As many companies make the transition to a paperless digitized system for their documents, there are still businesses, schools, and other organizations who have not done this either because they do not have the will, desire, resources, or ability to do this. Although there are many good reasons to digitize your documents, there are occasions when it is not possible. Since there will be times when we need to keep our paper documents safe and secure, time and attention should be paid to how to preserve these documents. Since some laws and regulations will require you to have an on-hand paper version of a transaction, keeping paper documents provides not only a paper backup but also keeps some companies on the right side of the law. So how can we protect them for the long term?
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How can I protect my paper without laminating?
One thought that might come into people’s heads is to laminate their files. This is not generally a good idea though since it can make it nearly impossible to edit these documents later when it might be required by you or your customer. So, if laminating is not an option, what can you do? Fortunately, there is an easy solution. You can use special paper for your printing that will last longer and stay in good shape for extended periods. There are different types of paper that you can use for different circumstances and situations. By using paper rather than laminating the document, you can maintain and preserve it while still making it possible to interact and edit the document without it being digitized.
What can I spray on paper to protect it?
While laminating the documents is not a good idea generally in terms of document preservation, there are materials that can be sprayed on a document in order to protect it from dampness. Some types of polyurethane can be applied to paper to prevent it from getting wet. When using this approach though be careful since not all paper-preserving chemicals are equal. There can be complications related to the type of paper or by using multiple types of chemicals on a document. Also, when you are working with chemicals be sure to take all necessary safety precautions and follow instructions. This can work to preserve documents, but it can be laborious and there are better ways to keep your documents safe.
How do you keep paper from deteriorating?
If you really want to preserve your paper documents, the best Is to use preemptive solutions to put your documents in a position where you do not need to use chemicals or special materials for them. This means preparing a place for them that has the ideal parameters in terms of environmental conditions that are best suited to protected paper documents and extend their lifetimes. You will want to for example keep them away from damp places or high-humidity rooms. In addition to this, it is a good idea to keep them in general in a cooler place that is drier. This will make shrinkage, distortions, and potential issues less likely, and all of this can be done easily and with a little planning.
How do you preserve paper for centuries?
While most people in the business world are not so concerned with keeping documents in storage for centuries, there are some lessons to be learned from history. Some people such as ancient rulers or chroniclers wanted to keep their documents preserved for long periods of time and they lacked much of the modern equipment that we have now. So how did they do this? They used their own formulas and types of paper documents. While we might not want to use lambskin to print our PDFs, it does show that by having the right materials and paying attention to what we use, we can alter the terminal lifespan of a printed document. In addition to this, documents were kept in tombs, castles and other fortifications that were often cool, dry, and away from the elements. This is another example of how proper storage and some thought about how to store documents can make things easier when it comes to preservation. So whether it is the 13th century or now, with some care and thought, you can preserve paper documents for extended periods of time.
How do you preserve fragile documents?
Sometimes we don’t have control of the document from the very beginning, and it comes to you in a particular condition that you did not create. This could be when a contract is sent to you or when you inherit a document from another office or some other circumstance. When you have a fragile document or a document that is in some way torn, tattered, or has some issues in terms of its quality relative to its preservation level, you need to take care and make use of best practices in regard to document preservation and sustainability. Some of the things you can do are to spray some special liner that can make it easier to keep or you can carefully laminate it if you will not need to use it again. This will depend on the document and its purpose, but the most important thing is simply to be careful how you handle the document.
Being able to protect and keep documents is an important part of running any type of organization. Although in many ways digitizing your documents by scanning them and turning them into PDFs is the best way since you can use one of the many PDF tools to help store them such as the merge PDF tool. However, if you can’t store them in a digital storage space, then there are ways to securely protect and maintain your documents. Just be careful, pay attention to the type of paper or materials used, and prepare a safe storage space that will protect it from the elements.
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