About large PDF files

[mcorleth 0]

 

Large PDF files: is it better to create a note for each of them or upload them in Google Drive and insert the link into notes? Which way do you prefer to save your PDFs?

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi.  Why don't you try both methods and see which works best for you?  I have some big PDF files in Evernote because they're user manuals for things like cars and DVD recorders that I like to be able to search through and bring up on my tablet or phone when I can't remember how to do something basic.  A DVD player glitched on me on the last few days,  and I spent a happy ten minutes reading the manual and working out how to do a reset.  (Just pushing random buttons didn't work!)

On the other hand I have some books in Evernote that I'd dearly love to get out - they're just Sci-Fi classics like Heinlein and Vonnegut,  but they do occasionally pop up when I'm doing more serious searches.  I have a tablet and Kindle,  and they're far more useful there. 

One of my non-Evernote peripheral services is a Calibre library which has about 1300 ebooks.  I'm now moving any Evernote-attached ebooks into that when I find them.  It's still on my hard drive  but it's not messing up my Evernote searches .  I do have a copy of the index to my ebooks in Evernote.

I might change my mind about user-manuals yet - I haven't looked at the DVD version for months before this last thing,  but I did have to look up another device's manual today when I found a sneaky second air filter I needed to clean (on a vacuum cleaner - long story...) and in either case I could have found that via my reading app rather than look it up in Evernote.  And my Evernote database (last I looked) was 20GB and climbing...

It depends on what you find comfortable and what works for you.  You can always change your setup if you need to,  so try one way and see if you like it!

[DTLow 5,736]

On 7/12/2019 at 1:43 PM, mcorleth said:

Large PDF files: is it better to create a note for each of them or upload them in Google Drive and insert the link into notes? Which way do you prefer to save your PDFs?

I want the pdf stored in Evernote.  

• It's backed up, and available on all my devices.  
• I don't have to address where to file the pdf.  
• The pdf is OCR'd and indexed for searching

The only reason I'd file externally and use a link is because the pdf exceeds the maximum limits for my account.  
- With a basic account, you have tight limits.
- With a premium account, my only issue is when the pdf excedes 200 MB

 

[CalS 5,280]

On 7/12/2019 at 3:43 PM, mcorleth said:

 

Large PDF files: is it better to create a note for each of them or upload them in Google Drive and insert the link into notes? Which way do you prefer to save your PDFs?

If you want to search the contents the PDFs have to be in EN, otherwise just as well to have them in the cloud linked within an EN note.  If you want the PDFs searchable and are worried about storage, OCR the PDFs yourself and put them in a Local notebook.  Disadvantage here is no access on a mobile device.  If you need that access you should probably sign up for a paid subscription. 

[PinkElephant 8,075]

My preference is clearly to have my pdfs inside of EN and on the server. This is the only way to have synced access from all devices, and a working search function. In other words: This is what EN is all about.

If size matters, like with a BASIC account, there are some tips:

• If you create the pdf yourself, try to do your own OCR. OCRed pdfs tend to be smaller. And with BASIC, the EN server will not OCR it for you.
• If there is no OCR, try to reduce resolution. One way to do this is to „print“ the pdf on a desktop, and reduce resolution in the printer settings to 150dpi. On a Win10-PC I use Adobe Reader to show the pdf, and PDF Complete (free version) as a „printer“ to create the reduced-resolution-file. Only issue (with Premium): OCR will work less precise if the resolution is reduced.
• Collect your pdfs outside of EN for a while, then buy one month of Premium, and use the upload limit of 10GB to get the stuff there. Even when scanning and filing a lot, I did not ever hit the 10GB-limit. After the month, you can go back to basic, even when by this you loose some very nice search capabilities. But all your notes will still be there, and accessible. Just take care not to make changes to large notes, this will be regarded as a new upload.

[mcorleth 0]

I started inserting the PDFs directly into the notes and realized that it really is the best way for me, mainly because of the possibility of using Evernote search inside the file itself.