Use QR Codes to share documents

QR Codes are pretty much everywhere these days, but few companies really make the most of the possibilities they offer. TagMyDoc is a great example of what can be done with them, and lets you add a QR Code to your own physical documents, directly from within Word, Excel or PowerPoint. When someone scans that code, they’ll get a full copy of the document on their device.

It saves on printing costs, and means you don’t have to worry about how many copies of a document or presentation to output for a meeting, for example, because anyone with a QR reader can get a copy of their own. It’s a great service, but TagMyDoc has just been made even more useful, as it now lets you connect to popular cloud storage services Box and Dropbox, and tag and securely share documents you store there.

To use it you just need to download and install the free Word, Excel or PowerPoint add-in, create or open a document, and click the Tag option. You can also tag a document through the website, which is useful if you use an MS Office alternative, such as LibreOffice.

When you print a copy of your tagged file, a QR Code will be added to it. Anyone can scan the code using their choice of QR reader (links to the ScanMyDoc app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry are available from the site) to get a virtual copy which can be printed or shared.

You’ll need to create a free account -- although you can try the service without doing so -- which will allow documents to be saved to the website where they can be shared, followed and/or commented on.

And yes, the QR Code you see here will give you a copy of this article when scanned.