Scanning documents to Outlook for storage

[Andre]

I've been looking for a good program to store scans of my monthly statements
(bank accounts, credit cards, etc.) and right now I scan them to TIFF, then
convert to PDF and keep them in an encrypted container. This is a lengthy
process with no OCR. OneNote looks perfect for this, my only concern is what
format is uses. From my understanding JPEG images are more easily corrupt
than RAW formats or even PDF, and I'm hoping to use something that will last
20 years+. What format does OneNote use when you scan images to it, and is it
stable enough to use it how I'd like, or am I better off using something like
Paperport?

Of course no matter what I use I make backups, but I want a great program to
start with!

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Re: OneNote for File storage.

This is a poor idea. Integration with the Windows File System is a
significant weakness of OneNote.

I think your security needs are important, and will limit your
choices.

Q: is this for just 1 computer ? or Networked ?
Q: exactly what security are you looking for ? For whom are you
trying to protect the data from ?

PaperPort is great, but to get OCR'd pdfs you'd need Omnipage ... just
a quick tip there ... Omnipage 12 is practically free on ebay and
would work with PaperPort to get you OCR. PaperPort 11 is not the
most reliable program, especially from a networking point of view.

A cheapy PaperPort way would be PaperPort 9 and Ominpage 12. security
would be limited in any PaperPort solution ... but how secure do you
need this to really be anyway ?

I woudl definitely check out FileCenter http://www.lucion.com/filecenter-overview.html
- similar to PaperPort but a better Internal viewer and has OCR
included.

Stay away from OneNote for this usage.

I will be starting a new website dealing with these issues but I still
have to tweak the site more before I open the doors.

Good Luck.

 

[Kathy Jacobs]

Why do you not like OneNote for scan results? The things I do like about it
are the fact that I can easily search the results and that I can copy the
text out of the scan and the results aren't bad (and usually good).

Just curious... Not contradicting....

--
Kathy Jacobs, Microsoft MVP OneNote and PowerPoint
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint
Get PowerPoint and OneNote information at www.onppt.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

 

[jeremyj]

I agree with Kathy that ON is a great solution for this, but I also
agree with Andre that the quality of JPG is not the best (why not use
PDZF or even MDI here, Microsoft?)

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Why do you not like OneNote for scan results? The things I do like about it
are the fact that I can easily search the results and that I can copy the
text out of the scan and the results aren't bad (and usually good).

Just curious... Not contradicting....

Because files should be files. Files scanned into OneNote are now the
property of OneNote. Not a flexible long term plan.

Why not OneNote ? Because there are many other better choices.

The strength of the MVPs here is not in suggesting alternative
softwares.

------------- FileCenter --------
Bridge the Gap with Outlook
FileCenter includes a tight integration with Microsoft Outlook. Do you
manage your contacts in Outlook? Use FileCenter to save and organize
files by Outlook contact. Go a step further and archive your Outlook e-
mail to file. FileCenter knows where to file it, automatically.
------------- FileCenter --------

I didn't know that they have actually improved the Outlook
integration.
They also use the more robust Google Desktop search.

I haven't tried v5.0 but v4.0 was excellent.
Looking forward to seeing the Outlook integration.

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

OneNote has its advantages and disadvantages as long-term archival
platform. A major disadvantage is that you don't get actual files for
the scans, but rather just content in OneNote. That is bad from an
archival point of view, because it doesn't allow you to process the same
scans later on again, let's say when OCR has gotten better for example.
If you want a high-quality long time archival solution that produces
content that you can process again later when technology has advanced,
then there is really no way around a high resolution (600 DPI or so)
scan into uncompressed TIFF. That would be something that people who
digitalize books nowadays use.
If you are just looking for a solution to store stuff for a long-time
and rarely ever look or use any of what you scanned, then OneNote is not
such a bad solution. However, from a long-term perspective as well,
OneNote isn't a safe archival solution. The main reason is that the
OneNote file format is proprietary to Microsoft and hence you have to
rely on an actual copy of OneNote to get your data out of it again
twenty years down the road. It might be the case that MS has made open
the OneNote file format by then (as just happened with the file formats
for Excel, PPT and Word), but that is not a guaranteed thing. If you
want security from that point of view, then you have to store your data
in an open file format, e.g. one of the image file formats.
However, most users probably don't think 20 years into the future. I
myself use OneNote to store all sorts of things that are important
(incl. critical documents) and I just believe that there will be always
a path for me to get the data to a newer version of OneNote or out of
OneNote later on. Also, the quality isn't that important to me, as long
as I can read what is written on the scans. By the way, I keep all the
info for my bank accounts and credit cards in Microsoft Money and hardly
ever open the paper statements when I get them (if I haven't switched
them off entirely). I just download all the info directly into Money.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
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[EMRhelp.org]

OneNote has its advantages and disadvantages as long-term archival
platform. A major disadvantage is that you don't get actual files for
the scans, but rather just content in OneNote.

And therein ends the debate.
Locking your files into OneNote is a losing man's game.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

I agree with Kathy that ON is a great solution for this, but I also
agree with Andre that the quality of JPG is not the best (why not use
PDZF or even MDI here, Microsoft?)

Why do you think OneNote works well here ?
By what standards ? Especially in light of established problems and
better solutions ?

 

[jeremyj]

Why do you think OneNote works well here ?
By what standards ? Especially in light of established problems and
better solutions ?

By MY standards of having one place to put everything that is very
easily searchable and findable. In light of whatever problems or
better solutions, the fact remains that ON works for the usage
described.

If YOU have different standards then so be it. Not all of us need to
run an EMR at home with enterprise standards. So lets focus on Home
Standards here, and this is where ON excels. I do wish that image
format was an option (to get rid of lossy JPG).

 

[EMRhelp.org]

By MY standards of having one place to put everything that is very

easily searchable and findable. In light of whatever problems or
better solutions, the fact remains that ON works for the usage
described.

By any standard, OneNote fails here.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

By any standard, OneNote fails here.

The MAJOR problem with embedding files in OneNote is that they are
then embedded in a .one file. Now the Excel file is not a file ... it
is property of OneNote. Why is that a good idea ?

 

[William Stacey [C# MVP]]

Excel is still excel file. You can open and change it. You can open the
original and change it, and you can save the embedded copy somewhere else.
I don't see an issue here. That is like saying a zip file is no good
because the zip owns the file or using Team System is no good because the DB
owns the file. That is the point of these apps after all - to manage the
files in some orderly way and make it easy. You can still get the files out
if you need them. You also have access to the API to automate any solution
you want, and I assume explorer filters will be created if not already.

It is a good idea because it is easy to use and is one of the few apps I use
that actually makes my life easier and more productive. I don't think I
have ever said that before in public about an app. If you have special
needs, use something else.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Excel is still excel file.

Not really.
While embedded in the .one file, the file is not available for
external access by other programs such as desktop search programs or
windows explorer.

 

[William Stacey [C# MVP]]

| On Jun 15, 12:23 am, "William Stacey [C# MVP]"
| > Excel is still excel file.
|
| Not really.
| While embedded in the .one file, the file is not available for
| external access by other programs such as desktop search programs or
| windows explorer.

Desktop search works. It will find the .one file matching the search and
you can open it. Then work with the attachment as needed or save it out as
a file. I don't see the issue here.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Desktop search works. It will find the .one file matching the search and

you can open it. Then work with the attachment as needed or save it out as
a file. I don't see the issue here. wjs

I do.
I want programs to work with my files, not take them over.
It is not acceptable to have to open a .one file to get at *MY* .xls
file.

The question here is ...
Is OneNote a good method of storing scanned documents.
I feel the answer is a) OK for very small numbers of files, b) poor
for more than a small number of files.

Complementing the Windows File system, not taking it over, should be
OneNote's method of interacting with my files.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

For the Original poster, I believe I provided two scenarios, that are
vastly superior to OneNote for his needs.

 

[William Stacey [C# MVP]]

| I do.
| I want programs to work with my files, not take them over.

It is not taking them over, it is making a copy. You still have the
original.

| It is not acceptable to have to open a .one file to get at *MY* .xls
| file.

For you. You have a specific need or issue with it, that is fine. Many
others, such as myself, see this a *feature. They could have (and still
can) taken the approach where only the file "link" is maintained - that is
an easy solution. As with other solutions (such as doing same with a DB)
this can have problems as well. The DB and source files can get mismatched
and unlinked. People and applications delete and move files - on purpose
and by accident. You have to think about where to put files, who links to
this file, etc, etc. It becomes a maintaince and time headache. There is
also the problem of the file being unavailable when you need it because it
lives on a network drive, etc.

So it becomes a tradeoff. They opted to make it simple as possible and have
your data local and mobil. I can still search and have access to the files
if needed. I also like the ability to take a "snapshot" of my xls for
example. I may want that Note to remain in Context of what I was doing or
saying to someone at *that instant and still have the ability to continue on
and change the original file and maybe make more snapshots over time (i.e.
an ongoing project). Also, as I said before, they can add an Explorer
filter so that you could see those files inside the .one files (there may be
one now or in the works). That may help a certain use-case, but your back
to the original potential issue of deleting/changing files out from under
OneNote and keeping sync.

 

[omalley73]

I have a quick follow-up question to this topic (or maybe a particular
use-case scenario is a better way to phrase it). I have several hand
written notes that I take throughout the day. I want to scan them
into OneNote for two main reasons:
1. Get them into digital format, where they will be searchable and
more useful to me.
2. Centralize my "reference section"; I'd like to have all my notes in
one place.

I've already decided to use OneNote, as it contains just about every
other part of my reference section, and I like its OCR's track record
of recognizing my handwriting. My question is what's the shortest
path to getting stuff scanned into OneNote? It seems like far too
many steps using OmniPage to create a new file from the scanned page,
and then importing the documents into OneNote (maybe printing the
scanned doc w/o saving it first would work...hmm).

Can anyone share what they've found to work in this situation. I did
just recently purchase NeatReceipts for scanning/storing my receipts,
with a glimmer of hope in the back of my mind that I could also use it
for importing into OneNote.

Thanks in advance,
Bob O'Malley

P.S. Sorry if this appears to be a post hijack. I tried to keep my
question related to the OP's original thought...

 

[Tilman Sporkert]

I've already decided to use OneNote, as it contains just about every
other part of my reference section, and I like its OCR's track record
of recognizing my handwriting. My question is what's the shortest
path to getting stuff scanned into OneNote?

How about Insert -> Pictures -> From Scanner or Camera -> Custom Insert.
That allows you to scan directly into OneNote, using your scanners own
scanning application.

 

[William Stacey [C# MVP]]

That is how I do it as well. Naturally, you can also print to the OneNote
printer so you can scan in any other application (i.e. Office Document
Scanning) as well and just print to OneNote.

--
William Stacey [C# MVP]



| omalley73 wrote:
|
| > I've already decided to use OneNote, as it contains just about every
| > other part of my reference section, and I like its OCR's track record
| > of recognizing my handwriting. My question is what's the shortest
| > path to getting stuff scanned into OneNote?
|
| How about Insert -> Pictures -> From Scanner or Camera -> Custom Insert.
| That allows you to scan directly into OneNote, using your scanners own
| scanning application.