Quick Guide

1. Upload a JPG image of the stamp in question.
2. If needed, crop the image as close to the perforations as possible by moving the white dots around the stamp. Otherwise, select “Skip Cropping and Continue.”
3. Click the “Select...” bar and click on the letter pair that matches the lower left and lower right letters in the corners of the stamp.
4. If you can clearly read any of the plate numbers on the stamp’s left or right central margins with certainty, insert those digits. Use “blank” as the first digit if the plate number may only have 2 digits in it.
5. Possible plate number matches will appear when you click on the plate number box between the blue “Previous” and “Next” buttons.
6. Review each of the plate number possibilities by comparing the unidentified stamp’s corner letters with those confirmed as being from the selected plate number outlined in green. Pay close attention to the centering of each letter within each corner box and the letter’s characteristics. The stamp image in question as well as the corner letter boxes may be made larger or smaller by clicking the blue buttons below the image. If all four corners appear to match, click the green “Possible Match” button. If not, click the green “Not a Match” button.
7. After checking each of the possible plate numbers, all of the “Possible Match” plates appear as blue buttons under “Compare Current To:”. You can review each by clicking its blue button, or eliminate any by clicking the X in the white circle. Continue the process until you have made a definite match.