A system and method for processing documents is described. The system and method provide for executing a command as part of the execution of an application program, where execution of the command causes the transfer of the document between a processing device in a computer system and a peripheral device. The present invention also provides for transferring the document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command. The present invention further provides for archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command and transparently to the execution of the application program.