iPad for reading annotating pdf books then sync back
Hi all — quick workflow question.
I’m on Zotero 7 desktop and keep attachments as linked files (I don’t want my whole library stored/synced). I’m considering an iPad with Zotero iOS and would like to:
• keep linked-by-default on desktop
• “promote” only 1–2 PDFs/EPUBs at a time by converting them to stored so they sync via Zotero Storage to iPad
• annotate in Zotero iOS and have highlights/notes sync back
• then (optionally) “demote” back to linked to keep storage minimal
Does this work reliably? Any gotchas (especially with iOS + EPUBs), and is there a clean way to demote stored → linked without breaking annotations? Also: even if I disable “Automatically attach associated PDFs…”, will Connector/DOI saves still sometimes create stored PDFs (e.g., when saving from a direct PDF page)?
Thanks!
I’m on Zotero 7 desktop and keep attachments as linked files (I don’t want my whole library stored/synced). I’m considering an iPad with Zotero iOS and would like to:
• keep linked-by-default on desktop
• “promote” only 1–2 PDFs/EPUBs at a time by converting them to stored so they sync via Zotero Storage to iPad
• annotate in Zotero iOS and have highlights/notes sync back
• then (optionally) “demote” back to linked to keep storage minimal
Does this work reliably? Any gotchas (especially with iOS + EPUBs), and is there a clean way to demote stored → linked without breaking annotations? Also: even if I disable “Automatically attach associated PDFs…”, will Connector/DOI saves still sometimes create stored PDFs (e.g., when saving from a direct PDF page)?
Thanks!
Upgrade Storage
There is no problem with a hybrid file storage scheme ... most linked, some "stored". If you have Zotmoov set up to save new Connector files as linked files, that will continue unaffected.
The key "gotcha" is that you must have a sufficient online file storage quota (300mb free) for the file uploads. If you have been working with linked files, you have likely had file syncing turned OFF. And you could have accumulated a significant number of files under Zotero\storage without realizing it (eg webpage spapshots, note images). If so you might already be over your free online file storage quota when you turn file syncing ON.
I have already cleaned most of the storage. Indeed some old pdfs, and a few non-relevant snapshots.
the default storage should be fine as I currently plan to use this workflow only for pdf/epub books hoping for the tablet to be less distracting than a laptop.
I already have Zotmoov installed and set as "move".
I have already tested most of this workflow and it seems to work fine.
I am just wondering what is the right way to convert stored files (e.g. after reading annotating the pdf on ipad) to linked file while keeping the annotation (e.g. to free storage). For the other way around, I have a specific command in Tools/Manage Attachments.
To do *both* transfers - from linked to stored and back - you can use Zotmoov's standard right-click menu options (including its equivalent of Zotero's Tools/Manage Attachments). But using its Custom Menus (see below) helps to streamline the process, including auto-adding a tag to keep track of which files are temporarily back in Zotero storage.
In Zotmoov's Advanced Options, you would create a Custom menu item named "Move to Zotero storage for iPad". Add the operations "Move From" and "Add Tag" (set to something like %temp_stored). Then add a second Custom menu item named "Move back to linked storage". Add the operations "Move To" (set to your linked-files folder) and "Remove Tag" (set to remove %temp_stored).
https://github.com/wileyyugioh/zotmoov/blob/master/docs/CUSTOM_MENUITEM_INFO.md
(NB the example shown there is the *opposite* to what you are doing. It is similar to Zotfile's old Send/Get From Tablet, which worked by creating linked files in a cloud folder temporarily, for access in an external PDF reader from that folder on a mobile device).
You could also designate a collection for these files while they are in this workflow pipeline - so they will be easy to find on your mobile device, and also make it easy to see which files need to be moved back into linked storage after use. That would be done in the usual way - dragging files to that collection, and then Remove From Collection later (those operations cannot be added in Zotmoov's custom menus).
So I thought that I might use a group : dragging the reference to a folder in the group (which makes the linked attachment disappear, attach the file (not linking)
-> the reference as well as the pdf turn up on the mobile Zotero on the tablet
But now I have a problem : after annotating the pdf, how do I get the annotations back to the original reference in the local database ?
I have tried the following :
in Zotero on the computer used "show file" from the reference in the group folder
copied the file into the usual folder of all my linked references (using windows file manager)
-------->> I loose all comments and highlights
tried dragging the whole reference from the group folder back to the local folder
-> nothing happens
tried dragging back to a different folder
-->> this creates the reference, including attachments,but again I again loose all highlights and comments (I think what actually happens is that the original reference in the original local folder is copied to the new folder locally, not using the reference in the group folder)
I extracted the comments while still in the group folder, then dragged the whole reference to the empty local folder ---> the note disappeares ....
Any idea how I can get my comments and highlights in the pdf from the group folder to a local folder ? In the group folder, the Zotmoov menu items are greyed out.
I have now done as suggested above by tim820 and set up two custom menu items to "move from linked to stored" and "move from stored to linked", respectively.
I have done many tests and it works perfectly, and annotations are preserved in both directions.
tim820's method does not require the sync of the whole library. At all. As I said I did how he suggested and all my trials were performed on 1-2 entries and files. Works smoothly, all the rest stays exactly where it was supposed to stay.
Give it a try on only one entry and file.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u32152/5ugcbtigy78z7nvgm6ed.png
That being said, it seems you need to deal with that Gb of screenshots that are causing so much trouble to you. :)