Elegantdocuments
Guides tagged “documents”. · 18 posts
Elegant Vault 2.0: the drive move that hands you a receipt
The new drive arrived, you dragged everything across, and the two size numbers don't match. 2.0 copies, reads the destination back off the device and hands you a receipt.
Move files to another drive — and know everything arrived
Dragging from one drive to another is easy; proving it all arrived is what nobody does. Why verification has to read off the device, and why releasing the source needs three proofs.
Adobe Acrobat alternative without the subscription
Merge, split, compress, protect: most PDF months never need a full editor on subscription. What a local one-time-purchase app covers — and what it doesn't.
Back up before formatting your PC — and prove it worked
Formatting erases the source: this is the one backup that cannot fail. Copy everything to an external drive, see what stayed out, verify byte by byte.
Bit rot is real: check the files on your external drive
The drive in the drawer won't tell you when a file rots — you find out opening a photo from 2015. How to check everything against a fingerprint, today.
Password-protect a PDF without Acrobat, on your PC
Contracts and medical records deserve better than an upload box. How to encrypt a PDF on your own PC with AES-256 — and remove the password later.
Back up files to an external hard drive on Windows
Copying folders to an external drive is easy; knowing the copy arrived whole is what nobody does. How to back up and check it file by file.
Reduce PDF file size on your PC — no upload
Attachment too big for email? Reduce PDF file size on your own PC, with three levels that say what they do to quality — and nothing uploaded.