Cannot add PDF pages with PDF Expert when opening a file from DEVONthink To Go

DEVONthink To Go
1

Hi everyone,

I am trying to understand whether this is a limitation of DEVONthink To Go, PDF Expert, or the iOS/iPadOS file handoff mechanism.

My current workflow is:

  1. I have a PDF stored in DEVONthink To Go.

  2. I open that PDF from DEVONthink To Go using PDF Expert.

  3. In PDF Expert, I try to add new pages to the PDF.

  4. However, the newly added pages do not seem to be saved back into the original PDF in DEVONthink To Go.

So the specific issue is:

When a PDF is opened from DEVONthink To Go in PDF Expert, PDF Expert does not seem able to add new pages and save that modified PDF back to DEVONthink To Go.

I am not mainly asking about regular annotations or highlighting. My question is specifically about structural PDF changes, such as inserting or adding pages.

Is this currently unsupported in DEVONthink To Go?
Or is there a correct workflow for editing a DEVONthink To Go PDF in PDF Expert, adding pages, and saving the result back to the original file?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

2

When I open a PDF file from DEVONthink with PDF Expert, I can successfully add new pages to the PDF in PDF Expert and save the changes back to DEVONthink.

3

iOS is not macOS. There are differences in the underlying technologies that make this an unreliable comparision.

Regarding PDF Expert on mobile, having its edits not propagate back to DEVONthink To Go is something known for a long time now. It is not our app making and saving the changes so the question is for Readdle, not us.

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4

I’ve had problems with my DTTG-PDFExpert workflow for a long time now and have largely given up doing it the way you’ve said, because the changes I make in PDFExpert aren’t coming back to DTTG properly (I realise it’s a Readdle issue but they also don’t have a forum where it’s easier to chat about this stuff so I moved on with my life :joy:)

I open in PDFExpert and make the changes I need (I rarely add extra pages, I’m usually adjusting the page margins at least, and maybe annotating in there), then save the file back to DTTG and delete the old one. It messes up my “added date” for DT, which can be annoying, but gives me what I need/want.

To try and address the “added date” issue, I’m trying to be a bit better about recognising that I will need to alter a PDF soon after I’ve added it, so that I can make the changes sooner after adding and not affect the use of the added date too much (I’m interested in month and year). I do have another workflow that also messes up the added date though so I’ve not entirely figured this out satisfactorily.

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