How to create a link between 2 PDF items?

I have 2 PDFs that I’d like to link to each other. Is there a way to select the 2 PDFs and “Add Link” between them? I use frequently use Copy Item Link to paste links in editable items, but is there a way to attach a link to a PDF item? I realize a PDF item isn’t directly editable, so I cannot paste a link into the PDF, but is there something else that attaches a clickable link to a PDF item?

This is a topic which has been covered numerous times before in this forum; see here, for example.

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Thanks, your link was helpful. I had read that link and followed some of the links that were in that thread. I was able to select text in one PDF, then right-click → Add Link to another PDF. But each selected bit of text (a word in the title, for example) can link to only one other PDF. To add multiple links, it is possible select a different word for each added link, but this seems very awkward. Does anyone have an easier way? I saw the post about adding item links in annotations. I tried that, too and it felt even more awkward. Maybe I just need to pick one of these methods for Linking 2 PDFs and then do it repeatedly until I get used to it. My question really is “Has anyone found an easier way to do this that is more transparent for PDFs”? Links seem much easier and more transparent for RTFs and Formatted Notes.

I use Hook (now called Hookmark), it’s a productivity app that creates bidirectional links. And I have a smart rule that tags all DT3 items with such links. See link

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You could also set the URL of each PDF to the item link of the other one.

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Thanks, @Grantst! I didn’t know about Hookmark. I downloaded the trial and it does exactly what I needed for linking PDFs. It also creates bidirectional links between JPG images and other file types that are more challenging to link. Really liking Hookmark so far. It is a great complementary product to DEVONthink.

Thanks, @cgrunenberg, I did that and it works great for 2 PDFs or even 2 JPGs. But I’m trying out Hookmark (suggested by @Grantst above) since it can also do links between / among more than 2 items. The URL field holds a single URL to another item.

Hi Jeff, you could also have a look at this thread if Hook is useful. See the smart rule and script kindly provided by @cgrunenberg. It will automatically tag items with Hookmark links.

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I’m trying to avoid learning new apps (hookmark) and scripts.

I currently summarise discrete topics in markdown files (One file per topic). Then, as you proposed for pdfs, I set the urls related to the topic to the item link of the summary markdown file. It’s a good outcome but it’s one to one and it relies on there being no external url in place.

Of course, sometimes there are single pdfs that refer to multiple topics I’m capturing. Everything I think of to solve the problem, adds something different to the simple and intuitive wikilink / item link regime I’m using now. Is hookmark the only option?

You could also use custom metadata instead.

I’m not familiar with this app and personally I always try to use as little apps as possible - less stuff to learn & to maintain and less dependencies that might break.

Thanks Christian

Custom metadata works. Perfect

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