(Archived) Is there any way to save an Evernote note as a PDF?

[Tedology 7]

I teach 4th grade and today thought how neat it would be if I could bring my laptop to parent meetings. I could make notes of about what we're talking and then later, email the parents with a PDF.

Is this possible?

I know I could send them a link to the note, but is that the only way? Is there any way to send the note as an attachment? I'm guessing because the note is actually on the SERVER and not my computer, the answer would be no.

Or, if anybody else has a suggestion how to best use Evernote in the scenario I posted above (meeting with parents), I'd be appreciative.

Thanks much!

[Tedology 7]

Please note that you shouldn't use EN for sensitive data.

Yep...that's why I said I'll nix the idea of using it for parent-teacher conferences.

However, once I learn more about EN and how it remains on my Macbook Pro, maybe it will be something I can use. It would be no different than taking notes in Word and emailing them that document. I'd just need to make sure that notebook never synced with EN's server (if I'm understanding it correctly).

[MatthewS 0]

Just one thought, about what is called 'haystack security' which is to say people think that their data is safe because its a needle in a haystack. That method should NOT be used. Apart of ID Fraud criminals. Government institutions regularly access this kind of data, using data analysis tools made for agents and analysts. They use it to spot trends for informing future and past actions. Some of these, are pretty impressive (having seen it in person) they have AI systems that can learn behaviors.

[macsalaga 0]

CMD(CTRL)+C go to Google Docs, create new document and save it as PDF (5 clicks job)

[Tedology 7]

You've all given me such wonderful food for thought...and I truly appreciate all the input!

I think I may run this by my principal... I figure the buck stops with her.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

In my opinion, your school does not expect you to encrypt your laptop (although, you can if you want). They expect you to put everything behind passwords and use reasonable care in protecting it from theft, right? How is Evernote different? If anything, it is more secure (for the reasons listed above). I think there is a line somewhere between due diligence and obsessiveness about security. As BNF said, it is going to be different for everyone. But, I just don't see much reason to get overly concerned about parent-teacher conference notes or even English class evaluations. That's just me, though.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

it is a risk, of course, but i figure it is pretty unlikely a hacker will put everything on the line in order to gain access to your parent-teacher conference notes. the same thing goes for my rather banal research notes.

Good point. I remember back when I used my Palm (non-cloud) devices, I was concerned that someone could snap it up & send nasty emails to my contacts or go to my mom's place & try to sell her something. (Not that I'm paranoid, mind. you.) But that was a local device (no cloud). These days, with cloud info, IMO, hackers are less concerned about those things (my initial-lost-stolen-device concerns), since the hacker is probably not local & is more into the money aspect. OTOH, we all need to have our own comfort zone. I work from home & am privy to people's SSNs/EINs & various other sensitive info. I'd rather err on the side of paranoia, err, caution. That way, if anything happens, I can tell my manager that I take great pains to make sure that info I have access to is cautiously guarded. I think a certain amount of caution should be exercised for student evaluations. But maybe not as much as SSNs/EINs. But I don't really know.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

good advice jm. i think it is inevitable that we will store other people's personal data along with our own. we are social creatures. is evernote less secure than your laptop at home? well, you have to imagine a scenario in which a disgruntled employee hacks into the company servers and steals data or a hacker breaks into the servers from the outside and gets into your account. laptops are hacked, stolen, infected, etc. every day.

it is a risk, of course, but i figure it is pretty unlikely a hacker will put everything on the line in order to gain access to your parent-teacher conference notes. the same thing goes for my rather banal research notes.

what can you do?

1. create a unique, complex, and long password for each of your accounts.

2. change this password frequently, and do not use it in multiple places.

3. encrypt truly sensitive information (social security, etc) before you upload.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Please note that you shouldn't use EN for sensitive data.

Yep...that's why I said I'll nix the idea of using it for parent-teacher conferences.

I guess it depends on the definition of "sensitive data".

It could be different for each of us.

I believe that the Evernote network/servers are at least as secure as your school servers, and most likely a lot more secure.

Since EN provides a service to millions of users, their network security must be top notch.

Most network security breaches are internal -- someone on the inside.

Only a very, very small number of Evernote employees have any kind access to your note -- and these only at a note level for server admin purposes. They can't see or browse your note text.

Whereas, at most organizations like your school, there may be many people who have direct access to what you write/store on their servers (and even on your assigned PC): Your boss, admin assistants, administrators, network engineers, server administrators.

Most external hackers go after one thing: financial info

From my reading of these forums, many people do store what some would call "sensitive" information in Evernote.

I think a lot of people (including me) use EN to record meetings and interviews with clients, bosses, co-workers -- all of which might be "sensitive".

Evernote uses EN to help manage EN requirements -- again, this would be "sensitive" to some.

I would encourage you to do a few things:

1. Search these forums and google for "evernote security" and read for yourself what Evernote and others have posted
   
2. Ask your school IT dept to investigate/evaluate Evernote security
   
3. Use EN text encryption for SSN, passwords, gov't IDs, etc
   

Good luck with Evernote. The more you use it, the more uses you will find for it.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

It would be no different than taking notes in Word and emailing them that document.

Unless you're password ENCRYPTING the Word document before emailing (not just adding a password to open the document), you could encounter the same issue I described above about the email sitting on a server. I don't know if this is an important issue to you or not. And I'm not saying it should or it shouldn't be. I'm just sayin'.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Please note that you shouldn't use EN for sensitive data. I have a lot of sensitive data in Evernote. You just need to have a solid understanding of EN & email & how it works. The thread GM linked is a good resource. I have things in local notebooks that I don't want sync'd to the cloud. And my EN database is stored in a Truecrypted container on my hard drive. (I'm Windows) And I password encrypt some PDFs so I can store them in the EN cloud for safe keeping & redundancy.

Our accountant emails tax returns as encrypted PDFs. This is crucial b/c I often don't check email on my main computer for a few days at a time, IE weekends. I check it via my iPhone but that leaves the email sitting on my ISP's email server. Only my main computer removes the emails from the ISP's server. If someone hacked into my ISP's email server & the PDF wasn't encrypted, the hacker would have immediate access to our SSNs.

OTOH, I could see where it may be a hassle trying to get all the parents to learn how to open the encrypted email...IDK...

[Tedology 7]

Thank you both for expounding and answering my questions. I appreciate it.

Seems I'll nix the idea of using EN to take note during parent-teacher conferences.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Security is something to be concerned about, especially when you are handling someone else's personal data. Email accounts and backup services can all be hacked. Physical drives can be lost or stolen. Poor password practices can leave your data exposed. There are many threads on this forum that can give you a better idea of Evernote's capabilities. Here is a recent thread:

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

However, if I just print to PDF, my notes should still remain secure, yes? I'm thinking of my students' confidentiality.

Secure from what? The Evernote database is not encrypted on the Mac or Windows client nor the EN servers. Simply printing the note to a PDF does not alter that. Printing to PDF does not add any security to the PDF, at least on the Windows client. Most PDF viewers, however, allow you to password ENCRYPT (differs from simply requiring a password to open the document) a PDF.

It's my understanding that simply making a note or notebook shared does not allow the search engines to index them. OTOH, if you, or anyone else, puts the URL into a document that would be indexed (IE blog post), then the search engines will index it.

[Tedology 7]

A follow-up question, please:

I did a search on the Mac Evernote KB and couldn't find the answer.

Since this will be dealing with confidential student information, are my notes private? I did read that if I SHARE them, then search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!, etc.) can find them...

However, if I just print to PDF, my notes should still remain secure, yes? I'm thinking of my students' confidentiality.

Thank you very much.

[Tedology 7]

GrumpyMonkey and BurgersNFries, thank you both very much for taking time to respond.

GM, I was able to print as a PDF and that's brilliant! That's exactly for what I was looking!

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I'm guessing because the note is actually on the SERVER and not my computer, the answer would be no.

This is the Mac section, so if you're using the Mac client, the note is also on your computer.

In addition to what GM suggested, on the WIndows & the web clients, you can email the note directly from within EN by using the share button. IDK if the Mac client includes this. If not, you can use the web client to do this.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

from easiest to hardest:

copy text from evernote and paste into an email.

export note as html and send as attachment.

send link to note (sort of a pain if they aren't into evernote)

print as a pdf (print and instead of a printer select pdf)