KOReader highlights not importing to EPUB in Zotero

timj91
I read EPUBs in KOReader and store the highlights in the sidecar directory. When I import the EPUB into Zotero and open the EPUB in Zotero Reader and attempt to import the highlights into it using File → Import EBook Annotations... I select the correct metadata.epub.lua file for the book, but the import fails:

> “metadata.epub.lua” does not appear to contain any Calibre or KOReader annotations.
>
> If this ebook has been annotated with KOReader, try selecting a “metadata.epub.lua” file directly.

The EPUB was annotated in KOReader and no changes were made to the annotation file, which I can see has all the data as expected. What is causing Zotero Reader to choke? Does it expect a particular folder naming convention for the sidecar directory? It would be ideal to be able to drag-and-drop the metadata.epub.lua file right into the EPUB in Zotero Reader and have the annotations import automatically, is that possible?

Here's my setup:
- KOReader (latest) on a reMarkable Paper Pro Move
- Zotero 8.0.3
- MacOS Tahoe 26.3.

Thanks! (I can provide the EPUB and annotations file, if needed.)
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Could you send the annotations file to support@zotero.org and include a link to this thread? EPUB shouldn't be necessary, but I'll follow up if we need it.
  • timj91
    Sent. Thanks for looking into this.
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Thanks! This will be fixed in the next release.
  • timj91
    Awesome, thank you!
  • irisdesmit
    Hello! This works great now, except that it does not transfer the colours in which I highlighted. All highlights simply have become yellow in zotero. Is it possibly to import also the colour of the highlight into zotero? Thanks!
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Please send the KOReader annotations file (or a minimal example with a few highlights of different colors) to support@zotero.org and include a link to this thread.
  • irisdesmit
    Sent! Thank you for the quick response !
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Most of the annotations in that file are yellow, but the non-yellow ones appear to be interpreted correctly by Zotero. I did notice one bug: Zotero updates existing annotations rather than creating duplicates when you re-import from KOReader/Calibre, but it wasn't updating the color. So if some of your annotations were yellow and then you changed their colors in KOReader and re-imported, the annotations in Zotero would've remained yellow. That will be fixed in the next release.

    If that wasn't the issue, though, could you try the import again and see if you can still reproduce?
  • irisdesmit
    Ah, I realised my version of Zotero was outdated! With the new version the colours indeed are accurate. Super nice that the bug will be fixed though. Thanks a lot!
  • irisdesmit
    Hello, I hava a follow up question regarding importing annotations to PDFs

    The button "import annotations" in the File menu is greyed out when I am in a PDF, how can I change this?

    In addition I wonder if it weren't greyed out which formats I would be able to import?
  • adamsmith
    It should be available if there are PDF annotations in the open file. Zotero imports most standard PDF annotations types, highlight, comments, underline, text bubbles etc
  • irisdesmit
    Hey, thanks for the fast response! I see. I guess the problem is that the highlights im trying to import come from an external file, like with the epub, in this case the highlight formats possible for me are files of the sort:

    Html
    Joplin
    Json
    Markdown
    MyClippings
    Nextcloud Notes
    Readwise
    Text
    XMNote.

    But, if i understand correctly, one can only import pdf annotations if they are already in the pdf file that youve added to your library?
  • adamsmith
    That's correct, yes. PDF has a standard format for in-file annotations that almost all PDF readers use/write; that's what Zotero imports.

    I don't know all of the above formats and it'd might be possible to find converters for some of them (Readwise, e.g.) but I don't think external annotation formats are widespread enough that Zotero would spend any effort on trying to support them.

    Some other formats (text, Markdown, HTML) are just not suitable to indicate a position for the annotation so I'm not sure you can do much with those at all (maybe import as notes, instead?)
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