Field notes.
Workflows, format explainers and troubleshooting. Every one is written so it still helps if you never use anything on this site.
How to convert a bank statement PDF to Excel — and prove nothing was missed
Getting transactions out of a PDF is the easy half. The half that matters is knowing none were dropped, doubled or misread on the way — because a spreadsheet that is missing one line looks exactly like one that is not. Here are the four ways to convert, in the order worth trying, and the check to run whichever you use.
· 5 min read
How to transcribe an interview without spending your evening on it
Typing an interview by hand takes four to six hours per recorded hour. Here is the workflow that gets the same result in about forty minutes, and the three places where you still have to do the work yourself.
· 5 min read
“Transcript not available” on YouTube: why it happens and four ways round it
The transcript button is missing, or a transcript tool returns nothing at all. There are four different causes and they need four different fixes — one of which works on any video with speech in it.
· 5 min read
How to type up handwritten notes in one pass
A notebook of handwriting can become searchable text in about the time it takes to photograph it — but only if you photograph it properly. Here is the capture routine, the clean-up that matters, and the part that is still yours.
· 5 min read
SRT vs VTT: which subtitle file do you actually need?
Two formats, almost the same content, and a decision that takes ten seconds once you know the rule: SRT for editors and uploads, VTT for the web. Here is what actually differs, and what matters more than either.
· 5 min read