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Paperless: A MacSparky Field Guide
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/paper...
172 pages, ebook
First published May 9, 2012
14 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
David Sparks
11 books36 followersDavid Sparks is an Orange County, California business attorney and a geek. David is also a podcaster, blogger, and author who writes about finding the best tools, hardware, and workflows for using Apple products to get work done. David also writes for Macworld magazine and speaks about technology.
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
--from the author's website
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 11, 2012
This well crafted e-book is perfect for productivity nerds. Even if you've already got a paperless workflow setup for yourself, this book is still worth reading for it's sheer wealth of tips, tricks and workflow recommendations. The iBooks format is loaded with useful screencasts, movies and image galleries stepping the reader through new and innovative ways to use various Mac and iOS applications for the perfect paperless productivity workflow. I personally look forward to future titles from David Sparks.
January 14, 2020
2020 nonfiction resolution book, 2020 read from “shelf of books I already own” resolution book. Very readable and clear. Will I purchase a $400 scanner and become a Paperless Hazel devotee? Tempting!
January 23, 2021
Se queda un poco obsoleto con el paso del tiempo, pero está bien como una idea general de cómo implantae Paperless en tu día a día
June 27, 2017
I've been an avid listener of the Mac Power Users podcast since jumping over to the Apple cult, even before I got my first Mac, as a sort of primer on what tools and apps to get and use. David is the host along with Katie Floyd and in my opinion carries the show. So when I saw that he had some books on the iBookstore, I knew I had to buy them.
First, let me say, this is Mac-centric and his disdain for Windows machines shines through in the one page dedicated to Windows apps. I get that but I think he alienates some potential readers who own iOS devices AND Windows machines. He's a lawyer making money from that gig so I doubt he cares one whit who he alienates with this book. Just a warning for all you PC people who are thinking about buying it.
That said, I gained a lot, a TON of knowledge about the Mac and Automator, as well as specific workflow examples with Hazel. TextExpander, which expands small snippets of text into whatever you can think of, was mentioned as a way to name files, as well as Automator, and Hazel. I found the overlap of these workflows to be daunting and I wish he had lain out a specific use case for each naming workflow. There were only sparse mentions of each separate use case and plenty of overlap.
I will say he loves his apps. I have app choices and they weren't affected by his recommendations and he didn't hawk his choices too much, leaving you to choose pretty much whatever you like.
The multimedia and interactivity made this book a pleasure to read-- I read it in one day. The layout was funky but it was extremely well-designed, nothing like some of the self-published "books" you can get these days. It's a beautiful book and for that alone it deserves 5 stars but the content is useful and practical if not costly. Great, quick, read.
First, let me say, this is Mac-centric and his disdain for Windows machines shines through in the one page dedicated to Windows apps. I get that but I think he alienates some potential readers who own iOS devices AND Windows machines. He's a lawyer making money from that gig so I doubt he cares one whit who he alienates with this book. Just a warning for all you PC people who are thinking about buying it.
That said, I gained a lot, a TON of knowledge about the Mac and Automator, as well as specific workflow examples with Hazel. TextExpander, which expands small snippets of text into whatever you can think of, was mentioned as a way to name files, as well as Automator, and Hazel. I found the overlap of these workflows to be daunting and I wish he had lain out a specific use case for each naming workflow. There were only sparse mentions of each separate use case and plenty of overlap.
I will say he loves his apps. I have app choices and they weren't affected by his recommendations and he didn't hawk his choices too much, leaving you to choose pretty much whatever you like.
The multimedia and interactivity made this book a pleasure to read-- I read it in one day. The layout was funky but it was extremely well-designed, nothing like some of the self-published "books" you can get these days. It's a beautiful book and for that alone it deserves 5 stars but the content is useful and practical if not costly. Great, quick, read.
June 15, 2012
Wow. Okay, yeah. This is kind of cool. I"m talking about the possibility of going paperless. I think this is possible. I know it speaks to my anal-retentive side. The book itself is really straightforward. I love the design as well. It was great to read on the iPad and the media content really adds a lot to the experience. My one critique would probably be the overabundance of options presented. I know the author certainly pared down from what he could have covered but I am left with a lot of choices and am pretty unsure how to go about making them. The other piece, which is certainly not the author's fault, is that this could be a bit costly to purchase the necessary equipment and software. What I really need to figure out is, what part of this do I NEED and what would only be necessary if I were a lawyer. I'm very interested in being able to scan receipts that are recognized and filed for me by software. Anyway, lots to play with and I"ll definitely have to go through the book again and spend some more time on specific sections but this is probably something I will try. If you're even the least bit intrigued by the idea of going paperless, I recommend giving this a read. It's quick and inexpensive.
June 2, 2013
If you own a Mac and have aspirations of becoming paperless in either business or personal contexts, this book is a great place to start. David Sparks is one of the hosts of the Mac Power Users podcast. His intellect and warmth come through in this book, just like in all the other places where his work is made available.
It would have been beneficial to have other examples (perhaps in the form of an Appendix) of paperless workflow and automation, beyond the ones given in the book. I certainly gained technical competence by reading Paperless, though I am afraid I may not be quite as good at implementing the tools as creatively as I might have been able to with some more examples.
This was the first iBooks author-published book that I've read (at least to my knowledge). Sparks includes ample screencasts of his workflow and makes each approach he describes easy to understand.
It would have been beneficial to have other examples (perhaps in the form of an Appendix) of paperless workflow and automation, beyond the ones given in the book. I certainly gained technical competence by reading Paperless, though I am afraid I may not be quite as good at implementing the tools as creatively as I might have been able to with some more examples.
This was the first iBooks author-published book that I've read (at least to my knowledge). Sparks includes ample screencasts of his workflow and makes each approach he describes easy to understand.
January 7, 2015
3.5 My copy of this is a spiff from outside store channels so, unfortunately, is not updatable beyond its creaky version 1.2 edition. Which probably exacerbates its biggest weakness: the digital asset management side - the part which begs for more depth than a couple of paragraphs and random contextless screenshots, and is surely (or rather, hopefully) a rapidly moving target. It's a perfectly lovely intro to the topic with some good tips, and one assumes improves with each revision, yet at least as of 2.5+ years ago is a bit hampered by the author's own use of naming conventions and PDF markup... effective for his needs, but limiting in illumination on alternative or more sophisticated approaches.
August 4, 2016
Of most value if you have an iPhone, iPad and Mac. Of must less value if you have a windows PC and not a Mac.
The book is filled with videos and hands on how to's. I felt the book was mostly a guide promoting specific apps, programmes (I'm English) and scanners.
I would recommend it to any Mac obsessives but as an accountant I need the full version of Excel that only runs on Windows so I can't have Mac only appliances. I will try to make do with my iPhone, iPad and the one page of advice in the book for Windows users. All I need to buy is a scanner for when using the phone camera is not feasible when higher quality scans are needed or there are many pages.
The book is filled with videos and hands on how to's. I felt the book was mostly a guide promoting specific apps, programmes (I'm English) and scanners.
I would recommend it to any Mac obsessives but as an accountant I need the full version of Excel that only runs on Windows so I can't have Mac only appliances. I will try to make do with my iPhone, iPad and the one page of advice in the book for Windows users. All I need to buy is a scanner for when using the phone camera is not feasible when higher quality scans are needed or there are many pages.
December 21, 2012
This e-book for Apple iBooks only is done quite well. It mixes text and video examples well. The content is helpful and highlighted many things I can add to my regular routines. I wished there were more in the book that were helpful, but that may be more about me and my tracking down helps for this and similar optimizations of productivity than anything to do with the book.
My main frustration was the navigation model, which seemed quite clumsy and got in the way more than it was helpful.
My main frustration was the navigation model, which seemed quite clumsy and got in the way more than it was helpful.
July 24, 2012
This is an iPad only book and quite an interesting way to read a book as he includes lots of links and videos. As someone interested in reducing their footprint on this planet, the book was very helpful in teaching me how to become as close to paperless as possible. I now own a ScanSnap scanner, every bit as useful as the reviews say it is. Now if I could just find a MacSparky Guide to keeping your house free of clutter....
March 30, 2014
Really, really good. So much extras to explain both why go paperless and how. My favorite parts is when the author explained his Action folder, and where to keep it. And of course the part abou why Hazel is such an essential part in going paperless.
Thanks to this I now went to Brett Kelly's "Essential Evernote", after that I looking for something to cover GTD-software OmniFocus. Perhaps Kouros Dihni's "Creating Flow with OmniFocus"
Thanks to this I now went to Brett Kelly's "Essential Evernote", after that I looking for something to cover GTD-software OmniFocus. Perhaps Kouros Dihni's "Creating Flow with OmniFocus"
September 24, 2012
Having already a descent workflow in place, the book read a bit "light weight", but that's a personal problem.
Towards the end, I really got some good tips in having an even more automated approach. Which is the whole purpose of reading this book.
In addition, David took iBooks Author to the max, which helped my in absorbing the book more easily. Only this is worth a 5 star rating!
Towards the end, I really got some good tips in having an even more automated approach. Which is the whole purpose of reading this book.
In addition, David took iBooks Author to the max, which helped my in absorbing the book more easily. Only this is worth a 5 star rating!
November 20, 2013
Sin duda alguna un imprescindible para todo aquel interesado en la mejora de la productividad, especialmente en OS X.
Un libro completo, que detalla cómo conseguir un flujo de trabajo eficaz para dejar a un lado el papel y convertirse en un ninja del escaneo, renombrado, archivado y uso de documentos digitales.
Hay que leerlo.
Un libro completo, que detalla cómo conseguir un flujo de trabajo eficaz para dejar a un lado el papel y convertirse en un ninja del escaneo, renombrado, archivado y uso de documentos digitales.
Hay que leerlo.
March 31, 2016
More of an overview of how to go paperless than the detailed nitty-gritty I had hoped this would contain. Mentions Hazel without listing detailed workflows, meanders through the basics, provides broad coverage of the essentials but not enough detail or insight. An enjoyable read, but not a hugely enlightening one.
November 29, 2012
I'm only part way into this and it is GREAT. It is not only a great book with helpful tips, but I believe it represents the future of what "book publishing" will look like – with interactive graphics and video clips embedded right into the book in a very easy to understand way.
February 11, 2014
It had some great suggestions to help move to paperless and the videos I truly enjoyed. The only difficult of writing anything over a topic where you are giving suggestions of apps to use etc is that they will change quickly. So your writing becomes old quickly and irrelevant.
May 17, 2014
If you want to increase your productivity, make your paper-handling life more simple and effective, this is the book you need. Going paperless is much mor than just scanning your docs.
it can also be converted in a funny process!
it can also be converted in a funny process!
May 25, 2012
Amazingly great interactive book. Screencasts and text show the great potential of electronic books. Highly recommended.
October 8, 2012
As with all his books, I wish it was a little less about specific apps and devices, and a little more about actual and potential workflows, but it's a good book.
June 27, 2012
5 Stars: I only give five stars to books that changed my life and which I would recommend that every person reads
July 8, 2012
Not really something for me. Very practical guide to going paperless.
April 29, 2013
Un libro precioso para explicar un concepto genial. Un gusto de leer (y ver, y escuchar) para ser más productivo y respetuoso con el medio ambiente
August 11, 2013
Great book if you would like to learn how to manage your digital documents.
February 8, 2014
Really great primer on how to go paperless. Gives some great tips and techniques!
August 18, 2014
Great book with screen casts to help you create a paperless workflow.
Read
January 2, 2015Excellent guide to help going paperless.
November 23, 2013
Excellent book. I learned and implemented many of the concepts both personally and for my business.
April 9, 2014
Tendré que releerlo para quedarme mas con la parte practica...
July 30, 2016
Could be the push you need to go paperless.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews