See this pile?  Yeah, me too.  I see it every time I walk past the corner of my counter,  day after day.  What are they, you ask? Magazines.  And no, before you ask, I am NOT the crazy cat lady who cannot bear to do away with things.  See, I like to go through my favorite magazines like Family Fun, Creating Keepsakes,  the Ensign, and a few others and tear out the articles, images, and ideas I want to keep.  Reduces the size of the stack and since I put the remainder of the mags in the recycle bin, it is good for the environment too.  All of that takes time however, lots and lots of time.  So much so that  keeping them organized for future reference is, well, let’s just say loosely done.

Well, no more!  Let me introduce you to a new program to help organize articles called Scanalog.  This is a program that stores, catalogs and retrieves your favorite articles when you want them. You scan in the article and then place it into one of 11 master categories with over 100 subcategories. You can even create your own subcategories, how’s that for helpful? You can save literally thousands of articles with Scanalog.

Now I know that some of us are not all as computer savvy as another but trust me, if you can handle your computer in a basic, day-to-day manner, and know how to use your scanner, you will have little to no problem with  Scanalog.   You will need to be using Windows (Sorry Mac) and have a scanner.

Getting Scanalog  installed was very simple.  To use it, you just open up the program and click the scan button. It will bring up your own scanners software program and you scan the image as normal. After it has completed the scan, the Scanalog program will pop back up and ask you to enter the  information that will help you keep it organized – title, magazine, author, etc. This process can be done over and over.  Your scans are saved in a JPEG format which are saved in a file on your computer for easy access, any time.

So how do I really feel about Scanalog?

My favorite thing about Scanalog is the concept of what you can use it for… to be better organized.  Would I buy it?  Maybe, maybe not.  Unfortunately for me, using the program is not a lot less time consuming on the front end  – the finding,  scanning, and saving.  It is however, much, much better on the backend – the filing and finding them when I want to use that certain article or idea from last year’s magazine.  It really depends on the individual.

Scanalog would be really be perfect for anyone that wants to save printed documents (but is not starting out with a backlog, lol) whether they be a scrapbook layout, parenting articles from a magazine, or even recipes from your local grocer.  Who would not love to have the ability to find them, simply a click or two away?:)

Family Review Network arranged for us to have a brief overview of the program with Kim, the creator of Scanalog.  She is pleasant and more than happy to help you if  you ever  need it.  Kim also mentioned that versions of the program designed for other audiences are in the works.

If you want to try Scanalog for yourself, just click  HERE.  Scanalog also includes an electronic journal and several special-purpose databases that let you organize your catalogs, books, catalog shopping lists – you name it!  And to top off the package a free mousepad and 660 color-coded adhesive tabs for earmarking articles you plan to scan are included ($49.95).

Best of all?

One of you lucky readers has the chance to win your very own copy of Scanalog!

Prize: One Scanalog program and mousepad – value $49.95

How to Enter:
Go to the Scanalog site and take a look around and then come back here and comment on what 3 types of things you would like to scan.

Earn Extra Entries:

*Technorati me at this, my new address, and leave me a comment below telling me you did.

*Add a text link to your site with the words “mom blogs” and link to http://www.3psinapod.com (in a post or on the sidebar) – 10 EXTRA

*Subscribe to my updates – 1 EXTRA

*Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post. – 5 EXTRA

*Twitter this giveaway  – 1 EXTRA PER DAY

*Comment on any of our other posts (please include the link to the post you comment on, you can enter once for each post you leave a comment on) – 1 EXTRA PER POST

Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry so you will  get proper credit for your entries.

Giveaway is open to the USA and Canada and ends on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at Noon CST.

This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program by Scanalog, who also supplied the product for review and give away.