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Web Clipper and changes to captured text


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I understand that Article web clipping uses the formatting and layout from the article, but I do not understand why I have so little control over formatting once the article is clipped ... even after I simplify or even remove formatting! If I so much as try to change the font size on a single word, the entire article's column shrinks even more than the original clipping, and font sizes throughout it are changed. And the same problem holds for Simplified clipping.

That doesn't make sense.

I have been able to use Clipper as more than just a link to articles I wanted to remember. I have in the past been able to have more control over the articles I clip -- allowing me to format things and insert comments and so on. We lost that ability in Chrome recently, and it looks like those "improvements" have been migrated to Firefox as well.

I guess I'll just have to capture the article according to Clipper and figure out some other way to comment within it and so on ... but that's not what I signed up for. You've taken away a lot of ability for me, and I'm really disappointed.

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24 minutes ago, Horace_NYC said:

That doesn't make sense.

To show an original page in its correct layout,  Evernote has to translate the HTML / Python / Java / CSS - driven web page (which contains any number and any combination of the coding languages I mentioned plus probably a couple hundred more) including any associated pretty pictures (more formats) into a code (EML) that works well with its own database and can be read in displays of various sizes on desktops and mobiles. 'Simplifying' formatting takes away some of the hidden coded features, 'removing' might be a little more adventurous,  but still isn't completely removing the extra level of styles and layout.  Editing the content can generate... unexpected results.

It is possible to clip a web page as a screenshot and add comments with arrows and text boxes to preserve the underlying layout,  or it would be possible to copy and paste the text into a plain text editor - losing layout and images - to allow the text to be altered safely.  But given the constraints imposed by the translation from browser to note,  what you currently see is probably the best you can get.

I'm not discounting the fact that you used to have more functionality - I think the fact that it has gone away is more due to the increasing complexity of web pages and browsers (partly for security reasons) than any underhanded downgrading by the developers...

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That's a fair point. Web authors do want control over their layout, and so their formatting has increasing in complexity and specificity. And I grant that initial captures do look pretty clean and complete ... compared to previous versions. The screenshot option doesn't work for me, since it doesn't let me search within the screenshot, but it is another idea that others might find useful.

I just find it annoying that even removing formatting leaves me with narrow columns of text that still seem to act according to original formatting.

I guess the best answer for me, when I really need to engage with the text, is to copy the material from the web site and paste as text into Evernote.

Thank you for your reply!

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1 hour ago, Horace_NYC said:

why I have so little control over formatting once the article is clipped

For complete editing control, I use a text editor; Textastic (Mac/iPad)

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There is still the fact that web design is an art, not a science, and it relies on diverging trends.

When I really want to get a page „as I see it“ I often grab it as a pdf. When content is more important, I try to go to reader view first, and then grab this as a pdf file. Both can be edited in EN using the pdf annotation tool. However, active content like links is lost.

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