Comments on: Components of a Paperless Office

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:34:15 +0000

@Zach – I can give out my fax number and people can use their fax machine to send me something. They don’t have to know that the fax actually gets delivered as a PDF to my email inbox. For them it is just a fax number.

By: Zach W.

Zach W. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:19:43 +0000

@Nick Hebb

Nick,

I wouldn’t get rid of a physical fax machine entirely. Especially in businesses which evolve slowly (such as the legal field). Some people, although the number is dwindling fast, still want to “fax over something” and don’t know how to use a computer.

I’ve moved onto scanning and digital signatures, but I leave an old school option available just in case.

By: Nick Hebb

Nick Hebb — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:12:16 +0000

I got rid of my fax machine and just use a fax to email service and PDF editing software (PDF Annotator in my case). It eliminates the need to scan documents since I don’t deal with hard copies other than the faxes I used to get. For digital signatures, I do the same as someone mentioned above – use the PDF editor to insert a scanned image with transparent background.

By: Fall Cleaning & Organizing : Productivity501

Fall Cleaning & Organizing : Productivity501 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:01:26 +0000

[...] it may be time to get rid of some of the older ones to make things easier to find. Even with paperless digital files, there are times where it makes sense to delete or at least archive off the older files to reduce [...]

By: Dave E

Dave E — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:39:16 +0000

I was scanning documents, and still do some. However, one finds, particularly with share portfolios here in Australia, you can get PDF versions emailed to you. I am hoping for bank statements as pdf soon.
But I try to get a pdf version from the inistution where possible so I do not have to a scan it
Some scans take up space; I examine the paper statement/etc and often will record the relevant details on notepad and save that. Make a very small file so no hassle to back up.
One thing: make sure you have heaps of email space for unforeseen pdf docs!

By: Healy

Healy — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:20:43 +0000

Bella, Pixily.com has an integration with Evernote where you can send your paper to Pixily in pre-paid envelopes and then have them scanned and OCR’ed and then access them both online at Pixily’s site and also through Evernote. It’s proved to be a very popular combination of services. I know the team at Pixily well and they are helping a lot of people manage their paper.

By: Bella Martin

Bella Martin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:48:12 +0000

It’s the simplest solution in the world that helped me get (closer) to paperless…it’s Evernote (www.evernote.com). I have it installed on my Mac and PC at home, my iPhone, and my work PC. Cannot imagine life without it. I realize I sound like a walking testimonial but it is one of my favorite discoveries these past 5 years, and I say that full aware of being an “early adopter.”

By: Eli Regalado

Eli Regalado — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:02:38 +0000

Mark,

You said, “m looking for a solution that will allow me to scan directly into my document management system and perform the necessary OCR steps transparently. I want to push a button and put the document directly into the document management system.”

We sell a complete system that does exactly this!

We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to watch our DEMO on our website.

Eli

By: Bert Plat

Bert Plat — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:08:41 +0000

I currently use a flatbed scanner (Epson Perfection 1240u) but I’m considering the fujitsu you mention. I scan to PDF, then the files are stored as yyyymmdd-description.pdf AND then read into Yep (http://www.ironicsoftware.com/yep/), and tagged with multiple keywords (Yep does a fair job of autotagging, too).

The Yep library is stored on a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ raid system that protects against single disk failures. In addition, I use JungleDisk with Amazon s3 to auto-backup every 6 hours: I HIGHLY recommend this combination. I currently store 11G of photos and administratrivia, and it’s costing me about US$2/mo.

I also have a standing agreement with my neighbour across the street to keep a copy of each other’s portable hard drive. I think I’m safe.

By: The Simple Dollar » My 25 Favorite Personal Finance, Career, and Personal Development Blogs

Mon, 04 May 2009 21:57:19 +0000

[...] personal value (like spending time with my kids, for example). Here are two excellent tastes: Components of a Paperless Office (this is something I strive towards, and the article is my guide for doing it) and Getting the Most [...]

By: 12 Tips for an Organized Desk : Productivity501

12 Tips for an Organized Desk : Productivity501 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:45:12 +0000

[...] documents. This is something I’m experimenting with. I have a scanner and I’ll turn important documents into PDFs and keep them on my computer. I [...]

By: A couple of starting points | Paper Jammed

A couple of starting points | Paper Jammed — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:52:03 +0000

[...] Components of a Paperless Office [...]

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:16:39 +0000

@Ann E. – There use to be some software called PaperPort that came with some scanners. It wasn’t as full featured as DEVONthink, but it might be worth looking into. You can also do quite a bit using your file system and some type of desktop search application (Google and Windows both have one).

By: Ann E.

Ann E. — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:21:48 +0000

I just started researching paperless HOME offices, and couldn’t find much UNTIL I found this article. Thanks for all the great info.

Doc. Mgmt. Software question — I’m looking for doc. mgmt. software for a PC based HOME office. DEVONthink Pro Office was by far the best one for a home office. If only they made a Windows version!!! I don’t want to use Google Docs because I’ll be archiving stuff with sensitive info, and don’t want internet accessibility. I checked out Paperport Pro 11, but I thought DEVONthink was more intuitive and robust, and it’s $199 vs. DEVONthink Pro Office at $149. And File Center seems geared more towards a business. Is there any other PC based, home office – doc. mgmt. software that’s $200 or less?

Also looking for more in-depth paperless home office resources / articles like this for a PC user. Thanks

By: Jamming Paper Shredders : Productivity501

Jamming Paper Shredders : Productivity501 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:09:12 +0000

[...] a large batch of scanning items into my paperless office, my shredder seemed to be jamming more than normal for my assistant. After helping her clear the [...]