How to Digitize Large Numbers of Paper Files

Do you have a large filing cabinet overflowing with statements, course notes, and other papers items that take up lots of space and can be difficult to search. This guide will tell you how to transfer these files to digital format on your computer to save space, and provide for easy backup and searching.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Original paper documents
• Paper folders
• Paper clips
• A large desk area, or a set of trays to hold paper
• A printer-scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF)
• A computer with a good amount of free hard disk space

1. First, assemble your supplies. You'll likely already have a computer and your files somewhat organized. What you might not have is a suitable scanner. Scanning large numbers of documents with a flatbed scanner can be a real chore, so invest in a a scanner that can accept a number of sheets of paper at a time. Dedicated scanners can, oddly enough, be much more expensive than all-in-one printer/fax/scanners. Most have comparable abilities in terms of the resolution that they can produce - what you are most interested in is how many sheets the scanner can accept at a time. Also, read reviews online to make sure that the document feeder doesn't jam. An additional option that could come in helpful is the ability to auto-duplex the scanning - this will let you scan both sides of a document without a manual reloading step.

2. After you have all your materials handy, go through the files that you'd like to process and sort them. You'll want to group similar-width papers together (i.e. notebook paper together with notebook paper, copier paper with copier paper), and separate out any papers that have folded corners, tears, or other damage that could interfer with the document feeder. Then, group the papers into batches that the scanner can accept; for example, bundles of ten pages. These collated papers can go in the "in" box.

3. Now, you're ready to scan! Load up the scanning software that came with your printer / scanner, and load your first batch of papers into the scanner. Choose an appropriate resolution - 300 dpi is standard, and usually more than sufficient. Choosing a higher resolution can result in a better-quality image, but this will take more time to scan, and more space to store. Choosing greyscale instead of full color can also save disk drive space. For documents, PDF is a good format to choose, as it will be easier to group documents with multiple pages into a single document than it would be with images.

4. Continue processing the rest of your paperwork. If you have many typed papers, it might be worth it to invest in OCR software (such as ABBYY Finereader). This will convert the text in your documents into editable, searchable text. The software is much less reliable for handwritten documents.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to set the scanner at a comfortable height for easy loading.

• Find a book to read or a movie to watch while you're scanning. The process can take some time.

• Don't throw out your paper originals until you have verified your scanned copies and backed them up.

• This can be a big project. If you're short on time, and have extra money, you could consider hiring a document scanning service.