I’m just starting to use the app but have a few questions: 1) when dragging and dropping a file into devonthink, is there an option to move and deleting the original, not making a copy? 2) what are the advantages/differences of “copy files to database folder” vs “copy files into database” which do you guys out there like? 3) When I change the image/file name in Devonthink and then export it out again to the finder by drag and drop, it just keeps the original file name with “copy” attached to it. Is there a way to reflect the name change made within Devonthink? Thanks in advance for your replies. 
No. The original file will not be deleted.
Certain file types – PDF, image and QuickTime – have Preferences options to copy them either to the monolithic body of the database or to copy them to the Files folder insider the database package.
Personally, I prefer to copy the files into the database Files folder. This somewhat lowers the RAM requirements of the database and also avoids duplicate copies of these files that would be created in the internal Backup folders if they were copied into the body of the database.
Yes. Don’t drag and drop. Instead, select the file(s) to be exported and choose File > Export > Files & Folders. The file name will be that assigned in DT Pro. Also, Files & Folders export retains the original creation date of the file, whereas drag & drop creates a new file with today’s date.
Note: I recommend that before doing a Files & Folder export you create a target group in the Finder, and export to that group. This will avoid scattering files all over the place if you export multiple files. Also, DT Pro creates a “DT_Store” file that contains information about the exported file(s) and which is used if one reimports the file(s) into the database (as in Rebuild).
Thanks Bill for the tips! I’m definitely getting the hang of it now. Hope you’re having a good weekend.
Sorry, but this won’t work for me.
I am in the process of importing some Ragtime-Documents and some PDFs and JPGs into a newly created database, but it seems that DTPro (1.0.2, OS X 10.4.5) isn’t importig the files or recognizing them reliably along the way.
At first it seem to work. Then, deleting the originals, the database seems to mess up. My files won’t show again in DTPro. Dropping files to the groups-panel looks ok, but the protokoll silently reminded me that the import failed (Apple-PDFs). So what? In the preferences i have explicitly stated that i wont the originals within the database, so that i can delete the originals. Komisch!
What’s going on here? Also, deleting a file from DTPro deletes the entry in DTPro but not the file from the Package of the DTPro-saved File, so that the file that isn’t needed anymore seems to reside in the DTPro-Package forever. So how can i delete a file from DTPro and remove it from the Package at the same time without beeing forced to use Applescript?
Sorry for beeing a bit nervous, but this is the first time i wont use DT Pro after having serious problems using the old DT with some Database corruption. I think it must be me, but what am i doing wrong?
bernie
Bernd:
First, check the documentation for recognized file types. Ragtime is not on the list, so DT Pro can’t import the text of Ragtime documents. Only a link to Ragtime documents can be set. (I don’t have Ragtime, but I think I’m correct that it is not recognized.)
Next, check the import settings in your DT Pro Preferences. For each file type, where will it be located after a File > Import > Files & Folders command? You should definitely do that before deleting any external files that have been imported! In DT Pro, there are a number of user-specified options for import. For example, “unknown” file types such as Ragtime can either be copied into the database Files folder, or remain external and linked to the database. PDFs can remain externally linked, copied into the database, or copied into the database Files folder; further, there are specific options for PDF files in the Preferences > PDF & PS that choose between importing plain text, rich text or PDF+text, which is a Tiger-only option (and choosing text-only import will result in the PDF remaining externally linked).
Import of PDF files typically fails for one of two reasons: either the PDF is image-only (containing no text) or it is encrypted to prevent copying (a password would be required to copy the text). An OCR program such as ReadIRIS might be able to convert an image-only PDF to a PDF+text document. And there are third-party utilities that can convert a copy-protected PDF to an unsecured version.
Note that when you delete a PDF document from the database, there’s an option to also delete it from disk. If that option isn’t chosen, the PDF itself won’t be touched.
Suggestion: If you are concerned about document integrity and want to avoid complications in choices, use the Index method of capturing information into your database. Don’t drag and drop files into the database. Instead, use File > Index to import files and folders into your database. Files imported in this mode will remain in their original locations in the Finder, but the text from recognized file types will be available for searching and analysis in your DT Pro database. And in this case, don’t delete the external files after import! Of course, you will still use the normal modes of capturing web page information via Services, or the contextual menu options in your DT Pro browser.
You may have noticed in other posts I have made in the forum that Phrase searches cannot be made on the text of documents imported using Index import. That restriction will go away with the soon-to-be released DT Pro version 1.1. Imports made using the Index mode also lower the memory requirements for the database. And in version 1.1 edits of the externally linked files (for recognizable file types) will be reflected in the database content (one-way synchronization from the external file to the database). Synchronization means that you can open a Word document under MS Word, edit and save the document, then see the changes in your database. And similarly for images. Open a JPEG file under PhotoShop, make changes and save it.
Hope this helps.