As a convert to the principles of a paperless office I have designed, revised and scrapped a number of attempts in my search for the perfect routine.

Previously I utilised OpenMeta Tags to assist in renaming and filing of documents but ultimately I found that it was just another added process that did not return any real benefit.

I prefer to use a hierarchical file structure to store my documents which coupled with content and file name searches via spotlight are sufficient for file retrieval process.

My process for the conversion of documents starts with the sorting of the paper documents into 3 piles;

• Single sided
• Double sided, and
• Multi page

I have profiles setup in ScanSnap Manager that correspond making it a quick exercise to scan the documents, which I generally let build up and process weekly. I use the OCR function, restricted to the first page as that will generally capture the relevant information to assist in file retrieval. The files are all saved to a folder called Intray.

I utilise Hazel rules that will move the files to the appropriate folder under a main folder called Filing Cabinet. The rule searches for content that is particular to regular bills and documents eg supplier name or account number. I find that I can generally automatically file about 75% of the documents that I scan.

I have another Hazel rule that processes all files under the Filing Cabinet folder. First I rename the file to ‘-’, then I rename it to the file path – e.g. /users/(user name)/documents/Filing Cabinet/Category/Supplier Name ( I can have as many levels as I want, on some categories I add another directory indicating the financial year).

I then rename the file to ‘date created – name #.pdf’. The date format I use is yymmdd as this makes it possible to sort in date order by file name. I add the # as a unique identifier for those circumstances where multiple documents from the same supplier are processed on the same day.

I then use an Automator workflow to remove the leading part of the filename so that the file is renamed as yymmdd – Category/Supplier Name/#.pdf.

I then run another workflow that removes the ‘/’ characters so the final name is yymmdd – category supplier #.pdf

The final function is to add the Spotlight Comment ‘Filed‘ as the Filing Cabinet rule will ignore documents with that comment, this allows for manual naming of documents if a more descriptive title is required.

For those files that I acquire from other sources, primarily online or emails, I have an Action Wizard setup in Adobe Acrobat that will OCR all selected files. This will then trigger the Hazel rule in the Intray and start the filing process.

For the remaining files that are not automatically filed I just need to drag to the appropriate folder under Filing Cabinet and the renaming function kicks in and does its magic.

Typically I am still tinkering with this routine, but with 75% of my scans being filed and renamed without any interaction from me I am pretty pleased.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAgsn0crCmc