Creative Scanning Ideas
Did you know that paper is the #1 item that people hoard?
You may really hate paper and have too much around. Scanning helps cut down on the paper clutter and makes information easy to retrieve. Being on your computer and backed up to the cloud, it is always available. It’s time to get creative with your scanner!
- Create digital copies of your kids’ school papers. Digitizing makes a permanent copy you can save and share with grandparents. Keep only the most precious of art work and create a digital photo book.
- Scan in important documents. It may be for emergency preparedness or to create additional copies. It’s easier to find these documents. Keep these files on Dropbox so that you can access them anywhere and anytime.
- Ripping recipes, decor and more from magazines? Scanners are a great way to categorize your information and keep it together. Create different files for the different interests and hobbies. Use a uniform naming convention in saving your files.
- Keepsake newspaper articles are easier to archive after scanned. It’s making a truly permanent copy this way.
- Have lots of business cards or flyers from vendors? Scanning these and saving to Evernote helps you access and categorize these easily.
- Save documents without stressing. A sign in sheet for work or a CEU certificate for education can be scanned in and saved for later reference.
What are you favorite papers to scan?
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So, I just did a blog post on the new ix100! Which I love, alongside my ix500 scansnap! The possibilities are endless, but I would have to say my most favorite thing to scan is my receipts, photos and work documents. It’s like my desk seems cleaner since adopting a scanner into my life!
Thanks Megan! I have to agree, there are so many ways to keep your desk clear with a scanner.
I can’t say I’ve perfected scanning, but I did a big project last summer where I scanned in all of my children’s artwork from their preschool and elementary years. I uploaded it to the Artkive app and had 2 books made for each girl. We love them, and leave them out to look through. We never looked at the artwork when it was in boxes in the attic1
Great tips Ellen. I haven’t gotten to the point where I am digitizing all the important papers from my kids school. But, I do have them go through it and get rid of anything they don’t want from school in July. Usually, they get rid of 95% of the paper. I am thinking before they graduate, I will get them their own MyCloud hard drive and store their individual home movies (which I have on CDs right now) and store their images on there as well. So, when they leave for college, we can clear up all the scrapbook and CD memorabilia clutter from our home. We will see if I can pull it off. Thanks for sharing.
I belong to a Facebook group called Vintage Toronto, and I love going through my old photos, postcards and other memorabilia to find items to scan and post to the group.
How fun! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing Seana!
Great idea! I love that you assess before you scan. I also think that having these as a keepsake will be tons of fun to go through with them later. Thanks for sharing!