4 ms·

> I don't print anything anymore. I wish =/ Most of the documents I have to print are documents to be printed, signed, and scanned again (or sent by mail - not

by k_ 6y ago

> I don't print anything anymore. I wish =/ Most of the documents I have to print are documents to be printed, signed, and scanned again (or sent by mail - not email). Some (including my employer) still don't accept anything else than signature on real paper somehow.. Luckily I have a "re-purpose device" at home (a young child with a huge appetite for drawings), but I'd still like to avoid this waste.

arusahni 6y ago
Some PDF viewers (e.g., Preview, Okular) let you place images of your signature on a document and then export the "signed" version. I haven't had issues with getting these documents accepted.
- remus 6y ago
  I've got a tablet so can actually sign PDFs with a proper signature. None the less, a company the other day insisted that I print out a form, sign it, take a picture of the signed form and send them that. It was almost enough to bin them off, but unfortunately I was deep enough in the bureaucracy by that point that sucking it up was less hassle.
  - ProZsolt 6y ago
    I just use this oneliner to "scan" it: convert -density 130 input.pdf -rotate 0.33 -attenuate 0.15 +noise Multiplicative -colorspace Gray output.pdf
himinlomax 6y ago
Last time I was asked to do this, I imported the PDF in Gimp, rotated the picture slightly, pasted my signature and converted to 1 bit. Looked enough like a scan.
LeonM 6y ago
Fun fact: on the receiving end they usually have complex systems in place to scan and process those documents back into digital format. And the people working with it pay good money to OCR those scanned documents to make the whole system usable. This is sometimes referred to as the 'five monkeys with a ladder' paradigm [0] (not to be confused with the '5 monkey experiment'). It basically comes down to: we must use paper format, because we have always done it that way, though nobody knows why we still do it. Having worked on a paperless accounting startup, I though that paper was still used for legal reasons. It turns out that (for most countries) this is mostly a misunderstanding. Digital documents are just as valid (if not higher level of assurance) as its paper counterparts. Many businesses still insist on the 'signature with a blue ink pen' thing, but again that is due to the 5 monkeys with a ladder problem. [0] https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6828/was-the-experiment-with-five-monkeys-a-ladder-a-banana-and-a-water-spray-condu https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6828/was-the-ex...
- baq 6y ago
  it might be easier to bring a whole bunch of papers to the taxman when they call you to explain yourself.
- teraku 6y ago
  There's also the whole issue that entities (usually governments) have no unified and standardised way of encrypting mails yet, thus to not be open for data protection law lawsuits, they just use paper and mail, which is considered a safe transfer of documents.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  We do almost all of our internal legal documents paperless (or at least accept scans as equivalent). Some of our legal documents in the Czech Republic have had to be wet ink on paper originals only, no scans or copies allowed. I’m not sure how much of that is superstition on the parts of lawyers/bankers and how much is genuine, but it’s the only jurisdiction where I frequently have to send originals.

by k_ 6y ago

arusahni 6y ago

Some PDF viewers (e.g., Preview, Okular) let you place images of your signature on a document and then export the "signed" version. I haven't had issues with getting these documents accepted.

remus 6y ago
I've got a tablet so can actually sign PDFs with a proper signature. None the less, a company the other day insisted that I print out a form, sign it, take a picture of the signed form and send them that. It was almost enough to bin them off, but unfortunately I was deep enough in the bureaucracy by that point that sucking it up was less hassle.
- ProZsolt 6y ago
  I just use this oneliner to "scan" it: convert -density 130 input.pdf -rotate 0.33 -attenuate 0.15 +noise Multiplicative -colorspace Gray output.pdf

himinlomax 6y ago

Last time I was asked to do this, I imported the PDF in Gimp, rotated the picture slightly, pasted my signature and converted to 1 bit. Looked enough like a scan.

LeonM 6y ago

Fun fact: on the receiving end they usually have complex systems in place to scan and process those documents back into digital format. And the people working with it pay good money to OCR those scanned documents to make the whole system usable. This is sometimes referred to as the 'five monkeys with a ladder' paradigm [0] (not to be confused with the '5 monkey experiment'). It basically comes down to: we must use paper format, because we have always done it that way, though nobody knows why we still do it. Having worked on a paperless accounting startup, I though that paper was still used for legal reasons. It turns out that (for most countries) this is mostly a misunderstanding. Digital documents are just as valid (if not higher level of assurance) as its paper counterparts. Many businesses still insist on the 'signature with a blue ink pen' thing, but again that is due to the 5 monkeys with a ladder problem. [0] https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6828/was-the-experiment-with-five-monkeys-a-ladder-a-banana-and-a-water-spray-condu https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6828/was-the-ex...

baq 6y ago
it might be easier to bring a whole bunch of papers to the taxman when they call you to explain yourself.
teraku 6y ago
There's also the whole issue that entities (usually governments) have no unified and standardised way of encrypting mails yet, thus to not be open for data protection law lawsuits, they just use paper and mail, which is considered a safe transfer of documents.
sokoloff 6y ago
We do almost all of our internal legal documents paperless (or at least accept scans as equivalent). Some of our legal documents in the Czech Republic have had to be wet ink on paper originals only, no scans or copies allowed. I’m not sure how much of that is superstition on the parts of lawyers/bankers and how much is genuine, but it’s the only jurisdiction where I frequently have to send originals.