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https://github.com/atgreen/paperless

Emacs-assisted PDF document filing
https://github.com/atgreen/paperless

emacs melpa paperless pdf scanned-documents

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Emacs-assisted PDF document filing

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README 

        
[![MELPA](https://melpa.org/packages/paperless-badge.svg)](https://melpa.org/#/paperless)



## Paperless - Emacs assisted PDF document filing



You've just scanned a stack of papers that have been cluttering up

your desk.  Now what?  Paperless mode is an Emacs major mode designed

to assist with the filing of scanned documents into a hierarchy of

folders.



![alt text](paperless-shot.png "Screenshot of paperless mode")



Paperless mode provides PDF document previews, ido-based target

directory completion, and simple batch filing commands designed to

simplify and speed the filing of all of your scanned documents.



Here's how it works...



### Step 1



Scan your documents and dump them into a holding directory.  Set the

variable `paperless-capture-directory` to reference this directory.

Use `M-x customize-variable` to set this string.



### Step 2



Tell paperless-mode where to file the documents by setting

`paperless-root-directory` with `M-x customize-variable`, or you can

set both variables in your `~/.emacs/init.el` like so:



```lisp

(custom-set-variables

 '(paperless-capture-directory "/home/green/CAPTURE")

 '(paperless-root-directory "/home/green/Documents"))

```



Under `paperless-root-directory`, create a hierarchy of directories that

makes sense for you.  For example, you might create directories to

sort documents like so:



```

[paperless-root-directory]/Finance

                             /Taxes

                                /2015

                                /2016

                             /Insurance

                                /Car

                                /Home

                             /Work

                                /Expenses

                                   /2016-FOSDEM

                                   /20170102-NYC

                                   /20170202-SFO

                          /Medical

                             /Receipts

                                /2016

                                /2017

                          /Utilities

                             /Mobile

                             /Electricity

```



At the time of this writing, the author's directory tree contains over

620 folders.



### Step 3



Once loaded, start paperless with `M-x paperless` and you'll be

presented with the list of PDF files in `paperless-capture-directory`.

Use the `[SPC]` key to open PDF preview buffers.  The `-`, `+`, `=`

and `0` keys will adjust the scale of the preview, just as they do in

DocView or PDFView mode.  Use the `r` key to rename the file.  If you

omit a filename extention, paperless will append ".pdf" to your new

filename.  Use the `f` key to select the destination directory.  Use

the `d` key to mark the file for deletion.  Deletion always moves the

file to the system trash folder (emacs's `move-file-to-trash`).  Use

the `g` key to rescan the directory hierarchy under

`paperless-root-directory` for new or deleted folders.  Files aren't

renamed, moved or deleted until you select the `x` key.



### Org Mode Integration



Paperless features basic Org mode integration as well.  Org links

stored while in paperless mode point to the appropriate target file

location.  Be sure to `(require 'org-paperless)` to enable this

feature.



### Installation



Paperless requires Emacs 24.4, and is available in the

[MELPA](https://melpa.org) package repository.



To install from source, simply download this package to your local

filesystem, and add something like the following to your

~/.emacs/init.el:



```lisp

(autoload 'paperless "paperless" "A major mode for filing PDFs" t)

(add-to-list 'load-path

	     (expand-file-name "/home/green/git/paperless/"))

```



Don't forget to set `paperless-capture-directory` and

`paperless-root-directory` as per above.



Paperless requires [DocView](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Document-View.html) mode, which currently ships with GNU Emacs,

however it will always prefer to use [PDF Tools](https://github.com/politza/pdf-tools) if you have that

installed.



### Licensing



Copyright (C) 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023, 2024 by Anthony Green



Paperless is provided under the terms of the 3-clause BSD license.

See paperless.el for details.