Images are from screenshots while reading PDF/web/PPT/etc so typically links won’t work. I do use links when referring to entire documents or certain paragraphs.
Pity DEVONthink uses TextEdit which is one of the worst text editor out there. No choice but to go about using extra steps via saving images and dropping image files instead of simple copy/screenshot & paste.
It’s not DEVONthink that picked TextEdit to use on your RTF. It is what your macOS is set to use when opening those files, including Finder. You, not DEVONthink control that.
You can easily use an other editor that you like better by using the DEVONthink’s “open with” command which you will see if you right mouse click on the file. Or change the macOS setting for what app to open with RTF files. See Apple’s documentation at Choose an app to open a file on Mac – Apple Support (UK)
Use your preferred editor that operates as you prefer. Surely you have some experience with something else that you like better than TextEdit (the “free” app that arrives with macOS).
I am referring to inbuilt edition of DEVONthink which is TextEdit type. Yes am aware of ability to open externally with other apps but I’m referring to built in editor
Good. Perhaps use one of them to avoid the problem you are reporting? Just a thought.
DEVONthink uses the same text engine as TextEdit, the one offered by Apple as a known and documented API.
No choice but to go about using extra steps via saving images and dropping image files instead of simple copy/screenshot & paste.
Sure there is: Drag and drop the image from the source - web, etc. - into the document whenever possible (which is quite often, I’d suspect).
that’s his/her report that drag and drop images result in larger file size. have same challenge myself having to resort to saving images vs copy paste as recommend by cgrunenberg
Already using iA Writer which is a much better MD editor compared to one on DT but don’t fancy spending time looking for another app to replace RTF editor for DT. No choice but to stick with crappy Textedit on DT.
Yeah no choice but to put up with using extra steps to save screenshots and attach to DT to avoid bloating up RTF size.
There are some ideas I have to give you choice. I suspect you are not interested, but I’ll mention anyway. Why are you using RTF? Just to have a document that integrates images with text? iA Writer is built for Markdown which of course does not integrate images as you may expect (assumption). While I normally write big stuff outside of DEVONthink, if I were wanting to edit/create individual files that I store in DEVONthink, I use Apple Pages (free on your Mac), Microsoft Word, etc. These apps have been around for decades and are designed for that and are not the DEVONthink RTF editor for which you have disdain. DEVONthink’s “open with” or changing the default app for an extension in macOS (explained above) works well.
No problem paying for apps and own plenty of them. Choose only the ones I like and uninstall he rest. FWIW I have tired MS Word a while back with DEVONthink but images won’t show up in DT. Somehow RTFD didn’t (haven’t tried for a while) play well in Word-DT combo. I could see images on Word but not on DT. Reason I use iA Writer for MD is because it’s beautiful editor on both Mac and iPad, plus consistency in UI and tools on both platforms. DT’s RTF editors UI don’t match on Mac-iPad-iPhone, not consistent and feel totally different.
If there’s a good RTF, I’ll be happy to pay for it as long it’s consistent on Mac-iPad and works with DT. I even resorted to use Agenda which has a beautiful editor and consistent experience on Mac-iPad but can’t open externally via DT so have to write on Agenda and copy/share to DT.
Will explore Keep-It on weekend as alternative to DT. Don’t want to waste other people time and keep going on with my view of clunky TextEdit and challenges on RTF editor on DT so will stop here and not continue on this thread. Happy that DT editors work for others. Cheers
How Odd.
Microsoft Word works here. And has for years. When I double click on the file name, it opens in Word, just as I expect.
That’s because RTFD is an Apple only thing. Apple did not fully/properly implement RTF in their TextEngine. Instead they came up with RTFD which is a package format that contains a text file and optional files like images. Word can neither open nor write RTFD. Newer versions of Pages can’t either as Apple seems to have lost interest in RTFD.
In RTF, not RTFD, and for the aforementioned reasons.
If there was:
Microsoft’s RTF is a relative to DOC and both are fundamentally flawed. Try the latest version of Word and even while it uses the more modern DOCX as a default you will see that an image copied into a Word document will still change the font settings.
I’m not really happy with writing in Markdown—in general, not referring to DEVONthink specifically—because it can be unwieldy. But it keeps all the font trouble away. And Markdown texts can be processed impeccably by DEVONthink Smart Rule scripts in the background.
+100% on cumbersome writing on DT3, though i like DT3 however sorry to say its editors are terrible
Since it’s easy to use any editor you like with DT, what’s the problem?
Define “writing”. 
Don’t usually comment on forum. Understandable nobody likes negative feedbacks nonetheless believe developers should take time to listen and improve. Came to DEVONThink having read excellent book Taking Smart Notes with DEVONThink by Kourosh Dini. DEVONThink blends well into my workflow though taking notes is unpleasant. Taking notes is critical in my job with images-photos-commenting markup with a lot of list-bullets-indentation. Editing rich notes taken on DEVONThink on DEVONThink-To-Go messes up formatting, try using lists, indenting and outdenting paragraphs on DEVONThink-To-Go → what a nightmare. Change a line to heading on DEVONThink involve many steps. These are only handful of examples of difficulties taking notes and editing them. Generally avoid changing notes on DEVONThink-To-Go if they were written from DEVONThink, vice versa.
Easy for to tell users open with another app yet it should be a basic function of DEVONThink and DEVONThink-To-Go. Why should users buy another app to do basic function? Unpleasant experience for users taking lots of rich notes with images, list and indentation. Hope developers will listen.
Please keep in mind that it is clear that DEVONtechnology’s design basis for DEVONthink was to make it possible for users to use their preferred other apps, should they prefer. Unlike some apps which try to lock you into their own ecosystem, DEVONthink deliberately does not do that.
It seems so many people don’t get that. Worse, they seem to express disdain and complain. I’m having hard time understanding that, frankly.
What should be an “easy function” – providing an RTF editor better than Apple’s own? When nobody outside the Appleverse supports this format?
DT is (and should be) a DMS. Not an editor for a dying format nor a competitor to other, better editors for Markdown, HTML, Word, Excel or JPG. If you’re looking for a behemoth, Emacs is alive and kicking.
But the strong point of DT is that it works well with other specialized apps. Not that it tries to reinvent them.
