Seamless annotation power

gotenks2029

Hello,

There should be a way to underline text that have been annotated. Also, there needs to be a way to highlight text (not annotated) so that we can copy paste. It annoying that annotated text have this broken dash line shaped like a square/rectangle around annotations and this thing pops up, so that I cannot move my cursor to highlight the text to copy right then and there. Also, please add a Scan OCR/Text ability. I have to use other PDF apps to make my PDF files ready for annotation.

dstillman

Underlining is coming in Zotero 7.

Also, there needs to be a way to highlight text (not annotated) so that we can copy paste.

Not sure what you mean by this. You can just select text in the PDF and copy it. If you're talking about text that's already been highlighted, you can either press Cmd-C after clicking the highlight to copy a quote and citation (with the format configurable in the Quick Copy settings) or you can use shift-drag (option-drag in Zotero 7) to select the text behind the highlight and just copy that.

gotenks2029

That is not really accessible. Zotero should offer a right click on highlighted text and to be able to use the mouse/trackpad to select the text we need, especially annotated/highlighted ones to copy and paste. Keyboard shortcuts are not helpful here. A user may not a specific passage within a highlighted text. It is best to let the user use the text as they need rather than be limited to the usage that Zotero feels user should be using the text in their PDFs.

dstillman

You seem to be confused here. Everything is accessible via both keyboard and mouse. The annotation copying I described is Cmd-C or Edit → Copy, and copying regular text is Cmd-C, right-click → Copy, or Edit → Copy.

The only thing missing that we might consider adding is a copy option in the annotation context menu, for triggering the quote/citation action I described on the entire annotation text without using Cmd-C or Edit → Copy.

gotenks2029

I am confused. you keep bringing up keyboard shorts when I said mouse and by extension, trackpads. A higlighted text in yellow, yes? When I hover my mouse cursor over it, the pointer becomes a hand. Around the highlighted there shows a dotted line around the text that makes it a square around the text. If I have a big chuck of text highlighted but only want a sentence or pr a phrase or however I want to manipulate the text, I would have to go to the annotated section on the left, click on it, choose "edit highlighted text" and then go in that box on the left to get what i need. That process can def be simpler and give users more control of their PDFs.

"The only thing missing that we might consider adding is a copy option in the annotation context menu, for triggering the quote/citation action I described on the entire annotation text without using Cmd-C or Edit → Copy." Btw, this quote here shows that there is more work to be done for user control but there is a refusal to allow customization. I bring this quote up not to distract from my main point above but to highlight the intentional disregard on user use case.

dstillman

If I have a big chuck of text highlighted but only want a sentence or pr a phrase or however I want to manipulate the text, I would have to go to the annotated section on the left, click on it, choose "edit highlighted text" and then go in that box on the left to get what i need.

No, you do not. I explained exactly how to do it — with shift-drag — in my first response to you above. But since you're not taking the time read anything we're telling you in your two threads so far and seem more interested in making sweeping, accusatory claims about Zotero development, I'm done trying to help you.