Evening Project - Scanning Magazine Articles

[Rslaugh]

Almost a year ago I was introduced to Evernote which is a suite of software & apps for storing notes, ideas and almost anything you want to be able to go back and reference someday. After I determined that it would really help me a lot with my challenged sense of organization I bought a portable scanner that now goes everywhere my laptop goes. It's about 1" square and 10" long.

A week or so ago I was looking at all the woodworking magazines I had saved over the years for "one of those days" and realized I rarely look at them. As I started to page through I realized what a wealth of information was there but we are so used to searching electronically now the likelihood of remembering an article let alone finding it were slim.

But I decided before I could toss these I would go through each one and slice out the info that looked like something I might care about someday. As I get a dozen or so articles I've been scanning them into Evernote where they can be tagged or just search on any words in the article itself. They are then available on my laptop, my Razr, Asus tablet or actually any computer with an internet connection that I can log into my online Evernote account.

It's been fun and I'm coming across some inspiring material.

[ironhat]

I was glad for your thoughts on this program. I downloaded it but never did the install (don't ask). Beyond scanning is it just a glorified 'to-do' and 'honey-do' list organizer?

TIA

[Rslaugh]

I was glad for your thoughts on this program. I downloaded it but never did the install (don't ask). Beyond scanning is it just a glorified 'to-do' and 'honey-do' list organizer?

TIA

Chiz,

One of the things I do use it for is as a task manager. Some people would argue there are much better apps for that but it works for me because of the way I tag tasks. I don't know how much crap you get in your email but I average a few over 100 emails/day about 10 of which may require some action. Those that require me to do something go into EN with 1-click and then get deleted. They get tagged as they go in with a "When" tag.

Tasks I've assigned to other people go into EN tagged with that person's name, the tag "Open" and a When tag. If I want to see all the items I've assigned to Tom I do a search for any note with the tags ~Tom & Open.

As I'm cruising down the internet highway anything that i see that is interesting that I think I may want to reference gets clipped into EN.

While I was on vacation this spring I had a beer that I wanted to look into when i got home. I took a picture of the bottle with my Droid right into EN.

Things that I want to remember that I did go in there with a "Diary" tag.

I could go on and on. I use it as an extension of my own personal memory. I store as much as I can in it because it is so easy to find things. And again, all your notes are available across almost any device you use and synced automatically.

[ironhat]

Thanks, Rick. I think that I'll install it based on your report.
Many thanks,
Chiz

[chopnhack]

That is a very cool use of that app... I had always thought that when I got around to scanning everything and going digital I would use adobe pdf with tags, but this sounds more this century Thanks for the review

[Rslaugh]

It does scan it into pdf format. EN is organized by notes, folders and tags. The note is the basic storage container. Notes go into a folder that you designate and can have multiple tags.

There are 2 types of EN account - free & premium. The premium is $5/mo or $45/year. I think it is totally worth it for two main reasons. the first is it greatly increases your upload allowance/month to a number that i have never come close to. Second it automatically applies OCR to not only your pdf docs stored in EN but also attempts it on your handwritten & scanned notes.

[cabinetman]

A great way to store stuff. Magazines take up a lot of space. Between PC, woodworking and car magazines, it gets incredible.

.

[atgcpaul]

I've been considering scanning all my WWing mags, too. It's good to know EN exists so I can search them afterwards. I'll have to check out that Android app. Before I had a smartphone and with no pencil/paper at the ready, I've been known to call my home phone and leave a message for myself so I don't forget the thought that I had in my head at the moment. This would be much less weird. Hmm....there's a screenplay in here somewhere.

Our local library accepts magazines and books which they then resell. I've actually filled in my collection that way. I do want to donate the mags but if I scan everything, I'd have to slice them apart.

I am also aware I can subscribe to FWW and have access to the mags there or buy the DVDs of all the mags but I hate paying twice for things I already own.

Argh! Too many options.

[jimmyb]

You can also use www.springpad.com which I found to be a little easier and more reliable than Evernote for storing your notes, websites, clips, pages etc