Acrobat is capable of doing two types of signatures.  Technically the best way is using a digital signature.  Not only can the signature show that you signed it, but it can also prove that the document wasn't changed after you signed it.  If you deal with a lot of people who use digital signatures, this is a great way to go. Personally when I sign something it is usually to fax or mail.  While I like the digital signature idea I just don't interact with enough people who could actually use it. Originally I was signing documents in Acrobat by creating my own digital signature and then attaching an image to the signature.  Acrobat will use the image anywhere you place the digital … [Read more...]

As part of my paperless experiment I'm slowly moving my data  to PDFs I've really started to notice the difference in resolution between my various computers.  I recently got a new laptop with a 17 inch 1920x 1200.  My previous laptop had the same sized screen but only 1440 x 900 pixels. On my older laptop it was difficult to read a full sized PDF--especially if the print was small.  On my new laptop I'm finding that I can read print that was unreadable at the lower resolution. Here is a screen shot from the older laptop with the lower resolution monitor: If you are good at guessing you might be able to read it, but it is going to be difficult.  Here is the same size (relative … [Read more...]

It looks like there is a new SnapScan out for OS X. I think the scanner itself is about the same, but the new version includes Acrobat 8.0 instead of 7.0. If you are looking at purchasing the scanner, you may want to make sure you have aren't getting the older version of the software. The PC version has had Acrobat 8 since June. … [Read more...]

I have still been working on my paperless experiment, but most of my planning has revolved around trying to figure out how to keep from wasting money on something only to discover I have to buy something else. I've also been working on the workflow side of things in trying to keep my documents digital and not simply revert to printing them out whenever I need to fax or sign them.  I have had pretty good luck with some online faxing services that I hope to write more about in another post. Also I've had a chance to really challenge the ScanSnap scanner.  While it doesn't compete with a $10,000 sheet fed scanner, I've been very impressed.  The other day my grandmother had about 450 … [Read more...]

Today Amazon released their ebook reader called Kindle. I have the original Sony Reader and I've been pretty impressed with it. The new version makes a few small improvements, but is still a similar device. Even though the Kindle is based on the same e-ink technology, it takes a very different approach than Sony. One of the biggest differences it the way books are distributed. Kindle comes with built in EVDO networking. EVDO is the same technology used for high speed connections over the cellular network by Sprint and Verizon (AT&T uses something different). Instead of requiring users to get a data plan for their Kindle, Amazon packages the cost of the wireless service into the … [Read more...]

With email, one of the main reasons I have to print things off is to sign them and fax or mail them back.  As I transition to a paperless office I'm having to look at ways to sign documents without printing them out. There are really two types of signatures.  The first is just an image of your handwritten signature.  The second is a digital addition to the file that "proves" you were the one that signed it.  By now digital signatures should be common, but they aren't.  I'm not saying they aren't used in big companies, but the average web user isn't signing emails or anything else digitally. Right now most of the paper that requires my signatures needs to be faxed to someone.  If … [Read more...]

I am still working on my paperless office experiment. I've had an huge influx of consulting requests in the past 60 days, so I haven't dedicated as much time to this as I had originally planned. Here is a quick update on what I've found so far. Optical Character Recognition One of the most important parts of being able to search for your documents later is recognizing it as text. A generic scanning process simply recognizes the pixels and doesn't actually turn them into words. (A simple test to see if a PDF is storing data as pixels or text is to try to copy and paste a paragraph into a text editor.) I've found that for a proper workflow I need to make sure that the character … [Read more...]

I've talked before about how the paperless office is still a dream. As I look around my desk right now, I have stacks of paper requiring my attention in various places. We are halfway through 2007. Seriously, weren't we supposed to have flying cars and robots to do the dishes and fold the clothes by now? A paperless office seems like it should be normal by now, but it isn't. One of the things that has hindered the adoption of paperless technologies is the fact that they concentrate on the "paperless office" instead of focusing on a "paperless workflow".  For example, if I have a paperless office that requires printing out incoming documents, signing them and then scanning them back … [Read more...]