Lost my Adobe Annotations after importing to Zotero, can it be reversed?

baarso · February 13, 2023

Hi,
Just found out that I'm able to import annotations from a PDF Reader into Zotero.

But doing this has removed all the annotations when i now open the file in Adobe reader. Is there any way to reverse this?

Is there a way to keep Annotations avaible on both ends?

dstillman · February 13, 2023

The import dialog warns you that annotations will be removed from the file. Zotero can use annotations embedded in the PDF file, but if you want to edit them in Zotero, you have to import them.

You can export a copy of the PDF with annotations embedded by using File → “Export PDF…” from the library view or “Save As…” from the PDF reader.

See Annotations in Database for more information.

baarso · February 14, 2023

Thanks, I must've missed the warning. That really sucks. Will make sure to not use a document I've been spending so much time on to test these features in the future.

Still, I find the system clunky, but seems that the PDF-reader/Zotero seperation is deliberate. Hopefully there'll be the possibility in the future for changed made one place to show up in the other.

dstillman · February 14, 2023

It's not going to change. See the linked page for an explanation for why it's designed this way. Again, you can export a PDF with annotations embedded at any time.