Personalized postage

Personalized postage stamps are officially-approved stamps with custom images. The first version of the ocncept was initiated by Australia in 1999, who created a stamp series with adjoining labels where custom images or wording could be added by special order. Other post offices soon followed. Great Britain re-used the "Smiles" greetings booklet designs of 1990, adding labels alongside each stamp, dubbed "Smiler Sheets".

Then in 2008, Bhutan issued a series of stamps including a blank central space where custom images could be added by special order. Again, other countries followed this scheme, like Austria and the Netherlands.

The United States program authorized private vendors (e.g., Zazzle.com, Stamps.com) to create personalized stamps. The stamps were technically meter mail labels with a bar code. The US program ended in June 2020 although the post office continued to provide customized postal stationery with a choice of indicia.

No matter the style, certain images were prohibited or at least subject to approval, though some slipped through unintentionally.

While it probably could be done, there is no catalog of designs used on personalized stamps. As it stands, it can be difficult to recognize personalized stamps, even by postal personnel though postal machinery would. Not that any large collection could be assembled, since orders tended to be small with many non-collectors saving personalized issues as keepsakes or souvenirs.  File:Canada personlized.jpg|Canada File:Netherlands personalized 1e.jpg|Netherlands 2012; note frame design File:US personalized.jpg|United States 

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