ECO SPECIAL Paperless,
By Design
Going
paperless doesn’t mean that you will never handle another sheet of paper. It
means that you reduce or remove dependence on paper for obvious tasks in daily
personal and office life. A few tips and tools to get
you started
Go
Digital
Opt for Digital Receipts
Instead of paper bills and receipts, opt for digital ones sent to your email ID. All you have to do is key in your email ID at the time of payment. To collate all receipts in one place, you could use tags and labels, an email alias or a separate email ID itself.
Store Paper Online
Free services such as Dropbox, Box and Google Drive offer a decent amount of online storage and are accessible from various devices. You can use these tools to share documents with others (over email, chat and even SMS), store all kinds of data and keep stuff synced across your devices.
Digitally Signing Documents
If you receive a digital document you need to sign, don’t print it out to scan. You can digitally sign and instantly send back via return email. You could use Gmail’s HelloSign (www.hellosign.com/ gmail). On your portable devices, use an app called SignNow – you can simply use the touchscreen to sign a document and send back immediately.
Evernote Everything
Evernote works with any device. You can use it to remember anything, jot down lists, save stuff you liked for later reading, record audio, share anything and even keep personal notes organised, searchable and accessible later from any device. If you need to stay in sync with multiple people, you can also try digital collaborative tools like www.scribblar.com and www.scriblink.com.
Opt for Digital Receipts
Instead of paper bills and receipts, opt for digital ones sent to your email ID. All you have to do is key in your email ID at the time of payment. To collate all receipts in one place, you could use tags and labels, an email alias or a separate email ID itself.
Store Paper Online
Free services such as Dropbox, Box and Google Drive offer a decent amount of online storage and are accessible from various devices. You can use these tools to share documents with others (over email, chat and even SMS), store all kinds of data and keep stuff synced across your devices.
Digitally Signing Documents
If you receive a digital document you need to sign, don’t print it out to scan. You can digitally sign and instantly send back via return email. You could use Gmail’s HelloSign (www.hellosign.com/ gmail). On your portable devices, use an app called SignNow – you can simply use the touchscreen to sign a document and send back immediately.
Evernote Everything
Evernote works with any device. You can use it to remember anything, jot down lists, save stuff you liked for later reading, record audio, share anything and even keep personal notes organised, searchable and accessible later from any device. If you need to stay in sync with multiple people, you can also try digital collaborative tools like www.scribblar.com and www.scriblink.com.
Gadgets
Portable
Scanner
Digital scanners are now small enough to be carried in a laptop bag. This one, the Scanny 6 from Portronics ( 6,999), offers high-quality scans, a built-in battery and a colour screen. It can also hold thousands of scans and when you want to transfer the scans to a computer, a simple USB cable does the trick.
Wacom Tablets
Designers and infographic artists can benefit a lot from Wacom technology. Apart from precise, pressure-sensitive stylus technology built into several Android tablets and smartphones, Wacom also sell their own tablets. The Wacom’s Cintiq 13HD ( 89,000) has a 1080p IPS LCD screen built into a 14mm thick frame. It connects to both Windows and Mac and allows any design professional to draw directly on the screen with up to 2048 levels of pressure. Wacom also sells Pen & Touch tablets for drawing directly on a computer screen, at prices starting at 9,190.
LCD Writing Board
Instead of Post It, try the innovative Boogie Board. The basic version ( 2,999) has an 8.5 inch writing surface and comes with a stylus. The more expensive Boogie Board Rip ( 5,990) also has built in storage. You can write and scribble while each page gets digitally stored. Later, you can
Digital scanners are now small enough to be carried in a laptop bag. This one, the Scanny 6 from Portronics ( 6,999), offers high-quality scans, a built-in battery and a colour screen. It can also hold thousands of scans and when you want to transfer the scans to a computer, a simple USB cable does the trick.
Wacom Tablets
Designers and infographic artists can benefit a lot from Wacom technology. Apart from precise, pressure-sensitive stylus technology built into several Android tablets and smartphones, Wacom also sell their own tablets. The Wacom’s Cintiq 13HD ( 89,000) has a 1080p IPS LCD screen built into a 14mm thick frame. It connects to both Windows and Mac and allows any design professional to draw directly on the screen with up to 2048 levels of pressure. Wacom also sells Pen & Touch tablets for drawing directly on a computer screen, at prices starting at 9,190.
LCD Writing Board
Instead of Post It, try the innovative Boogie Board. The basic version ( 2,999) has an 8.5 inch writing surface and comes with a stylus. The more expensive Boogie Board Rip ( 5,990) also has built in storage. You can write and scribble while each page gets digitally stored. Later, you can
connect
the device to a computer using USB and download all the saved pages.
Apps
CamCard
The next time someone offers you a business card, take a quick photo with the CamCard app on your phone and give it back. CamCard offers free and paid versions for Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows 8 – it serves as a digital business card reader and organiser.
CamScanner
If you don’t have a scanner handy, you can use an app called CamScanner to take a photograph of what you need to scan – right from your smartphone. The app will automatically correct, crop, re-position and reorient the photograph to make it look like it was digitally scanned. You can save your scanned documents online on www. camscanner.net for easy access or sync them across your devices.
Apps
CamCard
The next time someone offers you a business card, take a quick photo with the CamCard app on your phone and give it back. CamCard offers free and paid versions for Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows 8 – it serves as a digital business card reader and organiser.
CamScanner
If you don’t have a scanner handy, you can use an app called CamScanner to take a photograph of what you need to scan – right from your smartphone. The app will automatically correct, crop, re-position and reorient the photograph to make it look like it was digitally scanned. You can save your scanned documents online on www. camscanner.net for easy access or sync them across your devices.
Hitesh Raj Bhagat
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