Document Scanning?

[wayland1985]

I’ve been away from my Mac for a while so excuse me ignorance (iPhone/iPad make it so I don’t need it!).

That being said, I’m in the middle of finishing my basement office, and I’m shopping for file cabinets.

Being a basement, I’m thinking something waterproof would be best (in case of flood), but the cost is quite high. This got me thinking, maybe I’m better off scanning my important documents, and keeping digital copies in case of fire/flood.

So I’m curious:

1: does the latest MacOS have any native document scanning apps. Searchable PDFs would be greats!

2: would I need a dedicated document scanner for this? Or is there an all-in-one printer that would suffice?

3: can I keep scanned documents secure?

 

[willmtaylor]

I’ve been away from my Mac for a while so excuse me ignorance (iPhone/iPad make it so I don’t need it!).

That being said, I’m in the middle of finishing my basement office, and I’m shopping for file cabinets.

Being a basement, I’m thinking something waterproof would be best (in case of flood), but the cost is quite high. This got me thinking, maybe I’m better off scanning my important documents, and keeping digital copies in case of fire/flood.

So I’m curious:

1: does the latest MacOS have any native document scanning apps. Searchable PDFs would be greats!

2: would I need a dedicated document scanner for this? Or is there an all-in-one printer that would suffice?

3: can I keep scanned documents secure?

You coul purchase an all in one or get something like Doxie. Thee are also iOS apps which convert photos into searchable docs.

The OSX app Preview handles PDFs well and they can be password protected (or you could simply password protect the folder you put them all in.

 

[BrianBaughn]

A decent all-in-one will do. Be sure to get a "duplex"/two-sided scanner or you'll be trying to figure out how to combine two PDFs...one with odd pages and the other with even.

Still...get your file cabinets up off the floor!

 

[wayland1985]

Ive seen the IOS scanner options: but that may be time consuming. And storing multiple files neatly might be tough.

 

[willmtaylor]

Ive seen the IOS scanner options: but that may be time consuming. And storing multiple files neatly might be tough.

Certainly depends on amount of documents in need of scanning. ScanBot and Scanner Pro (by Readdle) both handle multiple batches very well though.

 

[dwig]

The wife & I ran into this type of issue a few years back. We live in Key West FL and felt the need to be able to take our records with us if/when we need to bug-out to dodge a storm. Our choice was, and still is:

1. Fireproof filing cabinets - not true fire "safes", but less expensive per cubic foot and still fireproof
2. High-speed double-sided dedicated document scanner. We've worn out our first EPSON (it has developed issues handling a stack of pages) and are replacing it with a new EPSON DS-410. They scan 2 sides in one pass and are very fast. The resulting PDFs go on portable hard drives, one for use and one stuffed in the fireproof filing cabinets. The hard drives and a notebook computer or two travel with us if/when we need to evacuate.