Copy all Evernote notes to Google Drive?

[Vance 38]

Ah, the only thing age would have to do with it is that folder systems seem a bit archaic and old-fashioned and those who are younger (under 30 maybe) may be more inclined to prefer search as a means of tracking things down where those of us who are a bit more stuck in our ways might prefer the folder system.  I know the younger staff here in our office (and definitely my teenage kids) prefer search, where the older attorneys here prefer to wade through our complex nested directories and folders.  Old habits die hard.  But it sounds like you are more my vintage!  You are more adaptable, it seems!  :0)

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Ah, the only thing age would have to do with it is that folder systems seem a bit archaic and old-fashioned and those who are younger (under 30 maybe) may be more inclined to prefer search as a means of tracking things down where those of us who are a bit more stuck in our ways might prefer the folder system.  I know the younger staff here in our office (and definitely my teenage kids) prefer search, where the older attorneys here prefer to wade through our complex nested directories and folders.  Old habits die hard.

 

 

FYI, I'm 58 & have been "programming" computers since I was 19.  IMO, folder systems just muck everything up, especially when you have a lot of files.  I realized this well before I started using Evernote six years ago.  I have many, many gigs of photos, documents, home movies, mp3s, etc.  Trying to find a photo of Jack in San Diego is easy if you have only one photo of Jack in San Diego & take the time to name that file "Jack in San Diego".  But when you are scanning hundreds of family photos/slides (as I have done) and taken hundreds or thousands of digital photos (as I have done), you're not going to take the time to name each & every file.  I started not renaming files to something meaningful but giving the folders significant names...but even that gets awfully messy after a short time b/c the photos may be from a trip to London where you went to Stonehenge, Bath & Wimbledon with a stop over in NYC.  Or some folders are named "20020522 San Diego trip" & others "San Diego trip 20130801" so you have to really read through the folder names to find the one you want.  As a result, I no longer give the folders or images meaningful names but use ACDSee Photo Manager to tag them.  Actually, I kind of do give the folders a meaningful name - it's by date I'm transferring from my camera in YYYYMMDD format, just so I don't end up with a gazillion images in a single folder.  Now, I can find the photo I want (out of tens of thousands - literally) in a matter of seconds by using the tags in ACDSee Photo Manager. 

 

Plus, since I have so many files, I have many drives.  Now where did I put a particular file?  I don't want to have to search each drive individually.  There are some apps (that I previously mentioned) that will index all files on all your drives.  I have used Locate32 for many years (the other one is Everything.)  If I want to open an Excel file I use monthly for financial purposes, I simply open Locate32 & search on *.xls & sort by modified date in descending order.  There is my Excel file, I double click it, Excel invokes & opens the file.  Much, much, MUCH faster than drilling down through several folders.  And THAT is what Evernote is about.  IE, When I download my Cox bill each month, as a backup (that whole not having my eggs all in one basket thing), I put that file in the bowels of a folder like so:

 

v drive/paperport/bills/2014/Cox

 

But if I need to view the bill, I will always turn to Evernote, rather than the copy on my hard drive because...

 

 

I chose keywords in titles over tags because title is more visible, regardless of the Evernote client you are using. I also didn't want to worry about the issue of tag maintenance, etc.

Me too. I think people new to Evernote have a tendency to over tag (I did) and not utilize the EN search engine. I have hundreds of documents in my EN & almost never tag them. But I'm diligent about using an accurate title. I always include the date of the bill/letter in YYYYMMDD format as well as the company or the name of the sender/recipient (if it's something I sent). So if I need to find the Cox cable bill from May of 2007, I'd simply do this search:

intitle:cox 200705*

and boom...out of thousands of notes, the one note I'm looking for pops up, no matter what notebook it was in. And no tags involved.

 

Only when/if (for some reason), I can't use Evernote, do I ever bother with the files on my hard drive.  They exist simply as a form of backup.

 

Just because something is the way it's always been done doesn't mean it's the best way.  It's good to be open to new things. 

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Another reason, possibly, that I do this with Evernote is that I have had numerous occasions where I have done a search and my item didn't show up, even though it had that word is in the title of the note and in various places in the note.  I found that it is just more effective to open the collection (tag or notebook) that I know has that item.  I would bet that the younger generation is much more search oriented.

That is normally user error, IME. The Windows client (IME)is flawless, if you're using the same words, spelled the same way. And...if you're using the Evernote search engine correctly. In Evernote, a 'word' is consecutive letters, numbers & the underscore. Everything else is a delimiter. The EN search, IME, is VERY powerful.

[Vance 38]

Coincidentally, CloudHQ (which posts stuff about Evernote all the time) just posted this link to an article about Evernote search:

 

https://plus.google.com/103535339336297649359/posts/1ecAaVHxPvV

[chirmer 567]

As for the HTML, I just really don't like it at all. There is a reason everybody uses text editors rather than HTML for writing text.

 

I think that's the big miscommunication -- the HTML export isn't for you. It's for software. The EN export isn't meant to be used fresh -- it's for software to set up an import to make the data work in their program. Some examples of other content aggregates and their export methods:

• Instapaper - exports to HTML (with intent to be imported into say, Pocket)
• Pocket - exports to HTML (with intent to be imported into say, Instapaper)
• Readability - .JSON only
• Feedly - default exports to HTML, though does have option for PDF (read-only)
• OneNote - OneNote package, .docx (proprietary) or PDF (read-only)

So as you can see, HTML export is either the norm, decently normal, or at the very least - editable and flexible. Most products can't or don't export the data in a usable, file-system type manner, unless that's already a core function of the app (Dropbox or Google Drive).

[Vance 38]

 

As for the HTML, I just really don't like it at all. There is a reason everybody uses text editors rather than HTML for writing text.

 

I think that's the big miscommunication -- the HTML export isn't for you. It's for software. The EN export isn't meant to be used fresh -- it's for software to set up an import to make the data work in their program. Some examples of other content aggregates and their export methods:

• Instapaper - exports to HTML (with intent to be imported into say, Pocket)
• Pocket - exports to HTML (with intent to be imported into say, Instapaper)
• Readability - .JSON only
• Feedly - default exports to HTML, though does have option for PDF (read-only)
• OneNote - OneNote package, .docx (proprietary) or PDF (read-only)

So as you can see, HTML export is either the norm, decently normal, or at the very least - editable and flexible. Most products can't or don't export the data in a usable, file-system type manner, unless that's already a core function of the app (Dropbox or Google Drive).

 

Yes, everything depends on the purpose for the export.  Those of us raising the issue were using export to create usable copies on our hard drives or into another cloud storage service.  We were not exporting it for use in another reading app.  So, in that sense we were treating the export exactly in a file-system manner (like Dropbox or Google Drive or, most importantly, our computer's hard drive).  Those other services like Pocket and Instapaper export it in a way that can be then imported elsewhere, for which HTML is fine. But it is less fine when you are exporting to store in a folder and will want to go back and open it to read or edit.  For that purpose, HTML is usable but not optimal.  

 

And in response to that, some may quote Steve Jobs and say that we "are holding it wrong", that we are then not using Evernote in the way that it was intended and our expectations were misplaced.  Maybe so, but Evernote has, from the beginning billed itself not just as a note taking app, but also as a cloud storage service.  A digital file cabinet.  A place akin to your computer hard drive, but safely offsite and accessible by all your devices, tag-able and searchable, etc.  So, it is no wonder that many us were thinking all along of Evernote in the same way we thought of Dropbox or Drive.  In fact, my pitch about Evernote to my friends was "like Dropbox, but better".  When I type a note in Dropbox, it saves it as a txt file, syncs it to my computer hard drive, where I can click on it and read it.

 

Optimally (and I am not suggesting that Evernote has any obligation to do this because, as you point out, it is exporting like many other apps do), it would give options for text files on export.  Drive, when you ask it to save a type-written file (which is natively in its own proprietary format), asks you to whether you want to save it as a docx, odt, rft, pdf, txt or html. 

 

One side note is that Pocket, Instapaper and Feedly are almost always storing web pages for later reading, not text files you type up.  For web pages, HTML is obviously the way to go.

[dmwagner 0]

 

 

Evernote has provided a generic way to export your notes & all contents INCLUDING all the various file types.  The fact that you may not feel comfortable with html (which is pretty clear from your postings) is not Evernote's problem and others (myself included) have provided the info on how to get your files out.  Sorry if that's too "tech" for some of you.  But hey, I'm glad that those of you who are uncomfortable with html & Evernote's export process have FINALLY found a way that you do feel comfortable with.  Hallelujah!!!  Praise God!

 

 

Not comfortable so it's Evernote's problem?  Having a consumer dig through exported HTML files and manually grab the contents out of the files is more than simply just too "tech", it's a missing feature or function.  This sounds like something you would read on a Linux user forum, surprised we haven't been told to read the readme files or something.  

 

I have over 1,262 notes with a database size of 2.10GB.  If I had to do your so called method of exporting them, I would be at it for months.  Thankfully there is a 3rd party tool perform this task.  That said, I don't plan on leaving the service, I have been using it since June of 2009 and it's become a integral part of my day to day life.  

[Vance 38]

dmwagner, that last bit you wrote is important.  Everyone must remember that all of us who were frustrated by this process are Evernote fans.  Many of us have been using it for years, evangelizing it to our friends, and loving the fact that it has simply made our lives better.  We are posting on an Evernote forum, after all!  :0)   We are not ditching Evernote, we are not saying that Drive or Dropbox or anything else is a better service for what Evernote does.  We were just taken aback by the export functionality and a bit frustrated that it did not accomplish what we wanted, but were pretty happy to find a 3rd party that does, so all was (and is) well.

 

We got to learn more about how Evernote works under the hood (which doesn't mean we are any less frustrated with the export results, we at least get why it works that way), and maybe Evernote found out there is a pain point there for a good number of us that they might want to address somewhere down the road.  Or not.

[dmwagner 0]

 Everyone must remember that all of us who were frustrated by this process are Evernote fans.  Many of us have been using it for years, evangelizing it to our friends, and loving the fact that it has simply made our lives better. 

 

You know it!  Evernote is right up there with things like Email if you ask me.   

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Not comfortable so it's Evernote's problem?  Having a consumer dig through exported HTML files and manually grab the contents out of the files is more than simply just too "tech", it's a missing feature or function.  This sounds like something you would read on a Linux user forum, surprised we haven't been told to read the readme files or something.  

 

I have over 1,262 notes with a database size of 2.10GB.  If I had to do your so called method of exporting them, I would be at it for months.  Thankfully there is a 3rd party tool perform this task.  That said, I don't plan on leaving the service, I have been using it since June of 2009 and it's become a integral part of my day to day life.

Perhaps if you actually would read & comprehend what has been posted (repeatedly) in this thread, some of it just may sink in and you would realize extracting thousands of files could be done in a matter of mintues.  And next time, I suggest you do your due diligence before painting yourself in your own perceived corner.  Honestly, I can't imagine why/how anyone could add thousands of files w/o testing & making sure it does (or doesn't) do what you think it does & then realizing Evernote is not a file system like Dropbox.

 

But hey, so long as you're happy, then I'm happy. 

 

#itsalwayssomeoneelsesfault

[JohnDM 122]

 

.  Honestly, I can't imagine why/how anyone could add thousands of files w/o testing & making sure it does (or doesn't) do what you think it does & then realizing Evernote is not a file system like Dropbox.

But hey, so long as you're happy, then I'm happy. 

 

#itsalwayssomeoneelsesfault

 

 

Is it just me?   I wonder what it would be like to be retained to market a file folder system? . . .. .. Now let's see  . . .  how would I go about doing that?

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

I need a problem .. . .  a problem that isn't getting answered. . . .

 

say what?  . . .  you say it's been answered? . . .. . .that won't work . . .. . Let's just pretend it isn't answered   . . . ..

 

[name drop] . . . [name drop]

[Vance 38]

JohnDM, you seriously think someone is here to market a file folder system? 

 

And, the question was answered (even if antagonistically) very early on, this entire thread has been AFTER the question was already answered, it is a discussion whether that is the best way of handling it and finding alternatives.

 

Again, since the first few posts we now KNOW how it works, we are just not really happy about how it works.  And our not being happy about how it works gets some people very defensive and antagonistic.  But that is OK.  It allows for an important and productive (when folks aren't being needlessly defensive) discussion about the nature of the platform, the possible methods of transferring files, etc.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

 

We got to learn more about how Evernote works under the hood (which doesn't mean we are any less frustrated with the export results, we at least get why it works that way), and maybe Evernote found out there is a pain point there for a good number of us that they might want to address somewhere down the road.  Or not.

Is that not exactly what this discussion is about? Isn't under-the-hood stuff the very stuff that is inherently more complicated than opening the drivers' side door and pressing the accelerator? Isn't under-the-hood stuff more advanced and often times the "kind of thing you might read on a linux forum"? (Sorry that quote is from a different user but I think captures the prevailing tone of resistance throughout this topic). 

 

Ultimately what I am seeing here is users complaining about the HTML export because it means that you have text files filled with HTML in one place, and the attachments referenced in those text files in another (conventionality located and very obviously named) location. 

 

But what would a suitable, universally acceptable alternative be that wouldn't prevent future modification of your data and wouldn't corrupt other types of data? It is OBVIOUS that most people's Evernote contents would not all be suitable to be converted to PDFs. How on earth would you create a PDF of a note that itself contains a PDF or .docx file? How would you create a .docx file that itself contains a PDF or .xlsx file? Or which doesn't conform to a relatively standard set of page dimensions? Or which contains formatting that is not interpretable by a word processor? Perhaps Evernote should dynamically decide what format a given note should be exported in based on the note contents. This would be a feat of software development. 

 

If you offered these options, you would end up with users exporting using one of these formats and subsequently losing lots of data. There's a pain point if I've ever seen one. Can you imagine if you exported your data as word documents and all of your attachments were... where? at best they'd be where they are placed with existing export methods, in a directory conveniently named after the note to which the attachment was originally attached. So that isn't really much of an improvement and now you are stuck with a .docx file which is hardly portable. PDF may be slightly better in terms of portability, but you'd still have the attachment dilemma, and now your note contents are all completely un-modifiable! What about tags? neither PDF nor .docx have provisions for metadata such as tags. 

 

WHAT ELSE MAKES SENSE? As I see it, PDF and .doc (and .rft and .txt) all pose other, serious problems, and hardly address the other concerns mentioned here (such as the location of attachments upon export ). 

 

I agree that HTML is a bit of a pain in the butt in some respects. Indeed looking at the bare HTML code is a bit overwhelming. 

That being said, HTML means that your attachments can be directly referenced within the HTML text so your attachment and note are nicely linked.

HTML means that no matter what the contents of the note were, they can be accurately reproduced without serious corruption, distortion, or loss.

HTML means that you have lost NO data. Your tags are preserved, your formatting preserved, the location of your attachment preserved, everything is present in the HTML export. This is critical if you intend to rebuild your note database somewhere else.

 

If someone is planning on undertaking a significant task like relocating an entire Evernote database into some other location, getting a little greasy under the hood is just part of due diligence. Like doing your own oil change, it is a chore, it is messy, and car manufacturers haven't made it as easy as flicking a switch. That's the way it works. HTML is a bit tough, but the "simple" solutions are impractical and incomplete, and will lead to data loss. Things are sometimes a bit challenging for very good reason, as is discussed in great detail throughout this thread. 

[Vance 38]

Scott, if you are asking what a good solution would be, then I would suggest the solution that CloudHQ provides: a bunch of options for the formats of the documents being transferred out.  As I have said, I am not at all saying that Evernote needs to provide such options, or are somehow derelict in not doing so, they have a method that gets the job done, even if not in the manner everyone finds most convenient.  This is not a complaint against Evernote, it is just surprise that it is not what we expected (because we misunderstood at first how it worked), frustration that we now have to find another way to accomplish what we want, but then relief that such a method exists.

 

OK, you ask for a scenario of what could work: imagine that I have a collection of "things" saved to Evernote.  Some pdf scans, some photos and some type written notes. I have them in a series of Evernote notebooks and sub-notebooks.  I ask to export them to my computer hard drive.  Evernote first asks how I want the text files exported (like Drive does: doc, txt, html, etc).  That is all it needs to ask.  Now the export creates the various notebooks as folders and places all of the saved "things" in the appropriate folder (not in a separate folder for each note).  So, in my "Vehicles" notebook in Evernote I now have a Vehicles folder on my computer. Inside is each pdf that I scanned in, each jpg that I stored, each text note that I wrote (in the format I chose).  If there does happen to be a note with multiple formats embedded (text files with attachments), then it creates an HTML of that one, or creates a subfolder for that note with the various bits inside, etc.  

 

I think part of the disconnect is between those who often create text notes with attachments of various types (as you seem to do) and those of us who just use Evernote as a cloud storage device for individual "things".  For your types of notes, then the existing export system makes perfect sense.  But my guess is that the VAST majority of Evernote "notes" are not like that at all.  My bet is that most are single things.  A single pdf scanned in, a single text note, a single photo.  These "notes" are really just cloud-stored individual things.  In a perfect world, if there are no attachments to a text note, or if the only thing in the "note" is a single item, then that text or that item could just be exported to the relevant folder on its own, the same way I would have stored that thing in such a folder on my computer in the first place.

[Vance 38]

Yes, following up on a thought in the last post I think most of the disconnect between the two "camps" here could be simply down to the two basic uses for Evernote: 1) as a powerful note taking application and 2) as cloud storage service, a digital file cabinet.

 

A think there are plenty of people that use it one way or the other, but I wonder how many really use it both ways.  They are two very different uses, really, but the tools that Evernote provides work well for both.

 

Personally, Evernote is my digital file cabinet.  I scan everything in, documents, receipts, contracts, policies, registrations, etc, or I take pictures of things: serial numbers, data I have to get back later.  Or, I type quick post-it type text notes: codes, numbers, lists, names, addresses, ideas, etc.  Everything in Evernote for me is a single item stored away for safekeeping and cross-platform access.  Occasionally I might send an email over or clip a web page, but that is rare.  

 

Others use it much more often as a Note creating device, which makes sense, it is EverNOTE.  Annotations, attachments, multiple formats, etc. They are using Evernote's capabilities to the fullest, not just as a cloud storage service.

 

I think which type of export you are expecting or find useful could depend largely on which of these two uses predominate for you. 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I think, in general Evernote's export options are catering to the user who uses it primarily for notes, and mixed, annotated content, which is the user to whom it is marketed. If you are primarily looking for cloud storage of plain-jane files, a file system in the sky, then there are applications such as Bitcasa, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive (well, Google drive is a bit of a mongrel due to its ties to other Google services, but it could be a bare-bones cloud storage service if you wanted it to be), marketed towards that user. 

 

If you treat Evernote as a cloud storage service (a file system in the sky), then you are square-pegging a round hole. At least, that is my impression given how Evernote is primarily marketed. Similarly, if you tried to take notes on a specific file or set of files stored in Dropbox, you might find it difficult because Dropbox doesn't really offer the facilities for such thing. Your only options are to directly modify the contents of the file, or to create a separate document that references the file you are annotating. This would be equally square-pegging. 

 

Evernote's export options reflect the type of user they are marketing towards, the mixed-content, annotated, note-taker. If they were a bare-bones cloud storage file system in the sky, they wouldn't even need an export facility. 

[Vance 38]

I think, in general Evernote's export options are catering to the user who uses it primarily for notes, and mixed, annotated content, which is the user to whom it is marketed. If you are primarily looking for cloud storage of plain-jane files, a file system in the sky, then there are applications such as Bitcasa, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive (well, Google drive is a bit of a mongrel due to its ties to other Google services, but it could be a bare-bones cloud storage service if you wanted it to be), marketed towards that user. 

 

If you treat Evernote as a cloud storage service (a file system in the sky), then you are square-pegging a round hole. At least, that is my impression given how Evernote is primarily marketed. Similarly, if you tried to take notes on a specific file or set of files stored in Dropbox, you might find it difficult because Dropbox doesn't really offer the facilities for such thing. Your only options are to directly modify the contents of the file, or to create a separate document that references the file you are annotating. This would be equally square-pegging. 

 

Evernote's export options reflect the type of user they are marketing towards, the mixed-content, annotated, note-taker. If they were a bare-bones cloud storage file system in the sky, they wouldn't even need an export facility. 

 

I think we will never know what the norm is for users, but my impression is very different than yours on that point and I think that the marketing has been "dual" at least.  But I think you are right that the export option is definitely reflective of your type of use, regardless of whether that is the majority user or not.  I started using Evernote rather than Dropbox (the other only viable option around at the time) because it was just more powerful even as a storage service due to its tagging, searching, organizing, and its desktop client, and the fact that it COULD take notes (which Dropbox couldn't do at the time, that I remember).   So, it made sense even for my use.  

[CalS 5,280]

IMHO, Evernote is primarily a retrieval system, not a storage system.  Storage within EN is designed to support search.  Whether you be a tagger, keyworder, wide open searcher, or some combination of the three you can find that needle in the haystack.  That's the power of EN.  If you can use it as a storage system, so be it.

 

All of which has not much to do with what export methods it could or should have, vendor's call, and customers vote with their feet, or adjust.  I just didn't want what I think is the the essence of EN to disappear in a storage discussion.  It is not a DropBox replacement.  It is a high powered retrieval engine.  Sermon over.  

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Vance, you are right, we don't have the data on how Evernote is being used so we can only guess, and your guess is no better than mine. That being said, I don't think the marketing has been as "dual" as you seem to think, and it also don't think the majority of users are choosing to use a program that doesn't suit their needs.

[Vance 38]

Scott, agreed, we may never know how must people use Evernote.  But I think the beauty of Evernote is that it definitely does suit the needs of the person who is using it as a cloud storage and access service.  In fact, it serves that purpose as well as any service designed with only that in mind.  But, I guess the bottom line here is that those who were coming here expecting the export to be different are likely also those who were using it primarily for that purpose.  

 

Cal, similarly, I am not sure what we should consider Evernote to be primarily.  I know it definitely IS a Dropbox replacement because I used it in place of Dropbox, but we can also agree that it is much more than that.  And, it is the "more than that" which not only distinguishes it, but also has influenced on how they treat exporting and transferring.  

 

The important point for the discussion is that you all were asking WHY?!  Why would we want something else and what exactly would we want that could be better for us?  The answer to that question is based entirely on this dual-purpose nature of Evernote.  And, whether you guys think ours is really a primary purpose for Evernote, it helps you understand where we are coming from and what we were expecting.  You don't have to agree with the way we would want to do it to at least get where we are coming from.

 

Basically, our response very early in this thread was "Ah, I see, that is why that happens, but that is frustrating because it would be a lot more convenient for us if it was done this other way."

 

I would suspect that your response now might be "Ah, I see why they expected that, and I can see why they would want something different, but the way it works is the way it has to work since it is necessary to handle how the rest of us use Evernote".

[CalS 5,280]

I would suspect that your response now might be "Ah, I see why they expected that, and I can see why they would want something different, but the way it works is the way it has to work since it is necessary to handle how the rest of us use Evernote".

 

Vance,

 

My response now would be a bit simpler:  "Ah, I see why they expected that, and I can see why they would want something different, but the way it works is the way Evernote decided to make it work."  No particular value judgments in the mix either.

[Vance 38]

 

I would suspect that your response now might be "Ah, I see why they expected that, and I can see why they would want something different, but the way it works is the way it has to work since it is necessary to handle how the rest of us use Evernote".

 

Vance,

 

My response now would be a bit simpler:  "Ah, I see why they expected that, and I can see why they would want something different, but the way it works is the way Evernote decided to make it work."  No particular value judgments in the mix either.

 

 

Yes, that works as well, for sure.   

[Blu 1]

Holy ***** Batman!!!

This Forum eats people alive.Way to keep your kewl Vance.

I knew exactly what you were asking and so do many more people

Wow... what a head trip!

I quote ... d-metcalfe and Pruzo.

I was looking for the exact same thing. Simple isn't it.

Thanx for telling us about CloudHQ.

Cheers.

[Blu 1]

Hi everyone. I'm Naomi, CMO of cloudHQ.

 

Here's our take: Different apps have amazing qualities, and we sync them together in an organized way so that you can harvest the best features of all of them.  For example, maybe storing your Evernote notes in Google Drive (via a Gmail label, or via a doc in Gdocs) is an easier task for you when you want to access something on your desktop/laptop. However, Evernote might be easier to work with when you're mobile. If you do a 2-way sync to say, a file in Gdocs from a notebook in Evernote, all your data will be replicated in either cloud service. The difference between cloudHQ and others? We sync, not just replicate... so, you can keep changing your notes in Evernote, and those changes will still show up in your Gdoc, and vice-versa.

I read some concern over how your pics would show up in Gdocs: Your pics from Evernote into Google Drive can show up in jpeg, pdf, or whatever format you choose when you set up the cloudhq sync.

 

Lastly, this hasn't been addressed, but with lots of our Evernote clients, they're big collaborators with others. You can sync your Evernote notebook not only to *your* Google Drive folder, but you can also sync it to a team collaborator's Google Drive folder. This way, they'll have real-time access to your notes in a gdoc, and you'll have real-time access to their notes in Evernote. Complete your projects together!    <-- see what we did there? 

 

Try it now with a free trial: http://cloudhq.net 

Thank you Naomi.This is exactly what I was looking for.

[Rachel ACC 1]

Thank you so much, Vance, for the Cloud HQ recommendation!!! While I love Evernote, everyone with whom I share documents at work only uses Google Drive. I needed a quick and easy way to migrate my Evernote work files to my GDrive and you really helped me out.

 

Wow, I found a service called CloudHQ which can sync Evernote and Drive, and it is seeming to do it seamlessly!  The notes are all coming over as either pdf or jpg files or non-editable doc files (which is fine!), no HTML in sight!  There is a 14-day free trial, so I can do my entire one-time dump of notes into Drive and then cancel if I want, since my plan is to go ahead and enter all new documents into each separate platform at the same time (doesn't take much to create a scan and then save it to both, for example).  But, I might just stick with it (although $9 a month is a bit steep for the amount of convenience I would get going forward).

[JRMY 4]

Lets see if I can understand what is happening here. First the fact

 

 

===============

The Facts

===============

 

1) Evernote has been experiencing some lag issues, thsi has a lot of people concerned. Even BurgersNFries has reported, on another thread, that her windows client is lagging and she has tens of thousands of notes.

 

2) People are starting to get concerned. Will the Evernote Team get this fixed?   Just how portable IS Evernote and how easy is it to get your files out?  That's a legitimate question and one I am asking myself as I am just as concerned as the next person

 

3)  Along comes Vance who wants to get his files out exported "in their original format" 

 

A ) If the evernote note is a  text file he wants the note exported in txt,

B  ) If the note contains pictures, he wants that picture exported as a JPG   or a PNG whatever it originally file type

c)  If the note had a PDF file in it he wants it exported as a PDF

 

So in other words, apparently each of Vance's notes are either Text, Image, or PDF  -- there ins't a lot of multiple formats in each note

 

4) BurgersNFries trys to explain, it's misunderstood, other join in -- concern grows -- Can you or can you not get your files out?? !!!

 

=============

I tested it myself

=============

 

I went and exported a bunch of my notes and it worked even better than I thought it would. Internal links from one note to another note are honored and I can move around inside my exported notes.  WHAT A RELIEF I can even see the embedded files be it photos, PDF and see the spreadsheets that are embeded JUST like they look in Evernote. The original embedded files be it Jpg PDF are unchanged and everything

 

I took a deep breath.  

 

===============

Why the confusion?

===============

 

People, apparently don't understand what Evernote is -- Evernote is a data base. It's not a folder system.

 

What is a Database -- A Data Base is a glorified spreadsheet that can do complex searches with links to things -- Links to JPGs, links to a PDFs links to a text documents

 

But Evernote is so much more than a Database because it displays all these linked things right there in the note view and you can work with them in amazing complex ways.

 

If all you are doing is just using it as a file system where each note is purely a Jpg, purely a PFD, purely a text file, Evernote is not the best application for what you are doing. There have been threads which have talked about how storing all your images in everynote is clunky and not efficient, other applications are better at that etc etc

 

Seriously, if a person doesn't like the envelope idea of a HTML file that is fully and almost universally understood format which will let you put *context*, *meaning* to what is contained inside the note -- then clearly you didn't want to be using Evernote to begin with.   What if a note has Text, and  PDF and a Jpg and a Recorded note all in the same note? How did you expect Evernote to export that?  

 

        A) Evernote could just guess which is the most important based on size and export it that way

 

        B  ) Evernote could export the same note multiple times for each file type

 

Both of those options, I personally find inferior to its current approach. Currently you STILL get the original embedded files in their original condition and format and there is only one note instead of many

 

 

=========================

so . . .what am I to make of this

==========================

 

Vance has more posts than I have on the forum so he is pretty active .. I guess, Confused is pretty new, bigbobbyboogie is new, a lot of the people worried seem to be pretty new.

 

What is the chance that they havn't reached a level of understanding what Evernote can do and can't do yet? -- maybe kind of high

 

Is their concerns about the sluggishness and portability Valid?  yeah . . ..  very valid

 

Speaking to readers not yet posted -- Why not just try to export yourself to a temp file and see what it does for yourself. it wasn't hard

 

1) do a complex search

 

2)  Select all those files

 

3)  File -> Export -> Export as multiple Web Pages

 

4) then go look yourself.  

 

If what you see scares you, then your not using evernote the way it was intended and there are clearly better ways, such as Drop Box or Google cloud drive

 

BurgersNFries can be abrupt but her advice is always spot on -- and the help she has given to people, me including,  has been phenomenal with insight I have gotten from no one else

 

This is worth a repost.

 

It seems some people have been using Evernote as a (really bad) file management system. I mean they are using a note as a folder. In most cases there is probably 1 file per 1 note. This is definitely not what Evernote is for. Still, after realizing this accidental application of Evernote, Evernote can export all of these files easily so you can move them to something more appropriate like Dropbox, etc.

 

Maybe others have added text to their notes, and would like to create a new file for the text typed into Evernote to another format like .txt or something? Maybe there is something that can do this, but I would much rather view it in the original note format within Evernote (or my 2nd choice would be .html). When people are suggesting .html as a good option, they are assuming you want to view the note as a note, not as individual files.

 

A note is not a folder. I have complex notes which may start with typed text, then have handwriting, then a photo, then more typed text, etc. The order of each of these things is what is important. The ability to order them, and present them in a single scrollable page (note) is what makes Evernote different. If it were a file folder, it would be multiple files sorted "randomly". That being said, I expect Evernote will somehow eventually have "Windows" folders which sync to hard drive like Dropbox, Drive, OneDrive do. Currently, only a one-way sync is available (from Hard Drive to Evernote). Although it would be useful, I do not expect it to simulate the same functionality of the Note itself. It can't because a note is not a folder.

 

. . . and I came across this while searching for a way to sync Evernote and Google Keep. . . talk about distraction.

 

. . . and I too sympathized with BurgersNFries because she gave good suggestions, yet I still cringed at her confrontational approach. 

[ccrea3 1]

To Vance,

 

Hopefully you have figured everything out by now, but if you haven't I just use Penultimate in conjunction with Evernote and I export them as PDF's all the time. Now I don't know if this seems practical for you but I is seamless and I have done multiple files at once. 

hope everything worked out ok.

[Francisco1 0]

Wll guys I'm thinking of the same after my one year subscription finished and I was dissatisfied with their option of denying me the option of accessing my notes offline just because I failed to renew this year. Evernote should consider this. Microsoft docs, Google docs and iCloud supports this. Even YouTube nowadays for a while.

[mheim 0]

Thank you for starting this thread! Especially Vance who kept a clear head under fire.

The tip about using CloudHQ to export from Evernote was priceless. It saved me weeks of work. I would have had to muck through piles of HTML. In seconds I got the pure unformatted TXT files that import smoothly as sheets in Ulysses. Now I can focus on writing my book again.

This simple export tip - without all the condescension - belongs in the Evernote FAQ. I had to read through a lot of BS to find the nugget of gold.

[Vance 38]

Thank you for starting this thread! Especially Vance who kept a clear head under fire.

The tip about using CloudHQ to export from Evernote was priceless. It saved me weeks of work. I would have had to muck through piles of HTML. In seconds I got the pure unformatted TXT files that import smoothly as sheets in Ulysses. Now I can focus on writing my book again.

This simple export tip - without all the condescension - belongs in the Evernote FAQ. I had to read through a lot of BS to find the nugget of gold.

 

Glad it worked for you as well.  Since I decided not to continue paying to keep the two in sync, I have been running a "dual" system for a while now, saving things into both places.  It is only a bit more work, and it is a great peace of mind having all my stored items in two platforms.

[mikemap 1]

I've been testing Evernote for a few weeks and finding the tag system to be hopelessly primitive, so I think I could use Evernote mainly as a webclipper, at which it excels despite a horribly keyboard-unfriendly interface, and then export all the notes to my main file system where they can be searched together with everything else. So I read through this bloated, redundant thread and I'm surprised nobody talked about exporting tags. I have no qualms with HTML export. That's a great, convenient format to deal with, but WHERE ARE THE TAGS?

 

I tested some HTML and MHT exports and they include the title but no tags anywhere. I viewed the HTML as plain text and the tags are simply not there. I imagine I could export to both ENEX and HTML, easily extract the tags from ENEX, somehow combine them with the HTML export and then delete the ENEX export, but, wow, that is complicated for something I'd expect to be absolutely fundamental to any data portability paradigm. Instead of going down too many rabbit holes with Evernote, I'll probably just cobble together a few webclipping widgets/extensions/bookmarklets/etc to capture content and sync it across devices in Drive.

 

From my vantage point, tags are the whole point of Evernote. That is the main content, or at least a critical component of the content. Despite the "note-taking" rhetoric, Evernote is essentially a halfway decent attempt at a tag-based file manager. Scanning a receipt and giving it metadata like OCR and keywords is not note-taking; it's managing a file using a superior metadata platform. Because tag-based file management is a category of software that barely even exists yet as far as I can tell, it's a big step forward and very useful, but it has too many limitations to be used as a general purpose file manager for everything. It's advertised as "keep track of everything", but in reality it's only useful for certain kinds of data that have a "note-ish" quality. Very smart people in this thread have observed that Evernote is a great note-taking app and a terrible file manager, but there are plenty of other great note-taking apps and Evernote shares their basic flaw of creating yet another data repository that isn't unified with a user's other data repositories. I've tested TagSpaces and Tabbles, and they are great conceptually, but too crude to be used for real-life work. I think iMatch has potential to be a fully powered tag-based file manager, but I haven't properly tested it yet--a bit of a learning curve there. Once you have an adequate tag-based file manager, the concept of a "note-taking app" is trivially subsumed. There's a million perfectly functional ways to create/edit text-based files.

[JeffCJ 1]

I know this thread is a few years old now, but I had the same question as Vance. However, his solution with Cloud HQ doesn't seem doable any more, since they seem to have grown and don't offer free trials any more as far as I can tell. They do, however, have a Google Chrome extension that can sync Google Drive with Evernote (as well as Gmail, Drop Box, One Drive, etc). You can find it here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sync-google-drive-with-dr/iobcbdgacfkninlcbphihhdlkobkehia?utm_source=gmail

[LisaMM 0]

I want to use CloudHQ  to sync my Evernote to my Google Drive for all my notes. I  need to create a copy of all my notes just to have the data in another place because I need to uninstall and reinstall Evernote on my phone. So Sounds like I should use my desktop  and install Cloud HQ there, then use their trial to do this on my desktop.  Then uninstall and reinstall Evernote on my phone. Then sync and I should be OK. But once I cancel the trial does the information remain in my Google Drive files or does it disappear when the syncing stops?  Anyone know the answer to this?

Thanks. 

[Vance 38]

On 1/21/2017 at 0:16 PM, LisaMM said:

I want to use CloudHQ  to sync my Evernote to my Google Drive for all my notes. I  need to create a copy of all my notes just to have the data in another place because I need to uninstall and reinstall Evernote on my phone. So Sounds like I should use my desktop  and install Cloud HQ there, then use their trial to do this on my desktop.  Then uninstall and reinstall Evernote on my phone. Then sync and I should be OK. But once I cancel the trial does the information remain in my Google Drive files or does it disappear when the syncing stops?  Anyone know the answer to this?

Thanks. 

Yes, all of your files are still in your Google Drive.  I did this and created a full back up and then, once the trial ended, I just started adding all new content to both systems going forward (not really very tedious when you get into the habit).  Now I have two full systems with all my stuff and feel comfortable that I won't be left out if a service has a hitch or just ends.

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2017-01-21 at 0:16 PM, LisaMM said:

Then uninstall and reinstall Evernote on my phone. Then sync and I should be OK.

The master version of your notes is stored on the Evernote servers.  Very little data is stored on your phone

Your cloudHQ backup is not a factor in your reinstall

[LisaMM 0]

Thank you for your replies. My issue has to do with changes to my notes on my phone not syncing,  even on the phone itself. They sync fine when working on the desktop but on the phone they often do not,  and changes disappear as soon as I leave the note.  Been in contact with Support. Support has recommended I make a back up  of all important notes from my desktop and then uninstall and reinstall  my Evernote Premium on my iphone.  I am hoping this resolves the issues because before I was aware that it was not syncing I lost a lot of data that I entered on my phone and assumed it would be there later.  This has been affecting multiple notes. I'm going to assume this fix is going to work; if not, I will post again with an update.

Thanks again.

[LuizSiqueiraNeto 15]

Just for enrich this thread, it's possible to import notes from Evernote to OneNote and then through OneNote export notes to a Doc or PDF. You could use a Macro to separate notes in single documents. OneNote isn't perfect but do a good job to search and organize notes, OneNote, in my humble opinion, isn't good to access through a smartphone or tablet if the notes are too large or have large files attached to it. You could use OneDrive to large files and large notes and OneNote for small notes, ideas compilations and brainstorms. You can do a search on OneDrive to search in every file that you have there and also notes in OneNote at once. By the way it's sad when threads become a place to discursions without value just because someone wants to play the trickster.