Missing Info tab on PDF

dstillman Zotero Team
This discussion was created from comments split from: How to import online PDFs properly?.
  • Stelljes
    I have a similar problem with different question...once Zotero defines the pdf as a website, the Info field doesn't seem editable and I want to keep the link but add info about the pdf document to the info fields...how do I show the info fields?
  • adamsmith
    I'm not quite sure I understand -- what do you mean by "Zotero defines the pdf as a website"? Is it attached to a website item type?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    (Please start new threads for new issues — the thread you posted to was years old and unrelated related. I've moved this to a new thread.)

    For your question, see https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero#pdfs
  • Stelljes
    Envirostor is a California agency database that holds documents related to environmental cleanups.

    https://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/

    Drilling down through several layers gets to a document such as this one:

    https://www.hwmpenvirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/site_documents/3768659293/2015-5-27 Final Acme Landfill Hazardous Waste Post Closure Permit Response to Comments (DTSC).pdf

    Very long URL, Zotero saves as PDF…could save as a “child” to above database, but still doesn’t allow editing of biographic data, and the database URL not really relevant We want to save from browser so the actual file is saved attached to the URL.

    Ultimately want the reference to be the author, title etc. from the report itself (the pdf)

    Department of Toxic Substances Control. 2015. Response to Comments, Acme Landfill north Parcel, Draft Hazardous Waste Post Closure Facility Permit.

    So is the only way to do this to create a manual “parent” and attach the file?

  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited June 2, 2021
    Yeah, that's just a random PDF. Any document can be exported to PDF — it's just a file format. There's no reason to expect Zotero to be able to retrieve metadata for a non-academic file like that, since it's not going to be in any sort of metadata database. Read through Retrieve PDF Metadata to understand a bit more about how this works and what to expect.

    If there's no webpage with any sort of embedded metadata, you'd have to create a parent item manually and enter metadata.
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