The Paperless Workflow
A complete paperless workflow has four stages: Capture (scanning), Process (OCR + AI), Store (cloud), and Find (search). Our tools handle the processing stage — the part that used to be the bottleneck.
Scanning Setup
You don't need expensive scanners. Modern phone cameras with document scanning apps produce excellent results. For high volume, a dedicated document scanner (Fujitsu ScanSnap, Brother ADS) can process 25+ pages per minute with auto-feed.
Processing with AI
Once scanned, use our PDF Summarizer to extract key points, Chat with PDF to query documents, and PDF to Excel to extract tabular data. The AI handles messy scans, handwriting, and multi-page documents.
Storage Strategy
Use a consistent naming convention: YYYY-MM-DD_Category_Description.pdf. Store in cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) for access anywhere. Back up monthly to external storage.
Common Concerns
- Legal validity: Digital copies are legally valid in most jurisdictions since the ESIGN Act (US) and eIDAS (EU)
- Security: Cloud storage with 2FA is more secure than a filing cabinet
- Tax documents: IRS accepts digital copies; keep for 7 years minimum