Preview documents in items list

dstillman Zotero Team
This discussion was created from comments split from: Available in preview: Zotero PDF reader and new note editor.
  • rharmon
    Wish I could preview docs while I'm looking at my library list so that I could skim through docs without switching to a new window. That way, I can immediately see if something is worth opening and reading and quickly move on. Qiqqa has this, and its awesome.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Take a look at the ZoteroQuickLook plugin, which can show you the PDF quickly.

    You won't see annotations you've added in Zotero there, though — not sure if that's something you're expecting.
  • rharmon
    That's okay. I don't mind not seeing annotations. But can I see the pdf without opening a new window? I'd really like to see it where I now see the notes, so that I can see the front of the pdf while I'm updating the metadata on the reference and deciding whether it is relevant. It's slow to have to open the pdf and then go back and forth between the pdf and the reference in my library. Thanks so much for answering my question.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    The plugin I linked to above can show you the PDF for an item when you press the spacebar.
    I'd really like to see it where I now see the notes, so that I can see the front of the pdf while I'm updating the metadata on the reference and deciding whether it is relevant.
    Not quite sure what you mean by this, but note that the PDF reader is designed exactly for this — viewing the PDF while editing the metadata.
  • rharmon
    Is there anyway to control the window it opens? It opens so that it overlaps with the zotero app. That means I have to move it and resize it to edit the metadata.

    In qiqqa, as you scroll down your library, you can see the front page of the pdf of whatever item you are on. That way I know what I'm looking at, not only to edit the metadata, but to know whether I need the source for my current purposes.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited March 19, 2021
    On macOS you can move the Quick Look pane in general, and I assume that works when launched via the plugin as well. I don't know whether that's possible with whatever ZoteroQuickLook uses on Windows.

    We've talked about a preview function somewhere in the main window in the past, but there's not a lot of room for it. And I'm still not totally clear on your use case — how does this related to editing metadata? Would you just want to view a thumbnail of the PDF in the right-hand pane, either in its own tab or as a pane in the bottom-right? I've never really been clear on the value of a tiny thumbnail of a PDF.
  • rharmon
    It relates to both editing metadata and previewing the file to decide whether to open it. As a professor, I collect lots of sources. I am less interested in Zotero's capacity to insert references when I am using a source, then in helping my sort, screen, read, annotate, and use sources in writing my articles. Ideally, I would be able to full search the PDFs within my library and see the articles related to my present interest so that I can tag or review them. Then as I am working with the documents that have the particular phrases, in the center panel, I would be able to preview the PDF in the right panel as the first tab before info, notes, and tags (or I would be able to decide on which tab was the default). Then I could skim through the articles that came up from my search and decide which to open. Those I could annotate and use in more depth and add notes, tags, and info on, as needed. And then I would do it again for a new doc. If not all that, at the very least, I should be able to split the screen so I can simultaneously look at open PDF preview tabs and my library

    I still can't figure out to move the quick look pane so it is not preventing me from doing exactly what it is supposed to allow: scanning it while I edit the info in the main pane.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    OK — again, though, I'm just a bit skeptical that most people could meaningful read most PDFs in a pane the size of the item pane. The text would be minuscule, unless you greatly expanded the width of the right-hand pane. It would work well in Stacked mode, though.
    doing exactly what it is supposed to allow: scanning it while I edit the info in the main pane
    I mean, that's not what it's supposed to allow. It's just a preview of the PDF. As I say, if you want to edit metadata while viewing the PDF, the new PDF reader is designed to let you do exactly that.
  • rharmon
    Right. Yes, but side by side in the same window would make a huge difference.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Yes, but side by side in the same window would make a huge difference.
    But…that's what the new PDF reader already offers. You understand that, yes?
  • rharmon
    Really? I don't see that. I downloaded the beta and it seems to open the pdf in a new tab so that I can't see that and the library at the same time. And the quicklook opens it in a new window, which overlaps and has to be moved and closed to move on in the library. What am I missing? Thanks.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Click the Item button in the top-right corner of the PDF reader.
  • rharmon
    I'm not sure what this does. In one view, I get a "no parent item" message. I have no idea what that means. In the other, I get the notes on everything in my library, which is distinctly unhelpful. Ideally, I would have either my library or the titles in it (or both) on the left, the pdf in the middle, and notes on the selected pdf or metadata as choices for that right hand panel. But in the absence of all of that, at least the ability to see and edit the notes and metadata for the document I'm looking at.
  • bwiernik
    It sounds like you haven’t attached the item to a proper Zotero item. Right click on it in the item list and choose Retrieve Metadata for Item or Create Parent Item if metadata cannot be automatically retrieved.

    You want to always be working with proper Zotero items, not bare attachments.

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