Your guide to a better future
Get rid of all those receipts and old bills taking up space on your counter by scanning them.
Jason Cipriani
Contributing Writer, ZDNet
Jason Cipriani is based out of beautiful Colorado and has been covering mobile technology news and reviewing the latest gadgets for the last six years. His work can also be found on sister site CNET in the How To section, as well as across several more online publications.
Gone are the days of trying to find a scanner, or even worse, cluttering up your desk with one of those all-in-one printer/scanner combos, for the handful of times a year you need to create a digital version of a document. Apple’s iPhone has a hidden document scanner in its Notes app, and now Android owners have a dedicated app from Google called Stack.
Sure, you could just snap a photo of a contract or bill to keep a digital copy of it, but then you’re going to have to deal with cropping out the background, and converting it to a PDF so you can sign it. Stack eliminates the extra work and provides a high-quality version of the document. The only thing it doesn’t do right now is provide a way to add your signature. Don’t worry, I cover how to sign documents below.
Stack is available for Android phones and tablets but limited to those who live in the US. It goes beyond just scanning on storing your documents and receipts, however. Stack will automatically identify what store a receipt is from, or the due date of a bill. Below I’ll walk you through the ins and outs of using Stack as your go-to scanner.
There’s a lot you can do with Stack to better organize your files.
After installing Stack from the Play Store, you’ll be asked to sign in to the app using your Google account and then grant it access to media and photos on your phone.
You’re immediately taken to the home screen of Stack, where you’ll see different Stacks — or categories — for any scanned documents. Select one of the stacks to see placeholders for suggested documents to scan and store in that stack.
Start a scan with a tap on the + button in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You’re given three options: PDF, Gallery and Camera.
Stack is easy to use and can improve your workflow.
Select PDF if you already have a digital copy of a document that you want to import into Stack. Pick Gallery if you have a photo of the document saved in your camera roll or photos app. Opt for Camera if you need to create a new scan. Keep in mind that this isn’t the same as taking a photo in the Camera app. Stack will adjust the photo on its own, creating a PDF and only storing the document, not an entire photo.
When you pick a camera, the process is similar to taking a photo with your phone. Place the receipt on a flat, well-lit surface and hold your phone above it. With the piece of paper fully in view of the camera, tap the white Scan button at the bottom of the screen. Your phone will capture a picture and automatically crop it so that you only see the document.
Tap the Add button if you need to scan multiple pages of the same document. Select Adjust Color or Crop & Rotate to make their respective adjustments. Once you’re happy with the scan, tap Save.
As you can see in the animated image, Stack will identify information within the document and use that for document searches, suggesting a document name and category.
Before saving the document, you’ll need to either accept the name suggestion or change it. Next, select the category where you want to save it, or select See All if you want to create a custom stack
Tap Done when you’re ready to save it. The first time you save a scan, you’ll be asked if you want to save a copy to Google Drive. Doing so will allow you to access any scanned documents from another device, such as your computer, outside of the Stack app.
Auto-import from your camera roll? Yes please.
Stack has some more powerful features that you can enable in the settings section of the app. Using these settings transforms the app from being an on-demand scanner to an app that monitors your camera roll, for example, and then imports any documents it detects in photos. That means you can take pictures of your work expense receipts, and Stack will take care of importing and organizing them without you having to do a thing.
Get to settings with a tap on your profile photo at the top of the page followed by Settings.
There you’ll have the option to enable automatic import, require a fingerprint or facial recognition before you can access your stacks and enable or disable saving documents to Google Drive.
You also have the option to export all of your scanned documents or delete all data tied to your Google account.
Currently missing from Stack is a built-in option to sign any scanned documents. However, you can use any of the suggestions outlined here to get the document signed on your Android phone, or another device. Want more Android tips and tricks? Check out these hidden features, then change these settings.
Do you have the same content strategies for local SEO and broader organic SEO? Improve your local SEO with these content marketing tips.
When you think about improving your local SEO, do you think about content?
Maybe not.
I’ll admit, it’s not always the first thing that comes to my mind.
But here’s the thing – content directly affects local SEO, and overlooking it is a huge mistake.
Yes, we might have limited text fields and places where we can input content.
Hear me out, though. There’s more to it than you might think.
You may know about the content Google likes to see on a website and how to optimize it to show up higher on search engine result pages.
But what about local content?
How is that different?
Here’s the thing, content strategies for local SEO and broader organic SEO aren’t actually that different.
No matter what, good informative content should always be a priority.
The main difference between local SEO and organic SEO content lies in user intent.
For local SEO, the user intent is to find goods or services near them, so they include a location indicator in their search query.
For example, you may search for [Kansas City hair salon], [hair salon in Kansas City], or [hair salon near me].
The location indicator tells Google to prioritize, showing the user results in their area.
This has been the case for a long time as Google has wanted to serve up more localized SERP features (like map results) for searches that it has perceived local intent.
So when you’re writing for local SEO, produce content that highlights your location.
Before you begin writing content for your site, you should always take a minute and think about your end game.
Ask yourself what goals you want to achieve.
And how can your content and messaging aid in completing your goals?
For example, say you want to improve your local SEO so more people visit your brick-and-mortar storefront to ultimately increase sales and revenue.
This is a great goal.
Good local SEO can help you achieve it, but creating a Google Business Profile listing is not enough.
Prioritize creating high-quality content that highlights both what you have to offer and your location.
If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to perform a local content audit.
When running a content audit, ask yourself what your ideal local customer is searching for.
Are they researching what’s available in their target area?
Reading reviews?
Looking to visit a location now?
Searching for a provider to come to them or to have a product delivered?
Knowing this information helps you determine if there are gaps in your content you could fill to help rank better in local searches.
Another important piece of a local content audit is competitor research.
Check out your competitors’ websites to gather information regarding the keywords they’re targeting and the content structure to get their local clients or customers to convert.
Once you know who you’re targeting and what they’re searching for, you’re in a great position to begin writing.
Now, let’s dive into specific content strategies you can use to improve your local SEO.
Here’s a bit of good news, if you have a well-optimized website that includes quality content, there’s not much you’ll need to change to optimize it for local searches.
Just a few tweaks here and there.
One of the most important things you can do to improve local SEO is putting your address in the footer.
If you have fewer than ten locations, I recommend putting them all in your footer.
Additionally, it’s important to create dedicated landing pages for each location you serve.
Each of these pages should have original content specific to the area/location.
Do not simply copy and paste the information from one page to another, even if you do the same thing at all your locations.
This would be duplicate content, which could hurt your SEO.
General reminders for creating a good page:
Blogging is a powerful tool to provide your customers with useful information and set you up as an expert in your field.
Simply put, in the eyes of Google, it has the power to increase your expertise, authority, and trust (EAT).
But outside of this, blogging is a great way to highlight your location(s) and boost your local SEO.
First and most importantly, it provides Google with fresh content that reiterates where you’re located.
It also helps you target those pesky local keywords like “wine bar near me” that may be hard to rank for.
Additionally, blogging allows you to get backlinks from other local businesses.
And, it offers a chance for people to comment on or share your article, which are two things that improve local SEO.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that one of the most important things you can do with a blog is share it – on social media and on any local lists that allow it.
Get comments, get likes, and drive local traffic to your articles.
Your Google Business Profile is the first and most obvious off-page location for local SEO content.
Adding content to your Google Business Profile is important when working on improving your local SEO.
You can do this in various ways, but the top priority should be optimizing your profile by including as much relevant information as possible.
You can add a description of your business, your hours, product information, and your services. For example, a food menu and photos for a restaurant.
When optimizing your Google Business Profile, make sure all the information you provide is correct.
If anything changes, such as your hours of operation, update your profile accordingly.
Another valuable thing you can do is post photos, current blog articles, relevant specials, and updated policies and procedures on your feed.
This communicates to Google that you’re an active listing to promote because you provide users with valuable information.
Ultimately, well-optimized Google Business Profiles receive more clicks and requests for directions.
A key part of building a good local SEO strategy is gathering reviews and responding promptly.
In terms of content, reviews on user-generated content carry a lot of weight.
A Note On The Map Pack …
Getting your business featured on the Map Pack is a big deal.
It allows users to see your listing first before scrolling through SERPs.
A few content-related strategies that can help you get one of the coveted spots in the Map Pack:
When it comes to SEO, Google is the major player for sure.
So, it’s no surprise that the major thing tied to local SEO is Google Business.
But, we shouldn’t overlook other local listing services like Bing Local, Yelp, Thumbtack, Yellowpages.com, Foursquare, and more – depending on our industry and focus.
Posting content and other updates gives your website a citation and boosts local credibility.
If you’re on these sites, don’t forget to give them some attention now and then and make sure you respond to any reviews you’ve earned – even if using data aggregation services to push data to third-party directories.
Your online reputation is important to Google and shouldn’t be forgotten.
As I’m sure you already know, social media helps SEO.
So having a Facebook and Instagram business listing is important.
It increases your audience, so your article gets more views.
And, more views means more opportunities for backlinks.
Ultimately, having a robust social media presence and posting useful content on your social feed impacts your EAT and makes you look more credible in the eyes of Google.
Good content is an essential part of a good SEO strategy.
In terms of local SEO, good content with location indicators prompts Google to rank you higher in local search results and the Map Pack.
Simply creating quality content for your site is not always enough. You should also share it to your Google Business Profile, other local listing sites, and your social media feeds to increase traffic and showcase your expertise and trustworthiness.
For more tips on content marketing, check out SEJ’s Complete Guide to Content Marketing.
For more guidance on local SEO, grab yourself a free copy of SEJ’s Local SEO e-book.
More resources:
Featured Image: GaudiLab/Shutterstock
Corey Morris serves as the President of Voltage. With seventeen plus years of experience in the digital marketing industry, he …
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Knowledge
by DP Taylor | Updated Aug. 5, 2022 – First published on May 18, 2022
Image source: Getty Images
We store a lot of data on this planet. One firm predicts that the “global datasphere” will reach 175 zettabytes by 2025.
Doesn’t sound like much? Consider this: A zettabyte is equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. Still doesn’t compute? If each gigabyte in a zettabyte were a meter, it would span the distance of the Amazon River — the longest river in the world — more than 150,000 times, according to Cisco.
File archiving has become a must for modern companies. It’s a fundamental part of document control, enabling a company to monitor and manage the creation, distribution, and accessibility of important documentation.
So how do you implement file archiving in your organization? This guide will break down the essential elements and how to ensure you have the proper procedures in place.
An archive file is a collection of data for the purposes of storing it for later access. Archived files are computer files that typically contain multiple other computer files, including metadata. Essentially, it is many computer files compressed into one, making it easier to store information with less space required.
Archiving files is key to good records management for any organization since it prevents essential data that may need to be recalled later from being lost over time.
The process of document archiving is straightforward, but a manager must be careful that the process is done right to avoid corrupting or losing critical data and information.
Computer archiving begins with a document management system, so if you don’t have one, you must get one. Electronic filing system software is available from many different vendors. Some of the top solutions reviewed by The Ascent include DocSend, M-Files, and Box.
With a good software solution in place, you won’t have to do most of the archiving tasks manually, and this will end up being a time-saver for your organization. These systems also secure your files so they don’t fall into the wrong hands, either internally or from external threats from hackers.
To create an archive filing system, you must create a process for your organization. Draft a manual stating which documents should be archived and the process for achieving it based on the type of software you use. You may have separate filing systems for contracts, product data, customer information, and other types of data. Get feedback from your team before implementing this new process to be sure you cover all your bases.
You must standardize the process within your document management system across the content lifecycle in order to guarantee that everyone can access the archived files. For example, if the archive file extension differs by department, you’ll run into unnecessary obstacles. Make sure there aren’t substantive differences in the archiving process across departments.
The ability to archive information should not be limited to a few stakeholders. Everyone who creates and disseminates information should have the ability to archive files and data to be sure nothing is lost.
The configuration of your archiving system should be user-friendly and intuitive to your team. It should be organized so anyone can archive a file properly and retrieve a file easily. Your software should take care of much of this, but you may need to take some special steps depending on your organization’s needs.
Any document management software platform you choose should automatically track activity, whether it’s determining which users uploaded what files and when, or which users accessed archived files and made changes. Track this activity to see that your team is using the system properly and files are accessed and uploaded by the appropriate individuals.
On a regular basis — perhaps quarterly — review the archiving process in your electronic filing system and determine how it’s serving your organization. Is it taking up a lot of time to archive files? Can people easily access these files? Are unauthorized users being allowed to access files that should be limited to certain individuals?
Determine if any changes need to be made to your process and then make them. Continue to review the process periodically.
When you create an archive, you’re creating a massive repository of information that can be difficult to manage. These business document management tips will help you avoid pitfalls.
If no one is responsible, no one can be held accountable if a file isn’t archived properly, or if a document is accessed by an unauthorized user. You must designate ownership of certain files and data and delegate responsibilities to that individual laying out exactly what they must do with the file.
If people understand the expectations and you provide clear directions, you’ll find that your team will have an easier time complying with the new process.
Generally, it’s not a good idea to give everyone in your organization access to all archived files. For example, you may not want low-level employees having access to sensitive company financial data. Place necessary restrictions on who has access to archived data to be sure it’s protected.
Keep the data in a secure location, and upgrade security measures consistently. Your software platform should allow you to set permissions for certain files.
Should you hold onto a file forever, or should it have an expiration date? Decide how long files are stored based on what information is in them, and write that into your processes. Give someone the responsibility to monitor those dates and eliminate the file when necessary if your software doesn’t do this automatically.
For example, you may keep raw data indefinitely, but analysis of that data for only a few years before it becomes obsolete and no longer useful.
If you’re like many small businesses, archiving files is probably the last thing on your mind. After all, you’ve got clients to please and revenue targets to hit. Who cares if some random file you haven’t looked at in months goes missing or accidentally gets deleted?
The truth is that you never know how important information is until it’s gone. Take San Francisco-based computer programmer Stefan Thomas, who was in the news for having nearly $240 million in bitcoin locked away in a digital wallet. He got the bitcoins years ago as a reward for a cryptocurrency project when they weren’t worth that much, and he apparently misplaced the password. Now, after eight wrong guesses, he has two guesses left before the hard drive encrypts itself and destroys his fortune forever. Ouch!
Your company is constantly producing data, even when you don’t realize it. Someday you may need to refer back to it, perhaps for tax purposes, or maybe there’s some data from a past email marketing campaign that could give you a competitive advantage.
Either way, your data is much more valuable than you realize, so you must store it and protect it. Every day you delay, you put your company at risk, so implement an archiving system sooner rather than later.
DP Taylor is a business software expert writing for The Ascent and The Motley Fool.
We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.
The Ascent is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters.
Copyright © 2018 – 2022 The Ascent. All rights reserved.
Book and magazine pages have met their match
I focus on printer and scanner technology and reviews. I have been writing about computer technology since well before the advent of the internet. I have authored or co-authored 20 books—including titles in the popular Bible, Secrets, and For Dummies series—on digital design and desktop publishing software applications. My published expertise in those areas includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress, as well as prepress imaging technology. (Over my long career, though, I have covered many aspects of IT.)
The CZUR Shine Ultra Pro overhead book scanner captures and digitizes just about everything and offers several features designed to facilitate teaching, presenting, and online meetings.
The CZUR Shine Ultra Pro ($299) is the flagship model of the CZUR Shine series of overhead (a.k.a. book) scanners, as well as a sibling to the CZUR ET16 Plus that won an Editors’ Choice award in February 2018. It’s also a direct competitor to our more recent Editors’ Choice winner the IRIScan Desk 6 Pro Scanner and its own relative the Desk 6 Business. Like the two IRIScan models, the Shine Ultra Pro supports document pages up to tabloid size (A3 or 11 by 17 inches). What’s different is that it’s adjustable, folding up for storage and travel. And though it performs well with most types of media, the Ultra Pro isn’t, according to the company, the strongest book scanner in the CZUR stable—it’s a personal or consumer overhead scanner, while the ET16 Plus and ET18 Pro are professional-grade devices. Still, in my tests it capably scanned everything I threw at it, and it works well as a remote teaching and learning tool and for online conferences and presentations in small offices, workgroups, and classrooms.
Equipped with a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, the Shine Ultra Pro is at the head of its class above the 13-megapixel Shine Ultra. (We’ll be reviewing the soon-to-be-released CZUR ET24 Pro shortly.) As I said, overhead scanners are often referred to as book scanners, but the company’s marketing material states that the Shine Pro scans books using CZUR’s curve-flattening algorithm while the Aura and ET models are recommended for superior book scanning or handling of the curved page view caused by a book’s binding.
As for the scanner itself, it comes in two parts, the main unit or elevated scanning head and the black work mat or pad on which you place materials to be scanned.
The pad, as mentioned, is big enough to hold tabloid-size pages with a little extra around the edges. The scanning unit sits on your desktop at the upper edge of the mat as shown in the image below.
Not only does the scanning unit fold for storage or transport, but the upright beam is also adjustable, allowing you to set the height of the 11.6-inch horizontal beam holding the lights and scanning sensor (or, more accurately, the camera). As you can see below, you can adjust the height to either 13.2 or 16.1 inches. The scanner’s base is 6.2 inches wide and 4.6 inches deep.
The horizontal beam houses a pair of LEDs, speakers, a microphone, and a 24-megapixel autofocus camera with 5,696-by-4,272-pixel resolution (maximum MP4 resolution 1,920 by 1,080). It captures A4 (letter-size) pages at 440 dots per inch (dpi) and A3 (tabloid-size) sheets at 320dpi. You can save your documents as image or searchable PDF files, Microsoft Word or Excel documents, and TIFF images in up to 180 languages.
While scanning, you can adjust the brightness of the LEDs with a small knob located on the base of the unit.
Like many overhead scanners, the Shine Ultra Pro comes with a foot pedal for initiating scans (or, technically, snapping pictures). IRIScan’s Desk 6 Business uses a button that sits beside the scanner, while the IRIScan Desk Pro ships with both a foot pedal and a desktop button.
Typically, scanners work by moving the content over their sensors or vice versa. Overhead scanners, by contrast, snap a picture of a whole page, capturing the image almost instantly (in about a second). Then the scanner and its accompanying software convert the image to the desired format and save it.
The Ultra Pro’s only connectivity option is USB 2.0, restricting usage to Windows and macOS machines equipped with the bundled CZUR Shine software. You can’t use it with your smartphone or tablet. None of the other overhead scanners we’ve tested recently supports wireless or network connections, either. The CZUR Shine program includes, among other features, tilt adjustment; auto-cropping; auto-scan with page-turning detection; punch-hole filling; bar code and QR code recognition; scanning and splitting multiple business cards; combining two-sided pages; repairing damaged pages; adding watermarks; and generating PDFs in a batch.
These, of course, are scanning features. You can also combine the microphone and speakers with the camera to perform overhead presentations and learning sessions, as well as recording videos.
Since this and all overhead scanners shoot pictures instead of physically scanning pages, they all take about a second to capture each image. But that doesn’t include the time required to send the scans to your computer and process them; some formats, such as searchable (or editable) PDFs and Word and Excel docs, take a little longer than others. Nowadays, however, optical character recognition (OCR) converts scanned pages to editable text very fluently—unless, of course, you have an old or slow computer.
I ran my tests over a USB connection on our Intel Core i5 testbed running Windows 10 Pro and CZUR Shine. As expected, the Shine Ultra Pro snapped whatever I put on the pad in about a second, but the software took a few seconds to process each scan—but not really any longer than most current OCR and document management programs.
The most time-consuming part of the process is placing and removing content from the pad. As with most book scanners, I wasn’t able to process loose documents at more than about 15 to 20 pages per minute (ppm). When I scanned book pages using the timer, I was able to bump that up to about 28ppm. (These are about the same results I got while testing the two IRIScan overheads.) If you’re looking for a reasonably fast text document scanner, an overhead model may not be your best pick.
Frankly, conversions to both image and searchable PDF would have been much quicker if not for the time consumed loading and unloading the scanner. In any case, I didn’t encounter any real problems while scanning book pages, so I’m not sure why CZUR suggests you stick with presenting and teaching and choose another model for book scanning. (The forthcoming ET24 Pro boasts laser curve-flattening hardware instead of a software algorithm.) The software also supports scanning and managing business-card and financial data.
I should underscore that, even though I’ve griped about its modest throughput, the Ultra Pro was two to three times faster than the CZUR ET16 reviewed here back in 2018. Also, I scanned several color photos and magazine pages and was impressed with image quality, detail, and color accuracy, though I had to fiddle with the lighting knob a few times for the best results.
As with other desktop scanners these days, the Shine Ultra Pro’s OCR accuracy is excellent. Like the IRIScan book scanners, the CZUR converted both our Arial and Times New Roman font test pages error-free down to 6 points. Few books or documents contain text anywhere near that small. Image quality was as exceptional as you’d expect a 24-megapixel camera’s to be.
There’s a lot to like about the CZUR Shine Ultra Pro, especially its 24MP CMOS sensor (compared to the IRIScan Desk 6 Pro’s 21MP and Desk 6 Business’s 16MP). CZUR may call this a personal scanner, but it’s not short on professional-grade features, though it is smaller, lighter, and more portable than its comparably priced competitors. All this makes the Shine Ultra Pro a fine alternative to the Desk 6 Pro, our current favorite book scanner.
The CZUR Shine Ultra Pro overhead book scanner captures and digitizes just about everything and offers several features designed to facilitate teaching, presenting, and online meetings.
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I focus on printer and scanner technology and reviews. I have been writing about computer technology since well before the advent of the internet. I have authored or co-authored 20 books—including titles in the popular Bible, Secrets, and For Dummies series—on digital design and desktop publishing software applications. My published expertise in those areas includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress, as well as prepress imaging technology. (Over my long career, though, I have covered many aspects of IT.)
In addition to writing hundreds of articles for PCMag, over the years I have also written for many other computer and business publications, among them Computer Shopper, Digital Trends, MacUser, PC World, The Wirecutter, and Windows Magazine. I also served as the Printers and Scanners Expert at About.com (now Lifewire).
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