Blogorama

How to design the best OCR-scannable business cards

Feb 29, 2012

A highly scannable business card

NOT BAD (scanned perfectly in spite of a patterned background BUT it would have been nice to see her business name in type, say between her name and her title, as scanners won’t “read” graphics (The Mary Kay logo to the right)

Real bad

I recently bought an OCR business card/receipt/document scanner called NeatDesk Desktop Scanner and Digital Filing System. And I’m loving it.

But I immediately noticed that NeatDesk “likes” some business cards and not others.

Some cards won’t translate to text at all.

Don’t you want YOUR business card to be OCR-friendly? I mean, who wants to create more work for a business contact or prospective employer or client?

You want an OCR-scannable business card.

Here are some dos and don’ts about creating a highly scannable document, at least on NeatDesk. (more…)

Great apps you need

Feb 10, 2012

I have met and gotten into serious relationships with a few great Mac products, some of which are available for the PC. These (or apps like them) are great apps you need.

1Password A utility that can create strong passwords, store them, and even restore them. $49, 30-day free trial. Mac and Windows. Also review Roboform.

Evernote A note-keeping app that lets you create as many notebooks (with unlimited notes per notebook) as you like. Great for storing important client information. Syncs. Free and paid versions. Mac.

Dropbox If you’re not using Dropbox, you’re missing a great opportunity to store and share documents with each of your contacts. Free. Mac and PC.

NeatDesk If you’re burdened by all the business cards and receipts you need to manage, NeatDesk is for you. It’s not free, and not cheap. But you will have a great relationship. It’s making a huge difference in my life. $399. Mac and PC.