Editing Document (section)

==Media==
[[File: LL Zamenhof birth certificate.jpg|thumb|A page of a birth register for Jews from 1859]]
Traditionally, the medium of a document was [[paper]] and the information was applied to it in [[ink]], either by handwriting (to make a [[manuscript]]) or by a mechanical process (e.g., a [[printing press]] or [[laser printer]]). Today, some short documents also may consist of sheets of paper [[Staple (fastener)|stapled]] together.

Historically, documents were inscribed with ink on [[papyrus]] (starting in [[ancient Egypt]]) or [[parchment]]; scratched as [[runes]] or carved on stone using a sharp tool, e.g., the [[Tablets of Stone]] described in the [[Bible]]; stamped or incised in [[clay]] and then baked to make [[clay tablet]]s, e.g., in the [[Sumer]]ian and other [[Mesopotamia]]n civilizations. The papyrus or [[parchment]] was often rolled into a [[scroll (parchment)|scroll]] or cut into sheets and [[Bookbinding|bound]] into a [[codex]] (book).

Contemporary electronic means of memorializing and displaying documents include:
* [[Computer display|Monitor]] of a [[desktop computer]], [[laptop]], [[tablet computer|tablet]]; optionally with a [[computer printer|printer]] to produce a [[hard copy]];
* [[Personal digital assistant]];
* Dedicated [[e-book device]];
* [[Electronic paper]], typically, using the [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF);
* [[Information appliance]];
* [[Digital audio player]]; and
* [[Radio]] and [[television]] [[Telecommunications Service Provider|service provider]].

Digital documents usually require a specific [[file format]] to be presentable in a specific medium.