Paperless Office Quick Start

This book shows you how to reduce the use of paper in your home or office and use digital representations of documents instead (or in addition). You can learn about these topics in any order, but most of the chapters follow a logical progression, so I encourage you to read linearly.

In any case, I urge you to start with Meet Your New Paperless Office, which provides useful background information.

Take preliminary steps:

• If you read an earlier version of this book and have already taken steps toward a paperless office, read Reassess Your Paperless Office Strategy first; it tells you what you might want to reconsider.
• Learn about the goal and the steps you’ll take to reach it; see Meet Your New Paperless Office.
• Stop the flood: Head Off Most Paper Before It Reaches You.

Digitize and dispose of most incoming paper:

• Decide on the most important tool for creating a paperless office; read Choose a Document Scanner.
• Learn what features you need in Mac software to accompany your scanner in Choose OCR Software.
• Configure Your Software for optimal efficiency and quality.
• Figure out the most convenient way to process papers you receive in Create a Workflow for Incoming Paper.
• Devise a plan to scan all those paper documents already in your files; read Work Through a Backlog.
• Capture digital copies of documents even when you’re away from your scanner; see OCR on the Go.

Reduce the amount of paper you generate:

• Learn how to break a printing habit painlessly (at least sometimes) in Avoid Common Printing Needs.
• Discover digital signatures; see Sign Documents without Paper.
• Say goodbye to your fax machine and hello to another 300 square inches of desk space; see Fax without Paper.