...Zotfile

ethan417
Hi

i'm writing my first ever research paper (i just turned 60 and have returned to school to get my M.Ed. in Special Education)

so you can only imagine how much i need to learn about research papers to even begin the project

after a lot of searching on the web - i downloaded Zotero to manage my growing library of PDFs and to be able to generate my bibilography

i just discovered a FireFox extension - Zotfile
among the many things it does (and so far i don't understand what they are) - i saw that i permits me to "Extract" highlighted text from a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

well, for the life of me - i can't figure this out

i am using a Windows PC (windows 7) - Zotero for FireFox and have the Zotfile extension installed - but can't figure it out.

if you would please point me to a really good tutorial or share your suggestions - i would be very grateful.

thank you so much
-Ethan
  • aurimas
    Can you see the PDF in Zotero? Is it attached to a Zotero item? If so (to both), just right-click the PDF and select "Extract Annotations" (under "Manage Attachments" I believe).

    If you right-click the PDF, and you see an option to "Retrieve Metadata" or "Create Parent Item...", then your PDF in Zotero is not attached to a Zotero item (i.e. it's not attached to bibliographic information). You should then try "Retrieve Metadata" first and if that fails, "Create Parent Item" (and fill in any bibliographic info manually)
  • ethan417
    thank you for your note

    i'm not sure what a Zotero item is - but i can see the PDF in Zotero

    i could not retrieve the meta data - so, as you suggested, i created a parent item.

    i then right clicked on the pdf and saw the horizontal process bar - seeming to indicate that it was doing something - but i can't seem to find the extract - Thoughts?

    many thanks
    -Ethan
  • aurimas
    If extraction was successful, they should appear as notes next to your PDF.
  • adamsmith
    only, of course, if you actually have highlighting or notes in the PDF, though. If you open it from Zotero (by double clicking) - do you see any annotations?
  • ethan417
    when i double click the PDF in Zotero - it opens and i can the the highlighting that i entered in Adobe Reader
  • adamsmith
    So walk us through exactly what you did to extract annotations.
  • ethan417
    i have not been about to extract (that i know of)

    my pdf is in Zotero (i dragged it to the middle pane)

    i have ZotFile installed in FireFox and am using Zotero for FireFos

    i double click my PDF in Zotero
    i opens in Adobe Reader
    i highlight using Adobe reader tools (sigh i wish there was something else i could use)

    save the PDF - it asks me if i want to replace the existing one - i say okay

    this PDF was unable to retrieve it's metadata - so i created a parent - i then right click on the PDF
    i select the Manage Attachments menu item and select - Extract Annotations - it tells me it's completed the task - i just can't find them
  • aurimas
    See https://www.dropbox.com/s/qi0dhh4dwgwnc59/zotfile-extracted.png

    You will notice a note attachment above the PDF. That's what it should look like. If you're not getting that even after successfully extracting the data (you would get a popup at the bottom right if something went wrong), try submitting a Debug ID for the action of extracting metadata.
  • zuphilip
    This is how it should look like in the end:

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ySHk8rzIU8U/UTPTOjLlBRI/AAAAAAAAGBQ/abfsLt7lANA/s640/zotero-extract+annotations.jpg

    Let us concentrate on the first three lines:
    1st line is the Zotero item
    2nd line is the extracted text as a note attached to it
    3rd line is the pdf
  • aurimas
    sigh i wish there was something else i could use
    There are a number of PDF viewer alternatives. Foxit Reader and PDFXChange Viewer are some of the more popular free ones.
  • aurimas
    This is how it should look like in the end:

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ySHk8rzIU8U/UTPTOjLlBRI/AAAAAAAAGBQ/abfsLt7lANA/s640/zotero-extract+annotations.jpg
    ...
    2nd line is the extracted text as a note attached to it
    (That doesn't show an extracted note, it's a note from RIS import)
  • zuphilip
    @aurimas You are not only faster then me, but I was also sloppy on that picture, you are right. Grmpfl...;-)
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