Importing of PDF files from websites without saving them first

franz47 · May 8, 2008

Up to now I have been saving pdf files displayed by websites first on my HDD and thereafter imported as attachment to an entry. Is there a way to save the pdf directly from a website into zotero without saving it first on the HDD?
Franz47

Gitty K · May 8, 2008

Have you tried taking a snapshot? I think it should save the pdf or a webpage with the embedded pdf...
However, I seem to be unable to index pdfs in cases where I take a snapshot of a publisher-webbpage with an embedded pdf-article - is that a general problem or am I doing something wrong?

Tjowens · May 8, 2008

Is there a way to save the pdf directly from a website into zotero without saving it first on the HDD?

Yes, there are two ways depending on the context of the PDF.

If you are grabbing the PDF from a Zotero compatible database there is a good chance that you can get the PDF automatically by checking the "automatically attach associated PDFs and files" box in the preferences pane.

If you are trying to import some other PDF your best bet is to right click on a link to the PDF and chose "Save Link As Zotero Snapshot." This will save the PDF directly into your collection.

dstillman · May 8, 2008

Or just drag the PDF link directly onto an item in your Zotero pane.

franz47 · May 9, 2008

Thanks for your input. It worked as snapshot, the pdf file was imported with the snapshot.

D · June 3, 2008

Whenever I do that it saves it as "GetPDFServlet" - Is there anyway to rename it? I haven't been able to figure it out.

bkmackellar · June 22, 2009

I don't get this "Save Link as Zotero Snapshot" when I control-click the linke (I am on a Mac so no right click). I only get "Save Link as Zotero Item". I am using 2.0b5 on a Mac running Leopard. I have the "automatically attach associated PDFs" checked. What am I missing?

dstillman · June 22, 2009

"Save Link as Zotero Snapshot" has been changed to "Save Link as Zotero Item" in 2.0, since PDFs are generally articles that should be attached to full bibliographic items. For the time being you can still drag-and-drop a PDF link directly into the Zotero pane to create a standalone attachment on which you can run "Retrieve Metadata from PDF". (Once "Retrieve Metadata from PDF" is improved some more it may be run automatically.)