Document scanning - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Ann-Hank · RV-Dreams Family Member

Document scanning

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

I use a HP all in one Printer. It comes with scanning software that works really well for documents and photos. For photos I use an Adobe Photoshop program to do any editing or enhancing. Adobe takes some getting used to since it is a full featured photo editing program. You can use it to copy and touch up old photos to make the copy look almost as good as the photo was when it was new.

I hear good things about the Neat Receipts product line. They have a full page scanner and the software is setup to file the documents for accounting purposes. It also works for scanning photos.

If you already have a scanner look do a google search for scanning and photo freeware online. Lots of people are really happy with the programs they find for free online.

-- Edited by The Bear II on Wednesday 29th of August 2012 09:27:14 AM

Ann-Hank · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the info, the NeatDesk looks like just what I'm looking for. As for pictures, I have Photoshop, just not very good with it yet. I may just send our daughter all the photos and let her deal with them. : )

patoneill · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am one that does not like NeatReceipt. When I bought it, it looked like a dream come true ;) but I woke up... The reason is that they store the scanned documents in a database. You can have several databases if you want to better organise your information. But... and this was a big one for me... each time they put a software update out there (and this is often) you have to upgrade your databases so that they can be read by the new software version.
What I disliked was not just the hassle of the upgrade (although if you keep many databases...) but the fear that something does not work during the upgrade and I loose my datas. Or that the older databases I keep on removable disk cannot be upgraded at some point...
And they scanner was not working well.
That said, this was a few years ago. They may be better now. I moved away and did not look back.

What I did after NeatReceipt... I got a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner (check reviews on Amazon. This is a great machine and it takes very small space). It can produce pdf (convenient for me since I work on Mac) or jpg. It can scan both sides of a sheet. Or not. Color or BW. High definition or not.
I just store my files in directories and sub directories. No other 3rd party software needed.

I scan everything since years. Then I shred. I love the convenience and the security of it. I love it even more now that I am moving into a RV. Of course, you need to backup your datas. Off site better. With this sytem, you can upload strategic files in a place like Dropbox that will allow you to access them from anywhere. This is where I store all my receipts for insurance, for example.

I did scan tons of old pictures and did not need to retouch anything. And this is correct. IRS accepts scanned copies. Insurances companies as well (at least mine).

Hope that helps...
Patricia

PS: ScanSnap scanner can also scan to evernote (free) for all the loose papers, business cards, recipes... that lie around.

patoneill · RV-Dreams Family Member

Oh, forgot something... you said you have a business. This is not 4 years but 7 years that you must keep. Unless something has changed...

I keep 10 years of receipts to make sure (in fact, I keep forever since disk space is cheap). And the signed returns must be kept forever.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fuji ScanSnaps are really nice; small, double sided, sheet fed scanners. Scan directly to PDF including OCR so you get searchable documents. When we went full time most of our scanning got shifted to our son who handles our mail for us so I gave him the Fuji and kept my Canon LiDE30. Using VueScan on the Mac to drive this is adequate for the scanning I need to do on the road.

Lyman · RV-Dreams Community Member

You said you scan and then shred. I hope you back up what you scan. If you are backing up to a hard drive (internal or external) you run the risk of losing everything if the hard drive crashes.

And it will eventually. It is a given that all of them will crash. They can go anytime.

I have hard drives that have lasted years. I've had two that crashed. The first one was an internal one that crashed one month after I got the computer and the other six months after I got it. It was an external. Sad thing about that one was I had spent some time transfering pics from memory cards. Normally I first do a backup first then erase the memory cards. Like a fool I erased first. Well I was in the process of making a backup when the hard drive I was transfering from crashed. Bye, bye pics forever.

Ann-Hank · RV-Dreams Family Member

TThanks for all the advice, I settled on the Fujitsu. Now to get started scanning. I just looked up IRS rules and they can go back 3 years on personal for an audit, unless they think you filed a faults return. Then there 's no limit. They recommend saving documents for 7 years. I couldn't find anything on corporate returns, but my CPA said they can go back 4 years for an audit. If they find cheating, well your ******.
Patricia, you said that you scanned pictures also! Cool I was hoping I would be able to, but didn't see any reference to photos in the Amazon description.
Thanks, Ann

patoneill · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ann, the model I have is S300M. I bought it several years ago.... I think there might be newer models that could even do better. But it works for me...

It comes with a piece of software called "ScanSnap Manager" which I believe can also be downloaded for free from Fujitsu website. In this software, you tell the scanner what to do. One of the option is the type of file. I can select either PDF (better for plain documents) or JPG (better for photos).
Please, consider I am working on a mac and things may be different if you are on a Windows machine. I do not know these at all, so I can't say.

What I like is that it is so small that I keep it on my desk next to me. If something does not turn right, I can redo it right away. My printer has a scanning feature but this is a hassle to get up for each photo. Not that I am lazy, but I had hundreds of photos and it would have taken forever.

As per shredding, I think it's everyone comfort zone. I do save everything locally (TimeMachine) and off site (Crashplan). Backup is done automatically. There are so many options nowadays with the Cloud... I also copy my files to a hard drive that stays in my safe. Photos go to Picassa. Files that I want to access from anywhere, like insurance receipt, go to Dropbox. I have even scanned old books I really like so that I can read then anywhere on my iPad.

patoneill · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ann, I went to the Fujitsu web site.

The scanner that looks like mine is:

http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/peripherals/scanners/scansnap/s1300i.html#

On the page, it says it can do JPG. Amazon's page indicates it as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-S1300i-ScanSnap-Sheet-Fed-Document/dp/B008HBFADQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347576271&sr=8-1&keywords=scansnap+1300i

If you can afford the $260 listed at Amazon, it is a great machine (umm... now I want one. Aargh!).

Hope that helps...

Patricia

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lyman wrote:
You said you scan and then shred. I hope you back up what you scan. If you are backing up to a hard drive (internal or external) you run the risk of losing everything if the hard drive crashes.

Oh yeah…definitely backup. I was a systems admin before I retired so my server boots from one external drive and backs up nightly to another external and the internal drive on the server. I have a couple of drives in the car/truck and I haul one of them in weekly or so to get a backup not in the rig. In addition; I have cloud backup to Amazon's S3 servers using a program named JungleDisk; although CrashPlan and other cloud services also work.

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

Great advice above with one suggestion. Backup more than on deep for business records because you need them for 7 years. Ie your hard drive, your backup external drive and read only DVD's stored in a seperate location. That was the minimum we needed and fortunately had while we were in business.

Larry and Jacki