Digital ArcHound is a software package that is designed to store, categorize and manage the .pdf documents you have stored on your workstation(s). It features a drag and drop interface for existing .pdf documents you currently have scattered over your workstation drive(s) and has the ability to capture scanned documents straight off your printer.
A description of Digital ArcHound and the company behind Digital ArcHound is documented below:
Digital ArcHound – Windows Home Server Edition is a multi-user software solution that has been designed for individuals, families and small businesses to quickly and easily move toward a truly paperless environment by allowing them to store, retrieve, archive and manage their electronic documents in a new and innovative way.
Using the Digital ArcHound client software, each computer connected to the WHS server can independently archive, search, recall, email and combine archives from a centrally located archive vault on the WHS server.
Users are reporting that when they need to recall or email a bill, insurance statement, report cards, contract, receipt or other important piece of information, Digital ArcHound is the easiest way to find it, and is really easy to backup. A backup previously would have required making bulky copies of everything.
Digital ArcHound is designed to work in concert with nearly all of the scanners and scanner software that write to PDFs, (Fujitsu, Dell, HP, Nuance PaperPort, etc.), and will continue to work more seamlessly with each successive release.
Our goal is to quickly integrate the features that our current and future customers request that will make their archiving experience even easier in the future.
The company behind Digital ArcHound recently released a new version of software. Some of new features are as follows:
* Vista 64-bit support
* Resizable Client for greater visibility of documents in the document viewer
* Now supports enhanced DPI settings of 120 and higher (great for looking at XRay images)
* Scanner Control if your scanner supports WIA – Windows Image Acquisition
* New Document Detection Engine supports most scanner software and PDF writers
* New Document Detection Notification Popup Window – allows for batch and delayed processing of detected documents
* Drag and drop PDFs from the desktop and from Email attachments to the Workspace
* Drag and drop images (PNG, GIF, BMP, JPEG) from desktop and Email attachments to Workspace
* Process Existing PDFs in Folders
* PDF Document Splitting
* PDF Rotation (CW, CCW, Flip)
* Document Context Menu allows Documents in the viewer to be rotated, split or deleted
* Check All, Uncheck All, Auto-check/uncheck after archiving
* Enhanced Search Engine now allows search by document date, archive date, date processed, sort by title, by business doc, and date ranges
Installing the add-in is as simple as any other add-in. Copy the msi installer to your D:Software/Add-ins folder, open the WHS Settings dialog in the console and install the software from the Add-ins tab, as shown below.
When I restarted the console, I got the following error messages:
After some investigation of the suspected culprit, I eventually uninstalled BitDefender Total Security. A component of BitDefender was blocking the Web service component of Digital ArcHound. Due to the confusing UI of BitDefender and the inclusion of many security options that I feel are not necessary for a WHS, uninstallation of the software seemed to best course to take. This package will eventually be replaced with a more basic AV package.
As I indicated, the above error messages no longer came up after opening the console. Once opened, simply locate the tab for Digital ArcHound. Once located, you will be presented with following console interface:
The first time you open the WHS console window, you will be presented with the notice to install the Client software.
This window provides the instructions on how to copy and install the Client software to your workstation, which is visually documented below
You are now ready to start adding documents to the Digital ArcHound archive. This function is performed from your client computer. Opening the client software on your workstation brings up the following window.
The UI is quite simple, organized in an effective manner and features some nice color contrasts to separate the program groupings. When first opened, you will find yourself in the Digital ArcHound Workspace, as seen above. This is where you add existing, new and scanned .pdf files.
Moving over to the next option (Search by Keyword), you will find yourself in a window as seen below. You can search archived documents by Keywords, Category and Subcategory.
The next option (Manage Archives) takes you to the following screen. This window provides various database statistics. If desired, you can click on an Archive Statistics item in the right side, which will open up all the documents in that particular category in the Search window.
Moving over to the Tools tab, you will find a few options here as seen below.
Clicking on Settings brings you the following window, and the various program options can be seen in the following pictures
If you click on the Process PDF folders, you will be given the opportunity to search for and add existing .pdf files, as seen below. One item to note here that I did not find appealing is the use of yellow text against a white background. Perhaps it is just me, but I have to almost put my nose on the screen to read these items. To the program writers of Digital ArcHound: I like colors, but yellow on white is BAD!
It is at this point you can add multiple (or single) .pdf files to the archive. In the following picture, you can see the files being readied to add to the database. If you add files in this manner, they become grouped together in the archive. In some instances, this is great, in others not. You can uncheck various documents as desired to remove them from a particular archive.
If you click on the Report a Problem menu item (under Tools), Digital ArcHound will open your default email program to allow you send an email to the Digital ArcHound support team. That is a very nice option!
If you find yourself in limbo where ArcHound cannot find the server, the following window will pop up to help you find it. This happened to me due to my aforementioned problem with BitDefender.
Going back to the Tools menu, you will notice an option titled Launch Scanner Controller. I will come back to this option a little later.
Moving elsewhere in the main program window, you may notice several icons along the top right. In order, from left to right, are they ‘Launch Scanner Controller’ (same as under the Tools option), ‘Open the User Defined Scanner Output Folder’, ‘Click Here to Download the Free ArcHound PDF Digitizer Printer’, ‘Click Here for Online Help’. I will get to the first two items a little later. Clicking on the third item will take to the Digital ArcHound website to download this optional add-on.
Unfortunately, my client computer for Digital ArcHound is Vista x64, so I was unable to make use of this add-on.
Finally, clicking on Online Help once again takes you to the Digital ArcHound website to their help area, as seen below. As can be seen below, you can also download a PDF version of the help file, if so desired.
That is about all there is to the various program features. It is now time to make use of the program and see how it works.
As with any program of this type, it can be quite a daunting task to create the initial database. It just takes time to catalog existing documents you have spread over your folders. Adding documents using the aforementioned Process PDF folders option can be quite helpful in this process. I prefer to add one file at a time, so what I did was open File Manager and searched my Documents folder for .pdf files.
From there it is a simple process of dragging one file at a time into the Digital ArcHound workspace. If desired, you can add several documents at a time, also.
At this point, you need to enter in the appropriate information in the ‘Describe the Document’ section. Once done, simply click on one of the Save buttons on the right side. I like the ‘Save & Keep Form Info’ in cases where I am adding similar types of documents. Saves time in that I do not have to retype as much information.
If needed, you can add additional categories if you need something else other than what comes with the initial install.
It is quite a simple process; it is just time consuming to document existing documents.
I did not try the ‘Combine and View’ or ‘Combine and Email’ buttons. Download the program and try those out for yourself.
Once you have added .pdf documents stored on your computer, it is now time to add all that personal information you have stored away in your shoebox(s), file cabinet(s), strong box(s) or from whatever storage method you use. You will need something to convert paper to a digital .pdf file. In my case, I have a fairly new HP C6280 AIO printer that can scan a document straight to a PDF file.
I used the scan menu on the printer to produce a PDF file, and Digital ArcHound immediately recognized a new document had been produced. I was given the option to add this scanned file, as seen below.
Converting all that paper to electronic format and cataloging that information can be quite time consuming again, but it is most definitely worth it if you have many items that would become a disaster if lost from a fire or other catastrophe.
Coming back to the ‘Launch Scanner Controller’ option, I was unable to get this item to work.
After reading the Help section on the Digital ArcHound website
and perusing the overly technical information on the HP website, I believe what happens is that HP disables the WIA function in Windows and replaces it with it’s own software.
Digital ArcHound provides a couple of methods to overcome this. One method is to use that menu item titled ‘Open the User Defined Scanner Output Folder’, as documented below.
The other method is to change the default Digital ArcHound scanning routines with another program in the settings window:
Unfortunately, HP does not differentiate their modules very well, so I did not configure Digital ArcHound to use this option. Since Digital ArcHound is, by default, able to intercept scans from my printer as they are being saved, this became a moot point. Basically, this becomes a ‘don’t fix what ain’t broke’ item.
Once entered into the database, what does one do now? If you are looking for a particular document, simply open Digital ArcHound, go to the Search area, and type in a keyword.
Simply click the document and there it is!
You can search by Keyword, Category, and Subcategory. Once done, organization is bliss!
And that is that. Digital ArcHound is one of those programs that I normally try to avoid, simply because of all the upfront work required to create the initial database. Since I started using this program for writing this review, I have found that this initial task can pay back huge dividends when trying to find various items that are stored in my file cabinet (actually my wife’s).
Over the next few months, my goal is to transfer a huge chunk of that paper into electronic documents.
2 questions may come to mind when thinking about purchasing this program.
#1: How many clients can I install this program on? Straight from the Digital ArcHound website:
Digital ArcHound Licensing
Digital ArcHound Licenses are purchased for concurrent users. This means that if you purchase a 3 user license and you have 5 computers connected to your Window Home Server; 3 of those computers at one given moment can run the Digital ArcHound application. Though you have a 3 user license, you are allowed to install the Digital ArcHound Connector on all of your computers. Anytime an attempt to run the Digital ArcHound application exceeds the number of Licenses purchased, you will receive a Licensing warning message and that computer will not be able to access Digital ArcHound until someone else exits.
If you find that you are consistently receiving a Licensing warning message, you may contact Digital ArcHound for additional Licenses. Additional licensing packages are available for upgrade and only the difference in cost is required to purchase an upgrade for more Licenses.
#2: I need a backup!
Ah, one finally gets the chance to use the portion of Digital ArcHound installed on your WHS! As can be seen in the following picture, Digital ArcHound gives you the ability to create a backup of your database. A very necessary part of a program such as this.
Do I recommend this program. From my own perspective, yes! From your perspective, that is up to you to decide how you wish to catalog your personal information, paper or electronic. And how well your paper method is cataloged for retrieval.
What would I like to see changed in this program? As noted earlier, I detest yellow-on-white text. It would also be nice to able to store other types of document formats, such as Excel or Word files. I realize that I could create PDF’s of these items, but it would be so much nicer to have them saved in native formats.
Company: Group Seven Technology, Inc.
Version Reviewed: 1.3.50.15
Release Date: 15Jan2009
Cost: $79.95
Digital ArcHound links:
Web site: Digital ArcHound
Support: Digital ArcHound Support
