When documents are printed they are often done so without any branding or layer of protection. In a shared-printer environment, this is even more of a regular happeningwhere they are left in printer trays for others to see or whatever. Information workers, temporary employees, guests and others may be walking by the printer where the document(s) are in full view.
Without a constant policy and simple method of paper document management, paper documents are insecure and unidentified as to purpose in far too many instances. In most cases, this may not cause a problem. But, when it does, the cost is steep. The price of a “DRAFT” becoming an ORIGINAL can be incalculable.
This happens daily in thousands of companies on an all-to-frequent basis. When documents are printed for any number of reasons, it is often without any form of label or identification to prevent misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Unfortunately, rubber stamps are the most common form of paper document marking and compounding the problem is thier use in the margins.
Labeling and marking of a document should be done when the document is printed or made into a PDF from Microsoft Word. In the case of a PDF, if the document is not stamped when it is created, it requires the worker to run another program to put the stamp on the document. If only selected pages of the PDF required marking, the process become more time-consuming.
If a paper document management program is to be successful, it must be able to mark a document in a manner that makes the document incapable of alteration. The program should, likewise, be flexible to accommodate the marking of any combination of pages based on simple user input. Finally, it must be able to create most any type of marking the worker requires.
Marginal stamping of documents is ineffective for complete protection. This is the primary shortcoming of the rubber stamp which is very outdated. Preventing the misuse or misunderstanding of a document requires marking that cannot be removed. It further requires an user-friendly interface that facilitates and promotes use.
Visible watermarks, while good for intra-office work and controlled-print environments, are not the most secure form of document identification. The visible watermark, if in shaded gray, can be almost instantly removed by a contrast setting on any number of copy machines with that setting. Color watermarks are a little more secure method, but still are subject to removal in a similar manner.
Document marking that is embedded in the body/text of a document is the most reliable. This form of marking is where the marking is the same color as the body text which prevents the removal-by-copier scenario. Under this condition there is no marking that can be covered or “contrasted” out of the document. This method provides the most paper document security in a document management program.
StampIt for Word is the method for automated document marking and is the solution for eliminating the use of rubber stamps for paper print document marking . StampIt combines the clout of a word-processor with the clout of your printer. It’s like having immediate, complete access to custom rubber stamps that are fully automated.
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