De-Shredding Shredded Documents

Contrary to what some naive minds would believe, it is possible to de-shred a document (assuming that the document was not pulverized, pulped, or decomposed chemically). It is merely a matter of time, patience and careful attention to detail. One must first sort the shreds into several groups before fusing the shreds using a pasteboard and masking tape. The shreds can be sorted according to the papers’ color, weight, and width of the shreds. (this article assumes that you are dealing with “paper spaghetti” and not ashes or cross-cut pages).

After you have sorted the shreds according to paper color/weight/width, you can begin pasting. Pick a random shred from one of your groups and place it on the pasteboard. Now, tape its top and bottom with two pieces of masking tape. Pick another shred from the same group. Compare the edges of shred2 with the edges of shred1. If they match place them immediately next to each other. If they don’t match, you should place it farther from the shred1.

Repeat the above process. Doing multiple shreds at one time, increases the number of matches you get per unit of time, and decreases the number of total comparisons you have to do. As your restoration proceeds you should check the documents as they grow more complete for any kind of predictable pattern. Also, see if you can make a distinction between the ‘genuine’ edges and the ’shredded’ edges. This will help you identify the ends of the pages and save you effort.

Why not use clear tape instead? Why not tape the document permanently together? Well for one thing, it is more difficult to remove clear tape from the pasteboard. Also, with just two strips of masking tape at the top and bottom of the completed documents, one can just cut the document loose in two fast motions with a knife/razor and have a ball of “paper spaghetti” ready for quick disposal. You can also use contact paper, but it can potentially ruin documents that won’t lay flat due to dampness.

There are plenty of shredded documents located in dumpsters. However, I would advise that you use heavy duty latex and lysol (for masking the stench). Don’t be surprised if you find shreds mixed with half-finished lunches, coffee beans, tea bags, etc. Big companies like to shred decoy documents to elude the reconstructor, or to deter de-shredders from de-shredding documents due to the sheer volume of paper that needs to be matched. In areas where it is legal, organizations tend to burn their documents. I’ve even heard that some people soake shredded documents in water and mash them into a ball of cellulose. The washing machine may be another fun disposal method…

However, if you have readable shreds (whether they are shredded or cross-shredded) you can scan every piece (on both side, if neccessary) and have your computer search for patterns in the colors. This is not as hard as it sounds. The computer must simply scan the edges of the shreds for a pixel pattern and consistent coloration. It is certainly feasible to create such a tool. A cool feature would be to use optical character recognition on the final product to transform the images into text documents. I’m sure such a product would sell, if it doesn’t already exist.

I hope this was helpful.