# I give up on manually filing all my documents..need advice on automating, filing and storing documents in devonthink :)

**URL:** <https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691>\
**Category:** DEVONthink\
**Created:** [September 5, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691 "2024-09-05T13:47:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/silverstone/32/34093_2.png) [@Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Silverstone)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 9:53am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/41 "2024-09-09T09:53:05Z")

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I’d been using HoudaSpot for long time, until all my important documents went to DT. Then, before next HS upgrade, I noticed that there are no reasons left to use HoudaSpot - DT’s search with all its metadata, smart groups and etc is much more powerful alternative.

For all those files outside DT it is enough of Spotlight (for indexed files) and FindAnyFile for the rest.

As for mail, I archive it all in DT with my script, emls and attachments separately for search inside attachments, and search it in DT or in Apple Mail. Emls and attachments are connected to each other and to email in Mail app (if account is on and they are not deleted there).

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**Author:** ![DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DCBerk)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/42 "2024-09-09T21:33:04Z")

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I’m with you, Bluefrog. I have multiple databases: Household (everything from banking/taxes, to receipts for fixing the toilet). The book I’m writing. Computer: everything related to hardware/software: serial#s, renewal dates, etc. And several more.

I designate each database as a “Favorite” and use Sorter to drag and drop files as they come in. If I’m not sure where to put it, it goes in Sorter:Inbox. Any time I want a pdf from an online source, I use the Print option, Save to DevonThink, which allows me to scroll down and put the file in a particular folder…

I’m also a big fan of \*Smart Folders (see screenshot: the asterisk keeps it conveniently at the top), so I can zero in on filetype, among many, many other options such as Language (including Amharic).

You can use Finder as a data dump. DevonThink is a powerful tool for helping you organize and work with digital material, but you do have to think about what you plan to do with it, and suitable naming of Folders/Files helps, as does the use of Duplicates and Replicants. And the Search function is amazing – way beyond what you can do with Spotlight! Check out Concordance and See Also & Clarify.

Definition of Elegance: characterized by scientific precision, neatness, and simplicity. Einstein understood that.

![Screenshot 2024-09-09 at 2.06.36 PM](https://devontech-discourse.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/original/3X/6/c/6c28f605c2c4acd04a7ef9512245c3851e65e0fd.png)

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**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/43 "2024-09-09T22:45:51Z")

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> [@DCBerk](#):
>
> suitable naming of Folders/Files

For myself, I rely on tags more than folders/groups  
Also I reflect hierarchy in tag-names, instead of nesting

My file-naming standard is _type [description] yyyy-mm-dd keywords_  
For keywords, I use a copy of the assigned tags

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/44 "2024-09-09T22:50:34Z")

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Very nicely said!

> Any time I want a pdf from an online source, I use the Print option, Save to DevonThink, which allows me to scroll down and put the file in a particular folder…

You can also clip a PDF via our browser extension. If DEVONthink’s **Settings \> Files \> Import \> Destination** is set to **Select group** , you can choose the destination from the group selector too. 🙂

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**Author:** ![DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DCBerk)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/45 "2024-09-09T23:13:21Z")

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Know about browser extension, but am so used to hitting CommandP, and don’t always want somthing to go to DT, so it’s all-purpose (I do still use Finder for some things 😀).

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/46 "2024-09-09T23:17:11Z")

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Do you know about double-Command-P ?

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**Author:** ![DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DCBerk)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/47 "2024-09-09T23:56:15Z")

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Bluefrog, if I have this wrong, please chime in.

DTLow:

For the most part, I gave up on manual tagging for several reasons:

1. The filename is a tag.
2. A search will find any keyword in a document; in effect, all distinctive words can be thought of as tags (don’t search on “the” or “and”).
3. Efficiency – one less step to take.

This approach does not work for an image unless it has a distinctive filename, although a Search will find metadata, such as date/time added/altered, geolocation, etc.

However, if an image is in a folder named date/subject, that name is a tag, and all files within the folder are also assigned that tag – they are parent/child files. Similarly, adding a file as a Replicant or Duplicate to any folder automatically tags it with that folder name.

A manually added tag _is_ useful if a document does not contain a specific search term relevant to a topic filed elsewhere. Helpful if you’re unlikely to remember anything more about it than a vague idea that it might someday be useful to topic x.

Plus, there is also the ability to create links that Bluefrog mentioned above.

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**Author:** ![DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@DCBerk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DCBerk)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/48 "2024-09-09T23:56:27Z")

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Huh? Double Command P? Do tell.

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/49 "2024-09-10T01:57:54Z")

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If you set a shortcut key of _Command-P_ for **Save PDF to DEVONthink 3** , you can press it twice to quickly print a PDF to DEVONthink.

 ![image](https://devontech-discourse.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/original/3X/0/b/0b72215fa098122d6287c5b7e06b28f298698a05.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/rmschne)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 5:58am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/50 "2024-09-10T05:58:53Z")

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> [@BLUEFROG](#):
>
> you set a shortcut key of _Command-P_ for **Save PDF to DEVONthink 3**

That will make my week! But, I’m unaware how to do this (having not explored Shortcuts like this) and looking around to do it, I’ve failed. Exactly how to setup this shortcut key?

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 7:07am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/51 "2024-09-10T07:07:30Z")

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Not up to date with Ventura and later but the essentials are there…

> **[DEVONtechnologies | How To Assign Your Own Shortcuts](https://www.devontechnologies.com/blog/20210629-keyboard-shortcuts-in-macos)**
>
> DEVONtechnologies develops DEVONthink, DEVONagent, and other Mac and iOS apps for document and information management and web research.

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**Author:** ![Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/silverstone/32/34093_2.png) [@Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Silverstone)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/52 "2024-09-10T08:33:16Z")

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More automation: you can change the built-in script (Save to DT) so, that it could save your PDF in the current DT group, and suggest group chooser only if no group or item is selected.

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**Author:** ![rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/rmschne)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/53 "2024-09-10T11:42:45Z")

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Thanks. Got it. In case this helps others who “forget” how to do these things, here is the screen shot of Keyboard Shortcuts that works for me.

No more messing with pull down menus.

 ![Screenshot 2024-09-10 at 12.41.05](https://devontech-discourse.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/original/3X/d/8/d83f3b6022116a236c3fcb1e23ea2d2bdb3191b3.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![rkaplan](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rkaplan](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/rkaplan)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/54 "2024-09-10T12:35:09Z")

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> [@Silverstone](#):
>
> you can change the built-in script (Save to DT)

Where is that script?

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**Author:** ![Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/silverstone/32/34093_2.png) [@Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Silverstone)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/55 "2024-09-10T13:59:31Z")

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Here it is: `/Users/YourName/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts`

You can attach one of those to any folder. Right-click on the folder - Folder Actions Setup…  
It’ll open the dialog, where you can attach script to the folder.

Here is the modified script:

```auto
-- Script to move saved file to DT
-- Modified by Silverstone on 14.04.2021
-- Updated on 26.04.2021 to escape working on MS Office TEMP files

on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items
	set added_items to set_viable_list out of added_items
	try
		if (count of added_items) is greater than 0 then
			tell application id "DNtp"
				try
					set theGroup to (get selection)
					if theGroup is {} then
						set theGroup to display group selector
					else
						set theGroup to item 1 of theGroup
					end if
					if kind of theGroup is not "group" then set theGroup to current group
					set theImported to 0
					repeat with theItem in added_items
						try
							set thePath to POSIX path of theItem
							set theRecord to import thePath to theGroup
							perform smart rule trigger import event record theRecord
							if exists theRecord then do shell script "rm -R " & quoted form of thePath
							log message info "Item '" & proposed filename of theRecord & "' is imported successfully to '" & name of theGroup & "'" record theRecord
							set theImported to theImported + 1
						end try
					end repeat
					activate
				on error ErrMsg
					tell application "Finder" to set theName to name of the theItem
					log message "There was a problem importing a file" info "Importing of file '" & theName & "' into the group '" & name of theGroup & "' is failed. Error: " & ErrMsg
				end try
			end tell
		end if
	end try
end adding folder items to

on set_viable_list out of theList
	set theClearList to {}
	repeat with theItem in theList
		set thePath to POSIX path of theItem
		tell application "Finder" to set theName to name of the theItem
		if thePath does not end with ".download:" and thePath does not end with ".crdownload:" then
			if theName does not start with "~$" then
				set the end of theClearList to theItem
			end if
		end if
	end repeat
	return theClearList
end set_viable_list

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/silverstone/32/34093_2.png) [@Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Silverstone)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/56 "2024-09-10T14:03:28Z")

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Don’t forget to make this folder favourite in Finder - to have it under your hand in file operations. All you need is to send any file(s) to this folder, and it’ll move it to the current DT group. If file is selected - it’ll move it to the enclosing group. If none is selected - it’ll suggest the group chooser to choose the group manually.

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/57 "2024-09-10T14:06:39Z")

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> if exists theRecord then do shell script "rm -R " & quoted form of thePath

We would more safely recommend…

```auto
if exists theRecord then tell application "Finder" to delete theItem

```

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**Author:** ![rkaplan](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rkaplan](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/rkaplan)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/58 "2024-09-10T14:15:57Z")

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> [@Silverstone](#):
>
> /Users/YourName/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts

Very interesting - thank you. What do you see as the pros/cons of doing this as a Folder Action Script vs a Hazel script?

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**Author:** ![Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/silverstone/32/34093_2.png) [@Silverstone](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Silverstone)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/59 "2024-09-10T14:26:28Z")

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Don’t think there are any pros or cons.  
May be for those, who don’t have Hazel  
Well, there is one - you’ll see a small gear icon in the menubar when something is importing… ))

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**Author:** ![zeltak](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/a88e4f/32.png) [@zeltak](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/zeltak)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/i-give-up-on-manually-filing-all-my-documents-need-advice-on-automating-filing-and-storing-documents-in-devonthink/80691/60 "2024-09-13T20:18:16Z")

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@SlickSlack , mind sharing your shortcut and workflow for this?

thx so much!

z

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