HI there,
Could I please get some tips on how to edit PDFs in windows version of scrivener?
I’ve used scrivener on a mac primarily, and found it super easy to open a pdf file (using Open External Editor) where the file opens in preview, I can highlight text, when close the document and these highlights save into the scrivener file.
I’m now trying to use scrivener in windows, and am struggling. I open the PDF in external editor (adobe acrobat), and can highlight the text - but when I try to then close the document it tries to save it somewhere and I can’t save the changes back into scrivener (if that makes sense).
Has anyone worked out a way through this please? I know I can just work on the files in acrobat, then import them separately - but I really love having them in scrivener as my primary storage place, then opening from scrivener, working on them, and saving them back into scrivener (then rinse, repeat).
It seems to me that there are two independent issues going on here. For one thing, Acrobat seems to be set to save to a folder by default. That, perhaps, you can modify in the program settings. I couldn’t tell you more because I don’t use it.
On the other hand, for the changes to be updated, you must make sure that you are modifying the same file that is inside the project folder. I don’t know if this is recommended due to checksums. Wait until someone involved with the development of Scrivener can help you further.
If the Save As dialog pops up–as it might the first time you press Save–it should default to the Scrivener folder, shown below with blue outline. (Yes, this dialog is confusing. After seeing it for years, it still throws me nearly every time it’s displayed. There’s no other Windows app I’m aware of that puts “Choose a different folder” on the bottom like that (that’s where Save is supposed to go), or that forces you to re-select the folder that’s already selected. It’s just dopey.)
One tip: If you are displaying PDF in a Scrivener editor, then Scrivener locks the PDF file. If you’re simultaneously editing it in Adobe and try to save it, Adobe will complain it’s a read-only file and won’t be able to save it. So be sure the PDF is not being displayed in a Scrivener editor while you’re editing it in Adobe.
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I tried this approach, but still had difficulty saving the file - all went well until after I chose the recent folder, and then the location didn’t seem to work to then save in scrivener. But all is fine now - I have tried the PDF-XChange tool and that is working perfectly! Plus it is a much nicer interface than adobe reader, so that’s a bonus.
Hi! If you want to try other alternatives, I invite you to take a look at Okular. It is a very complete free (as ‘freedom’) pdf reader made by KDE. It doesn’t have a lot of editing capabilities, but it also reads eBooks, comics, and other rare formats:
