Share items via email?

jsdodge

Is it possible to share an attachment from within Zotero desktop (macOS)? Frequently I want to share one or more attached PDFs with a colleague and the only way I see to do it is by opening the PDF and sharing it from the preview application. Even drag-and-drop doesn't work. I'd settle for an easy way to distribute a DOI link, if copyright is an issue.

Thanks in advance for any help.

dstillman

It depends on your mail client. With some, you can just expand the parent items and drag the attachment item(s) to the email. With others, you'd have to right-click and Show File, and then drag from Finder.

jsdodge

Thanks. I'm using Mac Mail. Is there a way to enable drag-and-drop for that client, or am I stuck with dragging from the Finder? And if not, is there any chance this could be a feature in a future version?

dstillman

Dragging straight to the Apple Mail compose window won't work for technical reasons, but there's a partial workaround: click the attachment (paperclick) button in the toolbar of the compose window and then drag the attachment item straight from Zotero into that window, which will select the underlying associated file.

(This works in any Mac file dialog, and works in non-Zotero contexts as well. It's a great way to select files in a file dialog that you already have visible elsewhere.)

jsdodge

Thanks again, I didn't know that trick. It looks like this only works with one file at a time—any way to drag a few at a time? Sorry to be demanding....

dstillman

No, sorry. Best you can do is select multiple, drag them to a temporary folder (your desktop or a new empty folder), and then drag from there to Mail.

jsdodge

OK, thanks for your help!