(Archived) Why do you include PDFs and other files in EN?

[white.tornado 1]

When I recently started my PhD research, I was looking for a way to organize my notes, a way that would last them for at least 3 years (duration of the project) and would allow me to find them back when needed. As I had also recently switched from PC to Mac and iPad, Evernote was the obvious choice. Over the last couple of months I have embraced it fully and I am trying to include all of my research notes in it now. There are many obvious advantages to EN which I will not go into now, bottom-line is that I really enjoy it.

I have become a Premium member to get my notebooks offline on my iPad and to get the four-digit protection, again for EN on iPad, so that no one can mess with it. It was only when I upgraded that I noticed that the biggest advantage of going Premium is the extended storage space per month, which led me to ponder whether I should not be making use of that. I am after all paying for it. However, I use EN at this moment mainly for my research and all I do is write. I've never used web clipper, nor have I included even one Word Document or PDF. I know, this may be a bit old fashioned, but isn't this what a note taking program is primarily supposed to be for? (I hope EN will agree with me and keep supporting users like me and not move its functionality to other areas completely.)

My question to you is: why do you include files? Why should I? I am writing outlines and chapters still in a word processor (Nisus Writer Pro), is there an advatange to be including those files in EN? If in EN, can I reopen them in my word processor and change them? Where on my hard disk will they be stored, once in EN?

But most importantly: why do you include files, why is that useful to you?

Thanks in advance

[Metrodon 2,162]

I include them simply to keep relevant information together.

For example, if I have a small project it gets a new note that I can obviously take some free form notes in. But I'll also keep any Word docs or relevant PDFs or whatever there too. Then when I want info on that project I don't need to go searching through my files system to find everything related.

Plus I can get to all those related docs from my iPad, iPhone, browser as well as my Mac.

If you store a file in Evernote you can open it with your desired app, edit it and save it and it is updated in Evernote.

On a Mac, your data is stored in user/library/application support/evernote.

[jbenson2 2,138]

But most importantly: why do you include files, why is that useful to you?

In order to run a paperless environment, I use my ScanSnap scanner to digitize all the paper I receive daily.

ScanSnap creates individual PDF files and inserts them into Evernote for me.

Evernote does not have the ability to index or search Word doc. formats, so I don't bother moving them to Evernote.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

In addition to the reasons Metrodon mentioned, I often add files as another form of cloud backup (if they don't exceed the note size limit).

[jbenson2 2,138]

I ran a quick analysis of the files I have in Evernote

2,623 PDF files

24 other files - .doc, wmv, csv, ppt

[gazumped 9,549]

But most importantly: why do you include files, why is that useful to you? ...(this isn't what) a note taking program is primarily supposed to be for?

I don't include files because they're files, I include them because of the data they contain. And Evernote doesn't primarily claim to be a note taking program - it's for remembering things. So the letters I receive and write, the reports I read, the magazine articles (paper and otherwise) that I may need to refer to.. everything goes into Evernote. I'm aiming at a paper-free environment (or the closest approximation) and I don't want to have anything in the Real World that I can avoid. I've scanned my loyalty cards so I can use the phone screen rather than my bulging wallet to show my membership details. And my motor club, and library cards...

I don't agree with the attitude "I've paid for the bandwidth so I need to make sure I use it" - but if you can put it to constructive use, why not? You'll find your files more easily within Evernote than in a classic folder structure, and they'll be available anywhere you can connect to the internet.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I've scanned my loyalty cards

I did that, too. I no longer have hard copies of any loyalty cards. Funny how some places are hip with that & have the scanning functionality. (IME, Starbucks & CVS Drugstores - NBD - you flash it, they scan it & life goes on.) OTOH, many (most?) stores still struggle with this. (IME, Ulta & Sephora - to the point where I occasionally wish I still had the hard copy to just hand them...)

[gazumped 9,549]

I only had one argument so far - my local library insist they see your borrower's card if you want to take books out. I showed the 'Droid screen. We rang Library Central for an adjudication: does having a picture of the card count as much as having the actual card itself? (I may have muddied the waters at this stage by mentioning one hand clapping and trees falling in a forest)

There was some debate - the staff there all know me well, so they knew it was me, I was a member in good standing (although by this time I was more leaning against the shelves) and had in fact just returned some books that I borrowed the week before... but after the discussion, the Ruling was - no actual card, no books. My appeal is still going through... and I'm carrying that bit of plastic around.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,314]

i am working on my phd as well.

1. evernote stores the majority of my sources (scanned materials in pdf form and ocr'd by me whenever possible- some are manuscripts and unreadable by computers). i link from my notes (#2) to these.

2. evernote stores all of my notes on the sources (separate notes-i never change the pdfs once uploaded)

3. evernote stores all of my completed articles, essays, presentations, etc.

.4. i take notes hand on the ipad at lectures and conferences and send them to evernote as pdfs.

5. my master bibliography is in evernote with links to things i have digitized and put in evernote.

with the cumulative storage, i now have almost everything i need accessible at all times. 12-24gb per year is a lot. we're talking hundreds of books and articles. want to know what notes i took on the second day of class three years ago, and the readings for that week? I've got it with me. i'm going out of town and overseas several times this year and i can easily get by with just my ipad, because everything is in evernote. that is a huge benefit.

evernote, however, is not very good for active projects like a phd. the formatting is too quirky, you won't be able to do footnotes (unless you use markdown), and there is no way to conveniently order notes. i am finishing up a chapter now in pages. it's nice because it syncs with icloud and i have everything available on every device.

when the dissertation is finished, then it goes into evernote

[white.tornado 1]

Thank you all for your input. Would love to hear from others of course.

I don't include files because they're files, I include them because of the data they contain. [...] You'll find your files more easily within Evernote than in a classic folder structure, and they'll be available anywhere you can connect to the internet.

So far I think this was the most useful comment. Tagging posts is definitely a lot better to organize stuff than a traditional folder structure, no matter how you look at it. I also like your library story btw.

when the dissertation is finished, then it goes into evernote

Good luck on your phd. For note taking I am pretty much using EN in the same way as you are. I am surprised though that you do not store your documents you use in Pages in EN. You seem to use EN so much, yet you don't keep your thesis documents in it. Do you feel a classic folder structure and iCloud will do just as fine, or are there other reasons?

[megsaint 441]

I know, this may be a bit old fashioned, but isn't this what a note taking program is primarily supposed to be for? (I hope EN will agree with me and keep supporting users like me and not move its functionality to other areas completely.)

My understanding of Evernote's core function is not as a notetaking app at all. Thecore focus is on storing all kinds of information. Their slogan is "Remember Everything"? Take a look at the home page. Actual notetaking doesn't get much attention. Which isn't to say you can't use it as purely a notetaking program if you want. It's not it's greatest strength, though.

A while back, I read some statistics about Evernote usage and how much of it was clipping we pages. I know I do a lot of that. I also send pictures and documents. Proproperly tagged, their easy to access from any of my Evernote capable devices. I rarely use Evernote for taking notes, at least not directly. I use Noteshelf on my iPad for handwritten notes which are exported to Evernote as jpegs. For typed notes, I use PostEver.

The great thing about Evernote is that it's pretty flexible.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

My understanding of Evernote's core function is not as a notetaking app at all. Thecore focus is on storing all kinds of information.

Agreed. Perhaps over the next several years, they will flesh out their editor. But as the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." So it seems to me, these first few years (EN the service is not even four years old), they've focused on the information collection/indexing/retrieval & cross platform capabilities, which is what sets them apart from other companies/apps.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,314]

Good luck on your phd. For note taking I am pretty much using EN in the same way as you are. I am surprised though that you do not store your documents you use in Pages in EN. You seem to use EN so much, yet you don't keep your thesis documents in it. Do you feel a classic folder structure and iCloud will do just as fine, or are there other reasons?

Thanks.

I don't use folders much, even outside of Evernote. I have two in Evernote: inbox and mobile (stuff I want to make available offline on the iPad). I wouldn't even have two folders if Evernote would support offline tags (currently, only offline folders).

Evernote is not set up to handle revisions to attachments well. You'll chew up your upload limit doing that, and there is really no way on the iPad to do it short of emailing a new version to yourself every day. If you are using Pages, I'd keep it in Pages until you are done, and then send that final copy for storage in Evernote. iCloud is fine. There isn't anything in my dissertation I would be searching for anyhow. All of my notes (upon which my dissertation is based) are stored in Evernote.

[anjoschu 67]

I am writing outlines and chapters still in a word processor (Nisus Writer Pro), is there an advatange to be including those files in EN?

Keep in mind that Evernote doesn't make all attachment contents searchable. Just text, PDFs and Images (and maybe plain text files..).

That's why, If your outlines are just text without formatting, I would definitely write them into Evernote directly (not via a word processor).

I tend to start out writing stuff into Evernote directly, and only move to another format (such as a word processor document or spreadsheet), if the structure of the information makes this necessary or if it would become to cumbersome to handle.

But once that this decision has been made, it has lots of advantages to keep those attachments in Evernote! I can simply double-click the document in Evernote to open it in its respective editing application, edit it, and save it, and the changes get automatically synced so I always have them anywhere, on all my machines. Plus, each synced change gets added to the version history, so I can always revert back to an earlier version of the note (including attachments) should I need to. It's like version control for the rest of us!

For a PhD, I would of course not try to squeeze all information into one note. I'd probably make an extra stack of notebooks, separating phd-related organisational stuff, general/preliminary stuff, research, and the product, the latter two probably by chapter (depending on how far you are and assuming the phd affords this kind of splitting-up the subject). Many people prefer organizing their stuff using tags instead of notebooks, but in an effort like this, I would prefer the way how notebooks would force me to decide where something must go. Depends on how disciplined you are (with tags, it's too ease to just say "well, it sort of belongs to everything, doesn't it", and leave things unspecified, ending up with a big unstructured lump of information).

[gazumped 9,549]

I am writing outlines and chapters still in a word processor (Nisus Writer Pro), is there an advatange to be including those files in EN?

I keep 'works in progress' in their original file type - in my case MSWord .DOC - because they open in Word when I want to add/ change them, but they're easier to find in Evernote's search-and-tag environment than my remembering which folder I stashed them in to avoid losing them (again.. ). If I need to add to titles and tagging to improve findability, I'll add a summary to the note, or just copy and paste the (current) text as well as the file. Plus the files are then available wherever I am, not just on my desktop.

Beware that if you use software that keeps a 'library' of the files you're working on, or links in some way to or between files (thinking of mindmaps here..) saving the document in Evernote might nix the linkages. Of course you can always save a file link in Evernote back to the original document file on your hard drive.. and you lose remote access then.

[idoc 268]

I keep everything in EN. Absolutely everything. All my investment house statements, invoices from work, visa and american express statements, utility bills etc etc. In addition to this, every scrap of paper that I run across in my daily life is scanned in. My children's art work, literary endeavours are all scanned in. All of these are scanned in pdf format.

[peterfmartin 221]

idoc, are your sensitive financial PDFs encrypted?

[idoc 268]

From what I understand: Evernote allows you to encrypt text only ie: passwords etc. I don't think that you can encrypt a file using EN. Naturally, encrypting passwords is a good idea and is pretty easy on EN. I've always assumed that EN provides a very safe milieu for my sensitive financial files but I agree that finding an external encryption solution would be the way to go. Any ideas?

[peterfmartin 221]

I don't put sensitive PDFs in Evernote, but when I decide to start doing that I'll definitely encrypt them before putting them into EN. BNF has discussed this a lot. I think she uses PDF Xchange, but she can give definitive information about what she does and recommends.

A question for BNF and others who encrypt PDFs before putting them into Evernote: If I encrypt a PDF before putting it into Evernote, can I access that file with my decryption password from anywhere I can access my account? For example, if I have my passport scan encrypted and in Evernote, and I need to access that scan from some computer anywhere in the world, can I access it by signing into Evernote web and then decrypting the file with my password?

[gazumped 9,549]

can I access it by signing into Evernote web and then decrypting the file with my password

Yep. I regularly look at files via my Android 'phone, some of which are password-protected PDFs. I type in the password, and the file opens up. NB the difference between password protected and encrypted however - if you use third-party software to physically encrypt a file, that same software would have to be present on your remote terminal to un-encrypt it again to view remotely.