advice on highlighting and annotation?

librarianlea
Hi folks,

A grad student has asked me about software for highlighting and annotating pdfs and other files. She and her classmates are really looking forward to using Zotero to manage their citations and source files after I give them a little intro. I need to keep things simple, would like to stick to Zotero as the main product for as much of this as possible.

Does anyone have advice or responses to things below? These are my initial thoughts -

1) I plan to keep showing how to add notes to items in the Zotero library

2) For highlighting/annotating within pdf files - OSU has nice instructions on using Adobe Reader - http://guides.library.oregonstate.edu/Zotero_Annotate

I love this approach b/c it uses free software easy to get onto desktops and laptops

3) For highlighting/annotating within snapshots saved in Zotero - is there a Zotero command or an easy plug in that will do this? I would love to show how to highlight and add sticky notes right onto webpage snapshots stored within Zotero. I saw some old instructions but couldn't get them to work - https://www.zotero.org/blog/annotate-and-highlight-your-archived-pages/

4) Any suggestions for users who want to see annotated files on an iPad or other mobile device? I'd like to avoid additional software and account syncing if possible, but welcome any advice.

I've heard Zotfile mentioned frequently and have seen this nice introductory post -https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/5301/zotfile-zotero-plugin-to-rename-move-and-attach-pdfs-send-them-to-ipad-extract-pdf-annotations/

Other free or low cost ideas that are easy for folks who are not terribly tech savvy?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! Sorry if these are repeats of basic info or frequent discussions.
  • adamsmith
    Note that for 2) Acrobat is just one option -- PDF annotations are standardized, so almost all software (including Preview on the Mac, pdfXchange and FoxIt on Windows etc.) will work in the same way. The only notable exception is Skim.

    There are no options for 3) currently, the webpage annotation feature is discontinued and there's no replacement as of now.

    For 4) ZotFile is the easiest option here if you don't want to sync and/or install other software. If syncing (which you really should promote) is an option, you can have a look at papership
    http://www.papershipapp.com/
    which also offers annotation on the ipad for a small fee.
    http://www.zotpad.com/
    is another option for iOS, good for people who want to use their own annotation software like iAnnotate, but less polished and less actively maintained.
  • librarianlea
    Good info! Thanks as always for the help :)

    Yep, I promote syncing of the locally installed Zotero with zotero.org accounts, but haven't tried syncing these with other products. It sounds popular, I'll have to take a look.
  • denise607
    edited April 19, 2021
    Papership adds the annotations intact to Zotero from the iPad if I
    > import PDF into Goodnotes and then
    >export from Goodnotes to Papership
    When I log into Zotero web I see them and the annotations.

    Sadly, the Skim annotations done on the Mac are not available in Zotero when opened in a browser tab or Preview App to look at them. Why is this so difficult? I have spent hours and hours trying to get a digital workflow to work with Zotero and pdf annotation between devices so I can use the Apple pencil and desktop depending on where I am working. I do use Mac Preview app because the highlight is so dark and Adobe demands they be imported into it. Thanks in advance, Denise
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