The old promise of a paperless society has left a wake of cynicism as homes and businesses wallow in stacks of manila folders, printouts, and statements. But hope still burns for some, though even evangelists set a lower bar. Instead of paperless, it's "less paper," says Jeff Segarra, a product manager at Nuance, which makes software that offices and homes use to cut down on paper.

Most consumers have experienced at least a taste of going digital. Online banking, electronic statements, and online bill paying have eased the paper chase. And consumers use less dead-tree paper, while saving on postage, envelopes, and printing costs.

Still, many documents can't be downloaded in electronic form, such as bills from small contractors, government forms, and receipts from brick-and-mortar stores. That means an annual "tax weekend of dread," says Troy Bolotnick of Los Angeles, who decided to fight back with a scanner and a digital filing system.

Here is a quick guide for those who want to take the digital dive:

Basic scanner.

All-in-one printers from Hewlett-Packard, Brother, Epson, and others with a built-in scanner can do the job. It's worth spending $100 and up for one with a document feeder that automatically grabs a pile of pages.

Better scanner.

Dedicated scanners from companies like Fujitsu and Plustek can scan two sides of a page in one convenient sweep. The new Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 (about $300 for Mac or Windows PCs) won't take up much room on a crowded desktop, can feed 10 pages at a time, and can process eight of them in a minute.

Basic software.

Most scanners can scan directly to the PDF format of Adobe Acrobat, which can be easily viewed, shared, and printed. Some, like the ScanSnap, include software that converts the images to text files for easy editing. Many also include software for organizing documents, such as Nuance's PaperPort v12, which displays large thumbnails of documents, making them easier to recognize, and indexes text for simple keyword searches.

Nuance PaperPort v12 sells separately for $100.

Advanced package.

The NeatDesk, which costs roughly $400 and works with either Macs or Windows PCs, is an attractive, compact scanner that can swallow 25 pages a minute through a unique document feeder with slots for business cards, receipts, and full pages. Software interprets the images and recognizes text and dollar amounts. It then sprinkles those into a database. The data can be shared with financial software, which makes quick work of expense forms.

It's the NeatDesk system that Bolotnick and his wife adopted. The system is hardly a perfect solution, he says, adding that the process and software force habit changes and new tasks. "But the new tasks are far less painful than the old ones were," he says.

Available at Amazon.com:

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for PC

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for the Macintosh

Nuance PaperPort v12

NeatDesk Desktop Scanner and Digital Filing System

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