, entering various bits of information about them, etc. : ) AKW

Hello

Why not try Filkemaker Pro program can be run on both Mac and Windows. Have used it for many years. Will cost some money but it is the host class.
Has databases of 60,000 objet next to my store. The program is made for Mac at the beginning.

I have used that many years ago for a different purpose, so am familiar with it; I'll consider that, and have a look again. I suppose I was hoping that there might be a program already set up specifically for postcard organizing that I could just plug in and immediately start using, no setups required!

I would be interested to know what programs others are using.

To suggest a tangental approach.... I know it's not quite what you were asking for but

Why not use one of the free to use 'in the cloud' web services to host your data. In some ways it can be better. The data is held in a format that can usually be exchanged very easily with other software products. It tends to protect you against software and operating system change. You can hold a local PC copy and synchronise it with the public internet (or if you wish private internet) version and so on. The big benefit is that you can share the collection with others, a benefit that can only be good for the promotion of postcard collecting and also for the sharing of knowlege. If in the future you change your mind you can simply download the data in a format that's easily transferrable to other products and platforms.

If your database is going to hold up to a few thousand images & associated information then it's free. To give one example, look at using something like 'Google Sites', it's easy to set up a 'template' page and then apply it to all of your items, an instant web site than can be private or shared and works with almost any hardware.

An alternative would be to use Picassa, Photobucket, or Flickr and then use their 'tags' to classify the imagas This is less satisfactory but if the image is primary then it could work.

Keep it simple and it will stand a better chance of living in the longer term as hardware / software changes.

Very intriguing advice. I'm not very familiar with what you describe, but will research it as soon as I get some free time this weekend. I'm open to anything that works. Mostly I want to put up good scans, but also some textual information to contextualize the cards, give purchasing histories, that sort of thing as well.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I'll have a look! Cheers, Allen

You can start with the Postcard Organizer with the database templates included in the software . If the template already created is not exactly what you want, you can easily create a new design of the organizer.

I have been using File Maker's Bento database. I submitted a template some time ago, called Postcard Collector to the Bento template exchange, and have just submitted a revised (nicer!) template. File Maker usually takes a week or so to post new templates so should be there for downloading by the first of June or so. The template exchange is free for Bento users.

Bento does have a few quirks (print features are lacking & making new layouts can be frustrating cause you cannot just plop a field anywhere on the page), It is a very stable program and super easy to use, and there are loads of templates on the File Maker website. You can save the whole database as a pdf, export to an excel file and I have set up the layout so that all the fields print in Landscape on a single page. It is very easy to set up custom fields if you need them.

Here is a link to the existing Bento Postcard Collector template which works for Version 3. It will soon be replaced so if you need Version 3 template grab it now.

http://solutions.filemaker.com/database ... al=2551268

Allison
http://pictoupostcards.blogspot.com/

Some time ago a member said "I've found countless programs, including freeware and shareware, for Windows".... I have not!

I'm searching for a very reasonable priced or do I mean cheap programme which allows for the inclusion of illustrations.................

Following on from Linda's suggestion ... using a "cloud" or website based database where the scan and meta data are stored online does seem the most future proof and upto date way of doing things.

However, are most collectors comfortable to share their pictures online with other people?

Most of the websites which I've seen that cater specifically to picture postcards watermark any pictures which are uploaded. Is that really necessary?

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