Computers Reduce That Document Pile
The average computer’s life span is about the same as an NBA coach’s tenure, which means a PC is no match for a file cabinet when it comes to long-term storage.
What computers can do well, however, is condense a mountain of paper into a few hundred megabytes of memory (or a single plastic disc) that can be transferred from machine to machine. They also can provide a handy catalog of papers, possessions and memorabilia for everything from insurance claims to online auctions.
The process starts with creating digital images of the things you’d like to save. The most useful tools for this process are a flatbed scanner ($50 or more) and a digital camera ($100 or more).
Scanners are useful not only for digitizing paperwork but also for making digital images of anything valuable or sentimental, such as diplomas, scrapbooks or refrigerator art. You can even use a scanner to make images of jewelry and other 3-D objects, although you might need to fiddle with the lighting and contrast to cast the right amount of shadow. Stephen Powell, a metallurgical engineer in Dayton, Ohio, created a Web page on 3-D scanning; you can find it athttps://octopus.freeyellow.com/macro.html.
If you don’t already own a scanner, you should look for one whose features best match the bulk of the work you plan to do. A low-cost device that boasts speedy document scanning probably won’t deliver the best results on photos.
You won’t need high resolution unless you want to make photo-quality prints of the scanned images. And no matter what type you choose, make sure it comes with software to recognize text (“optical character recognition”) and edit photos--preferably the full versions of the programs, although you’ll probably have to settle for “limited editions.”
Scanners save images as TIF files, an uncompressed format that gobbles up a lot of space on a hard drive. For scanned documents, you’ll probably want to convert the TIF to a text file using character recognition software. Because that process can introduce errors, make sure to compare the converted file against the original.
Saving as text will avert any potential problems caused by changing software--text is likely to be read by every future computer, whereas Word 2000 is more of a gamble. But you won’t want to use the text format if the layout or style of the original is worth preserving because you’ll lose all that information in the translation. Instead, you should consider converting the TIF file into a JPEG, which is a standard form of compression for digital images. JPEG files can be viewed on Windows PCs and Macs, which is a plus.
To create a digital image of a large or bulky object, a scanner probably isn’t the right tool for the job. That’s where a digital camera comes in. Again, assuming that your goal is to catalog an asset, you won’t need a high-resolution model. Computer screens typically display less than 100 dots per inch, so a camera that creates 640-by-480-dpi images would do the trick. Stick with a standard image format, such as JPEG, and not one of the proprietary formats churned out by photo-editing programs.
For records that already are in digital form, such as tax returns prepared on a PC or Mac, the trick is preserving them in a format that won’t become obsolete when you upgrade your computer. Even if you save the original software, there’s still the risk that the program won’t work on the computer you buy 10 years from now.
Use the text format wherever practical. Where it isn’t, consider printing the documents, scanning them and preserving a copy as a TIF or JPEG. Another option is to buy Adobe Acrobat (about $225 on the Web), which enables you to save any digital document in the portable document format. Not only does PDF preserve the style and layout of documents created by other programs, it also can be read on any PC or Mac.
For tips on scanning, go to https://www.hsdesign.com/scanning/tipswelcome.html.
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Times staff writer Jon Healey covers the convergence of entertainment and technology.
