bobad -

Having started, some time ago, an attempt to scan a whole bunch of records to convert them to digital and get rid of some of the paper, I would suggest that it takes a whole lot of scanning to produce enough "keepable" stuff to justify a very sophisticated special purpose program.

A method I've used with some success for appropriate stuff is just to set up a document template in Word with a 5" x 8" (landscape) page. I can then print any single page on a large index card when needed. (If you intend to include pictures, the more common 3x5 index cards are much too small to be useful.) For one set, the template has the card as two columns so I can put text info in one column with pictures on the other.

Special purpose "collection" programs are fine, if they do what you want, but they often end up forcing you into doing what "someone" thought you should do. The programs you already have may do just as good a job, if you spend a little time deciding which one works best and learn to use it.

If you proceed with scanning, be sure to save the scans at a "printable" resolution of 150 or 200 dpi, at a size you expect to be useful for printing. Somewhat higher scan resolutions may be needed for something you may want to enlarge. With most scanners you can use "presets" to get different resolutions and compression based on whether you intend it for printing or for the web. Saved as "for print," 150 or 200 dpi .jpg files are generally okay and should allow some enlargement if you need it later; but if you save "for web" the high compression and lower scan resolution you'll get may give you problems.

Be sure that you give the scans appropriate and descriptive names when you make them, so you'll be able to find what you want later. No search engine I know of can find "Aunt Sadie's Lasagna" if it's just part of a picture in a graphic file, so put it in the filename when you make the scan.

John