Can't capture Adobe PDF files in EF library

Learning to use Eaglefiler (trial copy) and unable to find a way to capture existing Adobe PDF files into the EF library. Also only one option seems to work for capturing text.

For the Adobe PDF file, pressing CMD-F1 brings up a window with this option “• Print a document and choose ‘Save PDF to EagleFiler’ from the PDF button.” However, when I do this and click the PDF icon in the print window it returns two possibilities: “Save the PDF” and “Save the PDF to Eaglefiler”. In either instance it returns “Saving a PDF file when printing is not supported. Instead, choose File > Save.” message. I even tried the File>Save option which only leads to creating another Adobe PDF document.

For capturing text from within an Adobe PDF file, drag and dropping text to the source column or the drop pad returns a “could not add to library” error. Drag and drop onto the Dock icon does work.

I have OS 10.8 and Adobe Acrobat 10.1.3. Is there something different that would work?

I like this app a lot. It seems to work well in capturing web browser and Outlook emails but being able to tag pdf files is critical.

You don’t need to create a new PDF file; you can just drag and drop the existing one into EagleFiler.

Is there any more information about that in the error window or in the system log?

Just tested drag and drop with PDF file and it works just as stated. So unlike a Word document where one can select CMD-F1, with PDF docs the steps are always different. Its good to clarify this as I’ve noticed another forum where someone states that EF can no longer handle PDF docs.

Per drag and drop of text from a PDF, nothing appears in the systems log. The message in the Error window is: “Could not add to library untitled.rtf.” So to bring over small amounts of text is creating a new record manually first or bringing it in through clipboard the only options?

I’ve looked over the user’s guide and it was quite helpful except following remained unclear:

  If you'd rather import just the selected text instead of the entire Web page or document, you can
  use drag and drop or the EagleFiler: Import service (Command%) instead of the capture key.

 EagleFiler must be running in order for the capture key to work. Thus, you may wish to add
 EagleFiler to your Login Items in the Accounts pane of System Preferences. You can easily do
 this by clicking on the EagleFiler icon in the Dock and choosing Open at Login.

Is this “Eagle Filer: Import Service” an alternative to importing text from a PDF file?

How do I execute Command%? I have no idea what are the key strokes to execute ‘%’ on a mac air?

I understand that Command% should be available in other applications and I can see that it shows up in the ‘services preferences’ list within services panel of applications like Word or Adobe but the ‘no services apply’ line (if its applicable) is inoperable so not sure what is happening?

Thanks for the clarifications

It doesn’t really have anything to do with PDFs. Drag and drop always works. The issue is that Adobe Reader does not support AppleScript; thus, it cannot work with EagleFiler’s capture hotkey. If you use a PDF reader that does support AppleScript, such as Skim, you will be able to import via F1. You can also use F1 to import a PDF file from the Finder.

Since that’s not correct, it would be great if you could tell me the URL of that forum.

This seems to be due to a bug in Adobe Reader’s drag and drop feature. I recommend dragging and dropping the text to EagleFiler’s Dock icon instead. You could also Copy the text and then click on EagleFiler’s Dock icon and choose Import Clipboard.

This is a way to import text (as well as other content, e.g. a selected image) from most Mac applications.

On a U.S. keyboard, the % symbol is accessed by holding the Shift key and typing the number 5.

The “EagleFiler: Import” service works with any Mac application that can send text. Unfortunately, I don’t think Adobe Reader supports the OS X Services feature. Again, there are other PDF readers such as Skim and Preview that do support Services.

Per the misinformation, it was on the “macupdate” website but can’t remember which particular app as it was part of a broad search to find tagging alternatives. That’s what led me to EF which I was unaware of (part of the learning curve for the mac OS). I do remember that their comments were positive except for how it handled pdfs.

Per the Command%, yes that’s what I thought but thought something else must be happening as I couldn’t get the ‘eagle filer: import service’ function to work. It’s working now!