Google drive

xiliev
Hi there!

I don't know if Zotero is over complicated, or I don't get it, but

I have a lot of pdfs on my google drive in different folders, which i have been organizing for years. I use acrobat to highlight by opening the the file directly from drive. This way I can study from home and from work, and the highlights are "synced". But Zotero puts all the imported pdfs in a different folder in it's storage directory.

I would like to use zotero the same way: import a pdf from google drive on my home mac, highlight, make notes, etc and when I get to my work PC and open Zotero, I would like to continue highlighting and taking notes with the same pdf on my Google drive.

How can I manage this? Import and organize files in zotero, while the original pdfs are stored in their original location? And also, across several devices?
  • tim820
    edited yesterday at 2:46pm
    Zotero syncs "stored" PDFs across devices via its own servers (300mb free). But if you really want to keep your PDFs on Google Drive and have Google do the file syncing, you can use "linked" PDFs instead. Note their limitations (don't work with Zotero Groups, the web library, or the Zotero mobile apps). People generally use a plugin like Zotmoov to help add and manage linked files on their computer(s). Zotero data syncing (free, unlimited) syncs your item metadata across computers.
    https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#stored_files_and_linked_files

    PDF annotations made in the Zotero reader (to stored or linked PDFs) are saved in your Zotero database, not embedded in the PDF file. They are synced across computers with the rest of your data. Any annotations added to a PDF via other PDF readers are visible in Zotero's reader (albeit locked, unless imported).
    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/annotations_in_database
  • xiliev
    edited yesterday at 4:38pm
    Hi! Thanks for the reply!

    I actually got this far, but no further. I got it working on my mac, with the desktop Google drive, setting the linked directory to

    foo/GoogleDrive/MyDrive,

    where I have a lot of folders organized by topic. So when I import some publications and ask to see the folder, it correctly points to

    foo/GoogleDrive/MyDrive/bar/something.pdf

    The problem is when i do the same on my PC at work, where the linked directory is

    baz/GoogleDrive/MyDrive - It says it can't find it...

    Is there some workaround? Or do I have to live with the zotero drive only?

    Thanks again!
    H
  • tim820
    edited today at 4:30am
    If your linked files have a different parent folder on each computer, you set a Linked Attachment Base Directory on each computer.
    https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/advanced#files_and_folders

    Note that the LABD has no effect on where files get stored. It only affects where Zotero *looks* for them when you ask it to open one. To get files that you download via the Zotero web connector automatically converted to linked files and stored on Google Drive, you need the Zotmoov or Attanger plugin.
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