How do you store your most important documents? Do you have a folder containing your birth certificate, marriage license, social security card and other important documents?
If so, it’s time to upgrade. Keeping paper documents can be a great way to keep records, but it also opens the door to damage, loss, theft or other problems. Tap or click here for errors that put your identity at risk.
But how to provide important documents and records? Digitizing them will allow you to do just that – while offering you quick and secure access to digital copies of your files. Let’s take a look at how you can digitize your documents submitted by our sponsor, IDrive. Get 5TB secure cloud backup for 50% off IDrive.com.
Advantages of digitizing important documents
As mentioned, digitizing documents ensures that you always have a copy on hand if the original records are damaged, lost or stolen. But there are many other reasons to digitize your documents.
For example, there are situations where you need to show proof of insurance or provide proof of your identity. Having digital copies of your records gives you easy access to the documents or documents you need, virtually anywhere, because they are accessible from your phone or computer.
Creating a digital copy of your documents also helps keep them secure. You can control who accesses these files with passwords and encryption. Everyone can rummage through your documents, but not everyone can access a secure digital file.
Digital documents also make it easy to find what you need, quickly or clarify when needed. You can comment and find the documents you need by searching for or clicking on the correct folder.
How to digitize your documents
Use a scanner
One of the easiest ways to digitize documents is to use a scanner. Our sponsor, Epson’s EcoTank line, offers scanners, printers and copiers in one device. These compact machines have wireless and Ethernet connections, color touch screens, voice-activated controls and many other features depending on the model.
If you have a lot of documents from many pages that you need to scan, you may want to choose the EcoTank ET-4760, which offers multi-page document scanning and an automatic feeder. There are EcoTank options with flatbed scanners that also meet the needs of scanning with a smaller volume. Tap or click here to find EcoTank in stock.
Use an app
No scanner? Instead, there are applications that you can use to scan documents. Not all of them are as user-friendly as submitting documents to a physical scanner, but they still work well.
Take for example Adobe Scan. This app makes it easy to scan everything directly from your phone. You can use it to convert documents, forms, business cards and whiteboards into high-quality Adobe PDF files. It also offers different shooting modes so that your scans are as clear as possible each time.
The unique thing about Adobe Scan is that it uses Adobe Sensei to identify and sharpen handwritten or printed text on the documents you scan. It also removes annoying elements such as glare and shadows, so your scanned documents are easy to read.
It is super easy to use. Just open the app, wait for the scan to capture, and then tap the thumbnail to view or edit your scan. You can download Adobe Scan for iOS by tapping or clicking here. Need Adobe Scan for Android? Tap or click here to download it. Or click on the appropriate link in the yellow box below.
There is also Ingenious scanning, an application that allows you to easily batch scan documents or files with multiple pages. To use Genius Scan, all you have to do is place each document in front of your device’s camera. The application automatically recognizes the background paper and scans it.
One of the main advantages is that it will also cut the scanned document if necessary and clean the result. Another is that it allows you to scan dozens of pages in seconds. Do you want to download Genius Scan for iOS? Tap or click here. Need a Genius Scan for Android? Tap or click here to download it.
You can also view Microsoft Office Lens. This is a scanner app for your mobile device that scans, trims, enhances and makes your scanned documents readable. The unique thing about Office Lens is that you can also use it to convert images to PDF, Word and PowerPoint files. You can even save images to OneNote or OneDrive.
Want to try Microsoft Office Lens? Tap or click here to download the iOS app. Tap or click here to download the Android app.
Storing your digital documents
Once you have scanned all your documents, you will need to keep the copies in a safe place. You can choose to use your local hard drive or USB flash drive to store your files, or you can use a more secure and high-tech option.
Our sponsor, I drive, offers online archiving and cloud storage, ideal for storing and accessing important documents. The good thing about using a service like IDrive is that your scanned documents will be accessible from anywhere. You can log in and access them when you need them.
You can back up all your documents to one account from any device.
Throw away the meager free storage you get from the big technology companies. You can trust IDrive to keep all your most important documents safe and secure. Tap or click here to get back a year of cloud up with 50% discount – Only $ 34.75 for your first year.
Want to learn more about IDrive? Here are five reasons to use the IDrive cloud service for your storage needs.
Practical tech tip: How to digitize your most important documents