Renaming PDFs in a folder

bradaeon · May 22, 2019

Hi there,

Here's my situation. I download a paper into folder A. When I drag and drop a PDF into Zotero, it extracts metadata, copies the PDF into a different location (e.g., folder B), and renames the PDF using author names, year, etc. So far so good.

However, how can I also rename the original PDF, the one that's in folder A?

Thank you.

adamsmith · May 22, 2019

If you don't want Zotero to make a copy of the PDF, you can add it as a link either by using the "Attach link to file" option of by holding Ctrl+Shift or Cmd+Opt (Mac) while dragging (see https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#adding_files_via_the_zotero_window ).
Renaming would then obviously rename the linked file.

What you originally ask though isn't possible: you can't have Zotero create a copy _and_ rename the original file.

bradaeon · May 22, 2019

Makes sense, thanks a lot for your answer adamsmith!