Avoid storage of pdf files in zotero\storage\xrty6ju\

estebancolla

My workflow is as follows: When I find an article, I download the pdf to a local folder (say Desktop\Literature\). Then I add the article to Zotero, and the software extracts the bibliographic information (metadata). However, Zotero also copies the pdf file to users\esteban\zotero\storage\xcdr43p\ (the last subfolder is an example). I want to avoid this final step, which duplicates the file unnecessarily. I want to keep only one copy of the pdf in my local folder mentioned at the beginning. How can I configure Zotero NOT to copy the pdf in the last said path?

dstillman

That's not a workflow we recommend.

With Zotero, the standard workflow is to save to Zotero from the browser with the Zotero Connector — ideally on article pages with metadata instead of saving PDFs directly. Zotero then renames and manages the file for you. We recommend using stored files, but if you really want to use linked files, you can use the ZotFile plugin to convert saved attachments to link files in the location you set up.

Either way, you don't save directly to the final folder — you just save to Zotero with the click of a button and let Zotero manage everything else for you. Even if you happen to download a file to disk manually, you would save it to your downloads folder, add it to Zotero from there, and let Zotero move it to the final location.

See Watch Folder for more on why Zotero isn't designed to be used this way.

estebancolla

Thanks. I will try to adapt Zotero to my own workflow using Zotfile. I still have to figure out how to avoid the duplication of the file. My workflow is not negotiable for several reasons.

dstillman

That's the point, though — there's no duplication of the file no matter how you do this, because Zotero/ZotFile handle storing the file for you. You just save it from the browser by clicking the Zotero Connector's save button.