These days, there are a number of different way to go paperless. Of course, OfficeDrop is one of them, but in this video, Josh Zerkel, a Professional Organizer in San Francisco and founder of Custom Living Solutions, outlines the different options you have when going paperless.
Josh outlines the different types of scanner available, the power of OCR, online backup, text-search, different online applications and mail-in scanning services.
Web-Based softwares and applications have been reshaping the way startup companies do business. They lower costs, improve productivity, and allow employees to work from any internet connection. For these reasons, it’s no wonder so many startups utilize Google applications in their day-to-day operations. Not only are most of them free, but Google apps like Gmail and Google Docs make sharing and organizing information a nearly effortless task.
That’s why we developed the ScanDrop scanning software and our link to Google Docs feature, allowing users to finally bring the information on their paper documents to the convenience of Google Docs.
If you’re not already using Google Docs for your business, it is worth a look. Here are 3 reasons Google Docs is a great choice for editing documents online.
Easily the greatest advantage of Google Docs is the allowance of multiple employees to access and edit the same documents from any internet connection. Google Docs thus brings every concerned party to the same platform, and edit history keeps everyone on the same page. Spreadsheets are particularly helpful, allowing a grid of dates and schedules that can be updated instantly. In addition, individual documents can be shared via email, and viewing and editing access can be limited, boosting accessibility while preserving your documents’ security.
One problem with digital documents is that they tend to reproduce at an alarming rate - especially when being edited by multiple parties. If many different edits are involved, you can easily find your desktop and email being crowded by multiple versions of the same document. With Google Docs, the same document can be edited in one space by multiple people, so you never need more than one file taking up room. If necessary, you can save multiple revisions and keep them on Google Docs, not your desktop.
Obvious but important, Google Docs is a free application. You don’t get much more cost effective than that, especially with an application as functional as Google Documents. By operating in Google Docs, you will find yourself saving money by increasing productivity, and lowering the volume of paper that continuously has to be printed and marked up for editing.
Google Docs is a great collaborative tool, and one we use ourselves as an organized place for co-workers to convene on any digital documents. With our ScanDrop scanning software and link to Google Docs featue, the same can be done with scanned paper documents as well. If you don’t already use Google Docs, we highly recommend it to any business that deals with information online.
If you read our recent blog post, you know that OfficeDrop recently released the free scanning software application, ScanDrop, that lets users scan paper directly to Google Docs. ScanDrop is quick to configure, and OfficeDrop has provided brand-specific configuration options and help pages to get users started.
Here’s where it gets interesting: we have some configuration data on which scanners ScanDrop users are connecting to their Google Docs accounts. When we began the ScanDrop project, we did not think about the fact that it would reveal interesting information on how cloud computing users interacted with their paper documents and scanners - but it has. Fujitsu’s ScanSnap has a clear lead amongst cloud computing users, and HP, Canon and Xerox appear to have clear market share leads over the rest of the competition.
1. ScanSnap 31.9%
2. HP Scanjet 22.4%
3. Canon LiDE 15.7%
4. Xerox Documate 13.3%
5. Epson 5.2%
6. Fujitsu Fi 4.8%
7. Visioneer 4.3%
8. Kodak 2.4%
We think this data is an intriguing preview as to which scanners are leading the pack in the race for new scanning trends and technology, and hope that you find it interesting. While we don’t believe that our data represents the overall market for mid- and lower priced scanners, we do think that it is quite possibly show which manufacturers are doing well with cloud computing users.
ScanDrop is a free scanner software, available for download in the Google Apps Marketplace, that connects users’ personal scanners and allows them to scan paper directly to the cloud via Google Docs. ScanDrop works on Windows OS computers and is compatible with ScanSnap and TWAIN scanners.
In our first ScanDrop video, we showed you how you can scan directly to Google Docs with a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner. Though the ScanSnap is a great scanner, there are a lot of other brands that use a different software protocol called TWAIN, and the ScanDrop scanning software works with all of these as well.
Basically, all you need to know is that configuring ScanDrop will be a little different if you aren’t using a ScanSnap. It’s still easy to do, so if you’re scanning with a scanner that isn’t a ScanSnap, see the following video to get ScanDrop up and running on your TWAIN scanner.
OfficeDrop is excited to announce release of a new free desktop scanning software that connects most scanners directly with Google Docs. This free scanning software, called “ScanDrop,” makes most any scanner a “Google scanner” or a “cloud scanner”.
From a very simple desktop interface, ScanDrop users will be able to scan, verify, organize, re-order, and upload paper documents as PDFs and, from the same interface, upload these PDFs directly to their Google Docs accounts. The ScanDrop software also lets users pick a specific Google Docs folder into which the scanned document will be uploaded and can also name the PDF prior to upload. Scanners supported include the popular Fujitsu ScanSnap, as well as TWAIN standard scanners like the Epson Perfection, Xerox DocuMate, HP ScanJet, Canon LiDE, Visioneer OneTouch, and Fujitsu fi along with many others.
Since we have digitized hundreds of thousands of pages of documents for our clients, we think we’ve got a pretty decent idea of what a simple scanning software should look like. ScanDrop is an easy way for Google Docs users to take advantage of some of the software we created for our own purposes.
ScanDrop is available for download in both the and also off of OfficeDrop’s website at: http://www.officedrop.com/scandrop-scanning-software/scan-google-docs/. This beta version of the desktop scanner software will run on Windows operating systems, such as Windows 7, XP or Vista (sorry, not on the Mac.)
For help configuring your scanner to work with the ScanDrop scanning software, click here.
The Wall Street Journal recently reviewed a couple of pieces of hardware that you could use to help you manage your paper in your home office. Katherine Boehret looked at the PlanOn System Solutions Inc.’s $300 PrintStik PS905ME (a printer) and the ScanSnap S1300 (a scanner). While she liked the small size of each, she did not love either device. The small printer sounds like it comes with a number of drawbacks, including using a funny + expensive thermal paper and printing on paper that comes in a single, long roll.
She appreciated the ScanSnap’s software because it is very easy to use and install. Katherine’s main complaint on the ScanSnap is that it is probably not good at handling old or fragile documents. I’d agree with this, but point out that even OfficeDrop’s expensive industrial scanners are not meant for fragile paper. Instead, we flatbed these materials - as should you. I’ve got an older ScanSnap on my desk, and while it does not provide the same level of beautiful scans as our multi-thousand dollar scanners, it does a great job for the size and price. We continue to recommend ScanSnaps to our customers who want to do their own scanning.
We’re all looking forward to the New Year here at OfficeDrop, but have found ourselves thinking back on the events of the last 12 months. To bring closure to the passing year, we’ve compiled a list of the top 9 most helpful/ popular blog posts of 2009.
Google brought about a new level of business advertising with the new QR code. We showed you how to scan your code and spread your business. You’ll be sure to see more of the QR code in 2010.
OfficeDrop makes storage of your tax documents easy and hassle free, but how long are you meant to hang on to this information? This post was especially popular and will become especially helpful come April.
Apple’s new OS made document scanning easier by allowing you to scan, view and correct files through the image preview. In this helpful blog post we provide a video informing you of how to get the most out of document scanning with Snow Leopard.
Going paperless is both productive for your office, and friendly toward the environment. In this blog post we’ve provided you with some important steps to move you in a paperless direction.
In our ‘count your documents’ series of blog posts, we help you answer the question “how much paper do I have?” You can use these guides to determine the paper count in your boxes, shelves, cabinets and unbound paper.
There are a lot of ways to store your digital documents. This post will give you a price breakdown of each option, and description of when each is most effective.
Some big news of ‘09 was the launch of Documentscanningservice.com. Powered by OfficeDrop, Document Scanning Service is a free resource for those who want to know all the facts on document scanning.
At OfficeDrop, we are really happy to have integrated with Evernote. With OfficeDrop and Evernote, you can get to your scanned documents without an internet connection. Find out how to use OfficeDrop and Evernote!
These days, mobile access is huge. OfficeDrop offers a mobile optimized web page so you can access all of your documents on the go on your iphone.
Those are our top nine of ‘09. Hope you found them helpful. Let us know your thoughts on OfficeDrop, blog topics, or the past year by commenting below!
Part of the many minor enhancements in Apple’s new Snow Leopard OS are the changes to the Preview Application. To quote Apple “Snow Leopard simplifies scanning by putting scanned data directly into Preview. Now you can scan, view, and correct your files and images in Preview. The scanning interface even detects the placement of images or documents on the scanner to automate the selection of regions to scan.”
I took it for a test-drive and it is fairly intuitive. I put together a 1-minute video (the quick and not too dirty kind, so pardon any jagged edges in the fonts) to show the steps involved in Scanning from Preview and sending it to your pixilymail email account. I used a HP OfficeJet for this, but the menu and clicks should be the same for pretty much any other scanner. The only item we recommend that you select a non-default is to choose 300 dpi during the scanning, so that the OCR quality is pretty good. You may use defaults for other settings and let OfficeDrop do the heavy-lifting for everything else.
Have you upgraded to Snow Leopard yet? Have you tried out this feature? Let us know what you think.
Expect to see Prasad, Vikram, and Cassandra of the OfficeDrop team at booths 400 and 402 at The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) 21st annual conference this week in Orlando, Florida. Please be sure to stop by those booths for a free mail-in scanvelope and other goodies.
Partnered with Fujitsu, the team will promote OfficeDrop’s simple and efficient document management service with Fujitsu’s ScanSnap scanners. Small personal scanners capable of generating Pdfs with the push of a button. Tell us what you think of this collaboration. Dynamic duo?
And the conference? Greener? This year NAPO has created a Green Task Force to carry out new “green” initiatives at the 09 conference.
Promoting green practices, Prasad, our CEO will will also be delivering a talk titled Achieving the Paperless Dream:
Has the paperless dream been elusive? Have the solutions you tried been more a hassle than help? Are you thinking about adopting paperless
solutions but are overwhelmed by the choices? In this session, he will distill the solutions available in the market and share tips and tricks on how
to achieve the paperless dream.
Not at the conference? A list of preregistered exhibitors can be found here.
Were you at the conference? What did you think of it? What booth or booths were most captivating and for what reasons? What speakers or keynote addresses hit home most, were most insightful? Please, share your thoughts.
Left to right: Vikram, Cassandra, Derek, Prasad. Photo: Melanie McClurkin.
Macworld reports that researchers at Princeton University and University College London say they can identify unique information, essentially like a 
fingerprint, from any sheet of paper using any reasonably good scanner. Their findings will be presented at the IEEE security conference in May, 2009.
“We’ve found a way to identify documents even when there was nothing additional printed on them,” said Alex Halderman, who was part of the Princeton team. “This is like an invisible serial number printed on every piece of paper ever made.”
Isn’t this exciting? In addition to finding obvious applications such as detecting counterfeited currency notes, there could be other interesting main-stream applications related to legal contracts etc,. too. We are quite intrigued by this technology and its possible applications to our customers.
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