Since I started scanning documents on my iPhone, I've been really enjoying the paper-free life. Bills, paystubs, voided checks, receipts, leases, pet documents, you name it--it all gets scanned with my phone, saved, and I instantly rip up the papers and throw them in the trash.
Give this method of organizing documents a try--it will do wonders for your drawers, put files right at your fingertips, and make future organization so much easier. And, because you're using a device you always have on you, it's super easy.
1. Create a Dropbox Account
If you don't already have it, download Dropbox now. It's the best way to store all your important files on the cloud, and it's totally free. In your Dropbox folder, create a folder for important documents. While you're at it, create sub-folders for any important documents you regularly keep track of--bills, receipts, work--however it makes sense for you to organize them.
2. Download TurboScan
TurboScan is an amazingly useful app that allows you to scan and save images, and it's only $1.99. It uses your iPhone's camera to take pictures of your files, and automatically adjusts the lighting and contrast of the image to get the clearest text possible. It also allows you to save files in PDF format, e-mail them to yourself, or save them to Dropbox. TurboScan will allow you to open your saved files in any application that supports PDFs--including apps like Dropbox and Evernote. If you open an image in Dropbox, it will allow you to save the document to the folder you created in step 1.
3. Scan away!
The most important part of this system is scanning everything you have lying around, and immediately scanning anything important that you get. It's a little unrealistic to scan every document you've accumulated over the years, but scan the most important ones, and continue to scan any new documents you receive. Since you're saving everything to Dropbox, you'll be able to search and access all your documents from any device, whenever you need to. Looking for a new apartment? You'll have all your paystubs right on your phone, and ready to forward to a prospective landlord. Bank documents, too. And, best of all, you won't have piles of paper lying around!
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...anyone else picturing Wallflowerpower barricaded inside a bank, screaming "You'll never take me alive!"? Just me? Okay.
I don't have the budget for an iPhone, either, but I think this is a terrific idea.
It is a terrific idea, and no, one does not need an iPhone. (This post is a description of yet another useful task to which one might apply an iPhone). Such scanning can be done with a cheap and cheerful flatbed scanner, or even a digital camera. Many digital cameras, in fact, have a "scene" or "program" setting for macro and/or documents. I have done it with various Canon and Olympus point-and-shoot cameras and Micro Four Thirds cameras. An iPhone is simply more convenient because it is always in your pocket wherever you are, and there are apps for it. I have used a free app with my iPhone for this purpose.
No, ScannerJockey It's not just you. Whoa.
@WallFlowerPower
Wow, what's with the hate. lol
Chill for a second. This can be done with an Android phone as well but you might have a problem paying $600 for an Android phone since Google and the hardware manufacturer are already rich companies.
This is not for everyone. And there's no app to keep you from loosing your bangers (whatever that is). All you have to do is calm down. LOL
a) wallflowerpower is a troll, guys. a lovable troll, but let's not take him (her?) too seriously.
b) i like this idea, but the thought of having a whole bunch of very sensitive personal documents saved on an easily lost or stolen device makes me a little twitchy. if someone ends up with my smart phone, it's bad enough that they might have access to whatever saved passwords and personal info are already there; having my ss#, full name, dob, and whatever else might be on various "important documents" laid right out for them is pretty unnerving.
My studio has a Xerox Docu-color 240. The network can be a bit finicky but it can scan between 20 and 30 mixed size pages per minute. I then have Acrobat scan the entire folder and it will OCR every page and straighten all turned around pages. Acrobat also OCRs most handwriting. Documents that have seals or notaries are saved, almost everything else gets shredded. I'm just about done with the bulk startup. It is so easy to search my computer for any document, even before I organize the files on my computer into folders. I've already thrown out about 5 to 6 inches thick of paper plus about a hundred manuals.
I use Genius Scan to keep track of receipts for expense reports at work, looks like the same kind of deal. Works great!
@hanc You can delete the photos once uploaded to dropbox (just make sure your dropbox account has a secure password). For me a huge benefit to having files stored someplace like dropbox is I can access them everywhere. So when you inevitably need some obscure piece of info when you are not at home, it's simple to locate.
I do the same thing, but just snap a photo and save in my photo album. That way I can synch to my puter at home.
For those that get twitchy about security, you can password protect your puter and phone. It's a pain, but I've gotten used to it.
I put all my recipes on my phone too... and keep them in an album folder. That way I have the recipe with me if I'm at the store and can't remember all the ingredients I need.
Does anyone know of a Mac app that does the same type of processing? I have one on the iPhone but I have some documents that I do not want to move over to the phone, use its slower CPU, then move back. Thanks!
I am not here to slam iPhones, but I do think this article could have been much more useful if the writer took a little time to research Android, PC, whatever applications which do the same thing.
But then again, for all I know this piece is based off some TurboScan PR email...
I have to agree with KAZ on this one. This is a useful, though not exactly novel, thing to do that can be done on tons of devices (as pointed out by several other commenters).
I feel like this post should have had a "sponsored by" or "paid" warning between all of the iPhone, DropBox, and TurboScan references. A quick search will show you many other devices, services, and apps that will accomplish this same thing.
Love the site, disappointed with this thinly veiled advertising.
I would be careful about these programs. My wife and I used one that we discovered was also sending the documents to another email address. It led to a fun experience with identity theft.
It was Genius Scan, by the way.
KAZ is right. This post is something you'd find on TurboScan's website, not on a blog which supposedly is here to inform and trendset.
Seriously, this is a pathetic excuse of a post. At the very least I'd expect it to offer an option for iOS, an option for Android and maybe even an option for WP7. Even better would be to compare a couple different options for them.
The fact is, I've tried TurboScan and ScannerPro on my iPad and CamScanner on my Android phone and TurboScan was the worst of the three. It just seems to be such basic laziness on the part of the author.
Come on Apartment Therapy, let's get a bit of quality control in here, ya?
Check out ScanJig, it’s a new accessory that holds your iPhone, iPad or Android device in the correct position as you change document pages. This inexpensive product works with mobile document scanner apps, including TurboScan, to quickly capture multiple page images with minimum or no need for adjustments. www.scanjig.com
I wouldn't put important documents on Dropbox or most other cloud based storage options. WAY to easy to hack.
I wouldn't scan important documents this way - scan won't be good enough.
FYI, if you use a more than 4 digit password on an iPhone, and a "strong" on, it is VERY secure. The longer, the better (but how do you answer your phone?). Not here to tout iPhones, but it has incredible encryption and, with Find My Phone, you can wipe it remotely.
so you are arguing that a 4 digit password on your phone is more secure than an established company with verified security and encryption measures..?
I don't think the author deserves all the "advertisement" hate. The article was a simple description of how the author solves this problem. I'm sure anyone who is interested and doesn't have an iPhone can easily find an alternative. It gave me a good idea, and now I can search out my own alternative apps and storage ideas. So... thanks for the good idea.
@WallFlowerPower
Yup your previous and deleted post did not contain any offensive language, more like trolling though.
I'd like to recommend JotNot. It is an iPhone app (I no longer have Android, so can't speak to it), but it is free. I use it a lot for the endless papers I come across as a family history researcher and as a teacher; I just take the photo, save it to my camera roll, and email it to myself from there. If I've done a large number of papers, I can pull the images to my computer when I connect my computer to my phone.
I would just use my phone, but have found the app does a lot to clean up the image for record keeping.
someone make it a stand and attachable to laptop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2p_Nt2WQE0
anyone tried xcanex before?