MacOS app coming in the fall according to the developer.
I get around bookmarks through a specific mind map notation, which lets you jump to specific parts.
Thanks for the info. Let’s see what LT will offer in the near future.
I very much like LiquidText and honestly, it’s not terrible navigating the file structure to open the PDF in LiquidText. LiquidText allows you to write the markup (e.g. highlighting, annotations, etc) back to the PDF as long as it’s on the PDF and not in the LiquidText workspace.
LiquidText somewhere stores it’s own file in it’s own format but this is invisible to us as users. This is where the issue lies:
If you change the file name in DevonThink, LT does not recognize the change and the association between the LT proprietary file and the renamed DT file is lost.
I am a PhD Fellow researching international law and emergent technologies, among other things. I have been using DT3 (and its predecessor) for the last year or so. I’ve just bought an iPad Mini for reading articles and other material, and an Apple Pencil to highlight and annotate. Therefore, I have downloaded DTTG onto my iPad Mini. I don’t much like the reading frame as the bar at the top, and lack of full-screen view, unnecessarily minimise the page. There are ways round it, sure, but LiquidText interests me as a reading and annotating tool, but also I would like to explore its other unique features.
Workflow is my concern, and @Calhistorian may have answered most of this already, but what I want to know is how I get from a DTTG document into the annotating and reading space in LiquidText. I assume that I simply select the Share button and then Open In?
This leaves me with the question: do the changes I make in LT show up completely in DTTG and DT3 on my Mac? Obviously, it will be lovely to have a MacOS version LiquidText, but right now, I just want to read, highlight, annotate (handwritten) and see that in DT3 and DTTG.
Is this going to happen? Or will there be workarounds required?
For example, having now downloaded LiquidText, when I tap the Share icon in DTTG, the only option relating to LiquidText is ‘Copy to LiquidText’. Is that what I want, rather than trying to Open In LiquidText, which is not an option…
In Liquid Text on an iPad, in the Open Document panel in the left sidebar, choose “Open File”. That will bring up the iOS/iPadOS Files interface. At the top level of this, make sure DEVONthink to Go is “Source”. Starting at the top level of DEVONthink to Go, navigate down to the database and group where your document is. Click it to open the document in Liquid text.
You can use the annotation features. When finished, click the “Home” icon in the upper left corner of the LT display. LT will ask if you want to “Send your annotations back to your original source PDF file”.
Limitations: LT has annotation features that cannot be stored back to a PDF document. If for instance you dragged text out of a PDF in the LT workspace, than appended comments to that text – that sort of LT-specific annotation will probably be lost.
I think you also need to own the premium version of LT … not sure about that part.
(Personally, I think doing any kind of studious annotation in DEVONthink to Go is a horrible experience. I only use MarginNote for this, if I have multiple documents in a set of annotations, or LiquidText if I want to use LT’s graphical features. DEVONthink to Go is a handy bucket / filing cabinet, and not much else. For free, you get what you pay for.)
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I also think using DTTG for annotation is not particularly user friendly on the basis of what I have seen so far, but I have faith that development will come. LiquidText seems like something I want to explore, possibly MarginNote too. not sure which one suits me best at this moment. Thank you for your time.
As an update, I have moved beyond LiquitText for one big reason and one small reason.
Big: As mentioned by @korm the LT workspace to the side of your PDF document is proprietary and not transferable (and is a part of premium purchase). It is REALLY cool to be able to draw connections and have a free form workspace.
Small: The UI/UX, outside of the pinch pages, is not all that pleasing. I am a sucker for aesthetics, and LT does not quite cut it. They have been spending a lot of time moving cross-platform as I understand it, and therefore I felt as though my use-case was not their priority (which is fine).
Now, when I am doing a deep dive into research, I instead use MarginNote3. The biggest reason why? — I can export the mind map/outline in OPML format and use in other applications, including DEVONthink on the Mac (though not in DTTG). So, in essence, LiquidText’s only saving grace (for my use-case) is the pinch feature — which admittedly is unique and powerful, but it comes bottled with features I don’t like. My use-case demands an extreme amount of cross-app, cross-doc connections. In essence I need my PDFs, annotations, notes, etc to be my “second brain” as opposed to using this software for discrete projects.
For @AndrewM, I would just use a standard PDF editor (like MarginNote3, PDFpen, PDF Expert, PDF Viewer, or LT without the LT workspace, ), open the DT database in the Files App and make your annotations there, and they will be saved back to the DT file (you can’t start in DTTG, you MUST always start in the receiving application/editor when using iOS/iPadOS — at least for a while).
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An update, finally soon there will Beta available for LT for Mac. still cant believe it after two years of pushing the Dev
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A bit late to the conversation, but…
I previously used both. Swore by MN before I found DT. Played with LiquidText while I was in-between workflow lanes but finally opted for DT and PDF Expert, and if I want a mind map, iThoughtsX. (Sometimes I use the markup within DT on the iPad. But usually I opt for PDF Expert.)
I don’t like having notes in separate boxes invisible to the all-seeing panoptic eye (DT). I can’t point DT at either MN or LT and have it see annotations within those apps, so that’s a no-go for me. (Same frustration with Scrivener at the moment, but I’m not ready to let that one go, yet.) Also, getting notes out of MN and LT and into text format is a pain. With PDF Expert, since the file stays in DT, I don’t have to point DT at anything. Everything is nice and simply tucked in.
Right now my workflow is to mark up a PDF in PDF Expert on my iPad (by opening the file in PDFEx which can see my file structure in DT), and then to go back to my computer to make notes on my notes. Because that helps me remember my research, I don’t mind the redundancy. (I can’t remember any notes I take if I type them directly.)
I can see all of the markup on the PDF, and there are no distinct files to link to. It all sits in the in-file annotations in the right sidebar.
If I want to search for something in DevonThink, it picks up the in-file annotations just as simply as any other text. In the screenshot, I searched for “Concord,” which was in one of the notes (“Details” pane) that I typed from my handwritten markup. And if I click on the specific instance, it takes me straight to that page.
Since I stopped using MN & LT before now, I’m not certain how the search function works within DT for the associated exported files. Maybe it’s the same, once you export the notes from the proprietary format. I just don’t like that extra step + the associating.
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I have been wasting so much time trying out these other apps. You have gotten to the real issue for me. I need to write on the text and write notes later. That fits my thought process. I am not collating multiple documents, and when I am, I should use those apps. But just to create reading notes, I need to use your method. Today I found Mendeley which provides free tools for annotating document. I bought PaperShip for something like 15 dollars. That is so much less than paying for subscription. Now, I can get down to work. Thank you. Ellen
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Do you (or anyone else reading this thread) know if this works also with PDFPen (Pro)? I have this app already and it would be nice if I didn’t have to buy PDF Expert 
I am pretty sure that PDFExpert on iOS is free with basic functions which includes accessing DT via Files and the full annotations suite. They have a pricey Pro subscription (fullblown editing functions) which I have never tried. I set up the app last night after ditching iAnnotate which doesn’t play nice with Files and so far it looks great.
I am using PDF Expert free (that is, w/o pro subscription) to read and annotate PDFs stored in DTTG. Works like a charm: i just open from PDF expert the doc in the DTTG hierarchy and start reading annotating. Any change to it is directly reflected in DTTG.
PDF Expert free doesn’t provide a lot more PDF functionalities than DTTG afaik, but the experience is nicer.
I’ve also been struggling (for a long time now) to find a good workflow re: pdf files annotation.
Like many others, my regular research workflow relies on: (1) collect data > (2) organize data and generate ideas > (3) research writing. (An adaptation of the Zettelkasten system.)
For this I use a set of applications and online resources:
(1) find data in metasearchers/repositories > Bookends (permanent storage and organisation of references; mostly pdf files, but also other formats or even just the physical book data) & DTP (web collecting data, images and graphics, others).
(2) read and annotate data collected. For this I need a pdf reader to annotate files, which remain in DTP or Bookends. Then I organize Reading Notes to be placed also on DTP, with links to Bookends.
Essentially I have three types of notes:
- Scratch notes: basically jots meant to be temporary (to delete after reuse in Concept Notes).
- Reading notes: for any type of data, including articles, books, vídeos, websites… This is why I need a good pdf reader app.
- Concept notes: organized data on specific subjects.
(3) write ideas/research/etc on Scrivener, with the final edit in Word or Nisus Writer Pro.
Now, my biggest problem by far has been choosing the pdf reader app.
I like PDF Expert, but I find its annotation features lacking, in particular the export ones. MarginNote and LiquidText [1]: I tried both and found them too cumbersome; plus, again, I didn’t like the export features. Tried PDFPen and never liked it (in fact, I find it way hyped).
Lately I have been using Highlights app, and I may finally 
have a winner (at least for the iPad; I’m still to try it on the Mac as I’ve been lazy re: macOS Catalina update):
- Easy to navigate in between the pdf and the notes (including having them side by side).
- Colors coding (I have yellow for general, green for references, grey for definitions, etc).
- Great exportation features (including customising the header of each annotation). (Also, it integrates quite well with DTP.)
- Sort annotations by color.
- Tables and images as annotations.
- And, for me the best discoveries in Highlights.app, lookup citations and smart copy them as BibTeX.
Unlike other apps that request annual subscriptions (looking at you, LiquidText and MarginNote!), Highlights also has monthly subscriptions for its Pro version (very much worth it). One can consistently try the app for a small amount of money and see if it fits the workflow.
[1]: In fact, after a few days of trying LiquidText I returned it. The +30€ for its license were not worth it for me.
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Like the LT
As long as PDFPen (Pro) works with the iOS files mechanism, then you should be fine.
(mechanism=where you can open a file within the pdf program from any of your files whether on the iPad/Phone or in the cloud. If your DT is password-protected, you may run into syncing issues, but ever since I took the password off, it’s worked great. Just be sure to open the file from within the PDF program; don’t make the mistake of exporting it from DT to the program; it’s head-shaking how long it took me to figure that out 
)
Has anyone who uses MN3 been able to develop a workflow between MN3 and DT? I’m trying to figure out a way to organize my annotations, but solely relying on the export feature for MN3 just creates more work than I desire.
Instead, I want to know if there are any workflows that would incorporate scripting by utilizing a specific DT applink/hashtag that I can then place in the notes of any highlight, which after exporting the notes, would be captured by the script to then automatically rename/reorder and place within an assigned folder in DT?
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Oh my. I didn’t like Highlights before because it doesn’t have (or I can’t find) a tool to write on the document, but with iOS 14’s use-your-pencil-in-any-textbox-for-handwriting-recognition combined with Highlights’ comment tool, I might like this better than PDFExpert. (!) I really detest subscription apps, though (if I wanted the pro features).
Lately I have found Highlights more buggy (a few crashes opening new files, problems with highlighted text not being steady). I’m might not renew for awhile and try PDF Expert + DT3 to extract highlighted text.
Also—I’m waiting to see if DTTG next version brings more options re: reading and highlighting in the iPad.