Question about collecting

[kayo198]

Hi, this might sound like a stupid "rookie" question, but hey, I am new to collecting...So when you make your collection, the nice cards are obviously put into toploaders or other individual protective holders, right? I am wondering, how do you store/arrange them, so you can easily look at them? I mean the beauty of a collectors album is in that I can just list through my pages when i want to look at my collection... an as i shouldnt be just putting my best cards into an album due to the lack of protection (right?) i dont really know what to do with it. i find just "going through a deck of toploaders" not as much fun. Do you put it in some counter display or a show case of some sort? Are there any collectors albums where you can fit in the toploaders?
thanks

[mugatu471]

I actually was wondering the same thing.

[blindros88]

There are several types of cards that will not fit into the pocket pages (most patches, ITG Ultimate Memorabilia, I could go on and on). I kept everything in pages for a while, but as my collection grew I because worried that the pressure on the cards in the binder was going to cause them damage.

To fix this problem I made this:

http://web.me.com/blindros88/Site/Lindros_Map.html

Now I can sit anywhere with internet access and leisurely view my entire collection.

All my cards now sit in a wooden box in proper protection and rarely see the light of day.

[mugatu471]

That's pretty cool! How'd you make it I'd love to make one of those.

[blindros88]

Here is the general process for making a grid. I use photoshop because Macs don't have a paint program. I think the process is pretty much the same except for the layers.

If using photoshop the best advice I can give you is to merge the layers regularly to cut down on the file size.

1. Start with a standard pixel size for your cards. I use 320 px high by 230 px wide. I find that this size works well for posting on message boards and keeps the file size small enough while working with the map.

2. Decide how may pixels the boarder around the card will be. I used 3 px.

3. Decide how many slots you will have in each row. I used 9 in my massive grid, but it can be anything.

4. Decide the orientation of the slots in the grid (horizontal or vertical). I find vertical works best for mixed set-ups. If making a grid for a specific set, match the orientation of the cards.

5. Do some math. Since each card will be surrounded by a 3 px boarder you will need to figure out how large each slot will be. I find it much easier to work with one slot at a time and then copy it to make a single row.
Starting with the first slot I made a top boarder and a left side boarder, so my first slot was 323 high by 233 wide. My last slot was 323 high by 236 wide to allow for the outside right boarder.
Create a canvas with the desired pixel size.

6. Once you have created a new canvas, use the horizontal line to make a solid black line across the entire canvas from left to right. Make sure that the line is perfectly straight (the toll indicates this by providing a solid outline around the line before placing, if the line is not straight there will be some staggered pixels).
Use the move tool to drag the line to the top of the canvas.
Select the line tool and create a line from the top of the canvas to the bottom. Use the drag tool to move it into place on the left.

7. Open a new canvas to make the end piece using the pixel size determined above. Repeat step 6 and add a right side boarder.

8. Find the layer tab at the top menu bar, and select "Merge visible" to create a flat image.

9. Open a new canvas and create it to the total pixel size for the ROW, more fun math.

10. Select the first slot created and drag it into the large canvas. Position the slot in the proper place. Repeat until there is one slot left.

11. Drag the end piece into the large canvas and position.

12. Select Layers > Merge visible to flatten the image. Now you have a completed Row.

13. Determine how many rows you want in your grid and create a large canvas to hold them. Drag the row in as many times as needed.

14. The last step is to add a bottom boarder to the last row. This will require extra pixels to the height of the last row. I make a totally new row following the steps above because I find it much easier to make a straight line on a smaller canvas than to try to make a straight line across something 2100 pixels.

15. Once you have all the rows in place select Layers > Merge Visible and then save it as a JPG file. This will be the background to your map.

16. Add your cards by dragging the image into the grid.

17. To add place holders for missing cards, I find it easiest to create a 320 x 230 white canvas and use the type tool to add the text. This will allow you to center everything before dragging it into the grid.

[mugatu471]

Thanks a lot for all the help!!

[reoddai]

I like ornament boxes. They fit rather nicely

http://reoddai.blogspot.com/2010/01/...ping-with.html

Cheers,
reoddai

[kayo198]

blindros88: wow, thats amazing what you got going, and i really like it, however i meant more the physical side of it rather than looking at my own cards on the computer...

reoddai: more like it, but still doesnt really solve the problem since you have to take them out of the box to look at them and that is still "having to go through a deck of toploarders"

Oh and by the way, By no means am I criticizing the way you guys do it (i like both ways), just trying to find the best possible solution to this that would suit my wishes...

[blindros88]

About the only thing that I can think of that would allow you to flip through everything would be to get some of the graded card pages. I think you can only put 4 per page, maybe less, but it would hold just about any card except 5 x 7 and up. You would also be able to use whatever holder you wanted as well, magnetic, one screw, top loader, etc.

[kayo198]

yea, that sounds cool, thanks a lot. do you know where to get these?