How to digitize your life (or at least have a paperless office)
Over the last several years many people have asked me how to remove paper from their lives. Here are some tips on how to empty your file cabinets and get rid of that pile of mail.
Scanner + OCR = pdf
Get a duplex document scanner with at least a 25 sheet feeder and good OCR software. I use a Fujitsu Scansnap that is a few years old and it does a nice job. For OCR I use ABBYY FineReader that was bundled with the scanner. Acceptable entry-level scanners start at around $300, but it is worth spending more for the next level up. The more expensive models give you greater scanning speed with less misfeeds and paper jams. This is especially important if you want to scan different types and thicknesses of paper at the same time, such as bills, credit card receipts, and business cards. If you really want to go all out, buy a networked scanner.
If it doesn’t come bundled with your scanner, buy Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro (unfortunately, bloated and expensive). Since pdf is an open standard now you could alternatively use a less expensive or even free pdf reader/writer. For me, Acrobat Pro has features that make its gargantuan size and slow performance worth the pain.
Scanning Format = Searchable pdf
Scan everything to searchable pdfs. Many scanners make this a one button operation. I have everything set up so I press one button, and out comes an OCR’d document, properly rotated and enhanced for clarity and OCR accuracy. For most documents, 200dpi x 200dpi is sufficient. My default is to do B&W scans and auto detect the sheet size.
Install Desktop Search
I use Copernic mostly because it was one of the better ones years ago and I never had a reason to change. Use what you think will work best for you. There are many good search apps to choose from. Since all of your pdfs are going to be OCR’d, and thus searchable, finding one document among thousands is as easy as entering a search term in the desktop search and skimming the results.
Use Descriptive File Names
This is optional, but extremely helpful; name your files intelligently so you know what they contain just by looking at the names. I use a hierarchical folder structure rather than a flat structure that puts all of the files in the same folder.
BACKUP YOUR FILES! SCHEDULE BACKUPS SO THEY HAPPEN AUTOMATICALLY!
Buy hard drives for your backups - USB drives, network drives, external drives with at least RAID 1 for redundancy in case a drive fails. A 1TB USB drive costs less than $100. You have no excuse. You’ll be sorry if you don’t and your main drive crashes. Consider paying for online backups.
Schedule your backups so you never have to think about them. SyncBackSE is reliable, free, and easy to use backup software. Many NAS (Netwtork Attached Storage) devices have built-in backup scheduling so you don’t even need to install software. NAS devices and online backups are nice because your files can be accessed from any computer on the internet. Remember to enable security features (e.g. SSL, https, strong passwords) so that your files stay secure.
At a minimum, schedule daily differential backups to some sort of external drive.
Crosscut Shredder
Buy one. Don’t buy the cheapest. It will break. Don’t buy the most expensive. It is not worth it. Scan papers as soon as they come in and shred immediately after scanning. Recycle or reuse shredded paper. It makes good packing material.
Feel free to contact me (elliot at patentauthority.com) with any questions or comments.
If you do nothing else remember to backup your files!
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
Elliot: Great tips. Especially with the online backup. Even the external HD’s and NAS systems can go bad. It is definitely worth spending some extra money on offsite, online storage in my opinion.