• Scanning software converts paper documents into digital files.Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Digitizing software, like Nuance's PaperPort, works with a scanner to digitize paper documents or photographs into a format readable by your computer's PDF or word processing software. If you are in the market for a software program that can take the stack of papers sitting on the corner of your desk and turn it into digital files you can store on your hard drive or easily share with colleagues or friends, there are a number of programs that can help.
  
  

eDoc Organizer

• EDoc Organizer is a document management program that helps users scan, import, organize, find and share documents. The program includes optical character recognition (OCR) processing of scanned documents and the ability to automatically create searchable PDFs, making eDoc a useful choice for home office or business use. A fully featured 30-day trial version of eDoc is available as a free download from the manufacturer's website.
  
  

Scanitto Pro

• Master's ITC Software's Scanitto Pro is described by the manufacturer as "lightweight, fast, and not overloaded with tons of unnecessary features." This will appeal to users leaving PaperPort behind because of PaperPort's system requirements or complexity. Scanitto Pro features optical character recognition, one-touch scanning, and the ability to save scanned photos to an impressive array of image formats. This is helpful for home users planning on creating a digital archive of their family photo collection. The manufacturer offers a free, downloadable trial version.
  
  

VueScan Professional

• Hamrick Software's VueScan Professional scanning software boasts the ability to import images directly from Adobe Photoshop and includes a TWAIN driver for working with Microsoft Word documents -- two time-saving features. While VueScan does not include OCR ability, it supports the ability to scan batches of photos at a time and offers users extensive control over scan quality and file output format. The manufacturer offers a free trial version available for download from their website.