When you are preparing to move, you can face yourself with one Lot Paper documents. Holiday cards, lease, letters, tax documents, notes, doodles, whatever is – can really be stack over time. If your choice is just “keep” or “trash”, it can be difficult to leave, even if you choose one of any responsible ways to get rid of your luggage. Digitalization makes these decisions easy by adding a third option: Create a virtual version for safety and say goodbye to physical paper.
These days, digitalization only requires a smartphone or tablet, but you would like to improve the process by reducing the risk of data loss.
Decide what to do with your papers
In my experience – and I’ve been digitizing boxes on document boxes for the past six months – there are only a few types of records after making the digital version. These are original official documents, legal agreements such as a will or current lease, items that can lose their form or meaning when the pictures on the screen are reduced, and whatever you want to show in your home.
Of course, it will have exceptions. You may decide to toss each birthday card, but keep one sent before your grandmother dies. Or may you feel better to maintain rigorous copies of every tax document, though IRS says it is usually fine Scrip them after three years. You do
Will you need to start
After deciding the destiny of your documents, you can go to work. At least, you will need a mobile device and flat, clean level, such as tabletop. Although this is technically enough to work, I recommend keeping you a computer, a way to transfer files between your devices (such as cable, air drop, or cloud storage), image editing software, and at least one backup drive.
If you have a really storage of papers, you want to consider buying or borrowing a scanner. A scanner that comes with the feeder can scan a group of documents at a time instead of doing one work at a time, and most scanner images can be stored directly to your computer or your cloud storage. Home scanners can run about $ 100 to $ 500, in terms of their characteristics and capacity for most documents. Scanners handling high quality images can cost a lot.
Personally, after using scanners in domestic, professional and educational settings, I think they are Is great for archive workBut most people are excessive for digitalization needs. I have used my phone for my digitalization project and I have no regrets.
Digitizing with your phone camera
There are three easy ways to capture any paper digital image using your phone: with your camera app, a built -in scanning app, or a third -party scanning app. I use whatever is suitable, depending on what my plans for digitized copy are.
Although you are likely to be most familiar with your camera app, it is not burdened for text documents and especially multi -page individuals. That said, I would like to use my usual camera app to use cards and art USE as it creates editable image files that I can manage with tags.
In the meantime, scanning apps, usually just output the PDF. I use this method for text heavy documents such as lease and financial records. Both iOS and Android include built -in scanning tools that are able to convert any document into PDF. On the Android phone, you use the drive app. Through the iPhone, you can either use files or notes apps. All this allows you to wait just holding your phone on the paper. The app offers a page outline and automatically makes a file.
There are also several third -party apps that offer additional features for the PDF arrest, amendment and store. If you want more options than drive, notes, or files, it can be useful to check what is there.
The best way to digitize images
Keep your document in a well bright place without any shadow. Weigh it if necessary, but do not try to stop anything important.
Camera angles encyclopedic knowledge will not matter here. Place your phone flat and surface without shadowing the page. I also recommend farming your pictures immediately and when you organize, make it easier to see the pictures in the preview. If you are occupying the cards, you can make a separate picture of the core and entry, then use the image editing software to connect it to a file.
If you have stored digitized documents on your phone and thinking of leaving them there – don’t do it. It is as if it will not be far from releasing and relying on your birth certificate in a folder on an open window. To reduce the risk, move your digitized documents to a computer, backup drive, and / or cloud storage. Despite the progress in storage technology, data loss is still done, and if you are more secure to keep your important files in at least two locations, then if anything happens to any of them.
If you use a Google Drive to scan your documents, you automatically support them. To send these documents to another device that you do not have access to Google Drive, you can download using them Google Tech Out.
If you use files or notes on iOS, you can check to ensure that your files are being backed up to iCloud. Settings > ((.Your name)> icloud. If you are using files and want to send those files somewhere, tap Three dots In the top right, hit SelectSelect the files you want to transfer, and touch Share the icon In the bottom left (a box -pointing arrow). If you use notes, tap the note you want to move and select Share notes. Then select your preferred sharing method and send them out.
It doesn’t matter where your files are – a computer, mobile device, or cloud storage – you should actually manage them so you can find them later. If you have a system that already works for you, great. But if you need a strategy, I suggest that “cards” and “record” make high -level folders that describe the widespread category in your collection. Inside them, create a more specific folder like “lease” and “identity”. When you reach the lower level folders where the original files live, try to name them permanently. If you really want to go hard, you can add tags and other metadata to your files.
It is important to understand that the purpose here is not to completely eliminate anything that can be considered a disorder – it is to find an effective solution to handle the items collected while living. It is okay to hold meaningful items and measure their price from time to time. However, sinking in the sea of paperwork may be bad, but meaning and memoirs can be even worse.
