Issue editing pdf files in DevonThink Pro - copies files

I’ve been using DevonThink Pro for years on MacOS El Capitan and earlier OSX versions. I deferred upgrading past El Cap due to Sierra’s issues with ScanSnap scanners. However, I recently upgraded to High Sierra after a drive crash.

Prior to my upgrade I was using the old version (9) of Acrobat Pro that came with DevonThink to make simple modifications to pdf files. That version of Acrobat will not run on High Sierra.

I discovered that Apple’s Preview app can be used to edit Acrobat files, and is sufficient for the basic edits I need to make: annotate, add/delete pages from other pdf files.

Issue: When I view a pdf in DevonThink, then click the edit icon to open the file using Preview, and start to edit the file, Preview displays the following message:

“The original document can’t be changed, so a duplicate with your changes has been created”

At this point, I have a new physical file in the database, which is not visible through the DevonThink UI. I can save the file and re-import it to DevonThink so that it is indexed, but it’s not an acceptable way of doing things for daily use.

When I used Acrobat Pro for this, it simply updated the original file and asked me when I was closing the file whether I want to save–no issues.

Any suggestions?

I’m open to purchasing other pdf editing software. However, Preview should, in theory, meet my very basic requirements (although I don’t like the UI especially).

The latest version of Acrobat Pro far exceeds my needs and costs more than DevonThink itself. If I need to consider other pdf editing software, any recommendations? Nitro?

Thanks,

Stephan

This is an Apple issue. Preview will not allow edits to files in the User Library, which is where the Global Inbox lives. You will not encounter this problem with files in separate databases.

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@Bluefrog, thanks for he explanation. Sounds like I’ll need to purchase a 3rd party PDF editor.

  • Stephan

Or you could more inexpensively move the files to a different database before editing them! :smiley:

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