Zotero, but no pdfs in vault

[Ylberi]

Hello there,

first of all - I am new to this forum, so please bear with me. I finally figured out how to use Zotero and Obsidian to edit my annotations, but what I do not like is the fact that I have to save my pdfs in my vault as well, in order to use the “go to annotation” option. I know there is a way to just save your annotations, but then I am unable to automatically jump to Zotero in order to see the exact location of the annotation in the pdf file.

So…, my question is: is there a way to make it work without importing the pdfs to my vault?

Thanks a lot.

[gino_m]

Hi

Don’t import PDFs into your vault. Only import the annotations. I’m using the Zotero Integration plugin. You can browse and try templates here.

Then when you use the plugin with your chosen template, the deep links of the PDFs will be there to click on.
For example, a template I had been using before:

---
year: {{date | format ("YYYY")}}
publish: false
aliases:
  - {{citekey}}
authors: 
  - [{{authors}}]
date created: <%tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD")%>
date modified: <%tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD")%>
---
Abstract: {{abstractNote}}

### {{title}}
URL: {{url}}
Zotero Link: {{pdfZoteroLink}}

### Notes
{% for annotation in annotations -%}{%- if annotation.annotatedText -%}{% if 'Red' in annotation.colorCategory %}
##### {{annotation.annotatedText | escape }}{% else %}
{{pdfZoteroLink}}
> {{annotation.annotatedText | escape }} ([See page {{annotation.page}}.](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/{{annotation.attachment.itemKey}}?page={{annotation.page}}&annotation={{annotation.id}}))

{% endif %}{%- endif %} {% if annotation.imageRelativePath %} ![[{{annotation.imageRelativePath}}]]{% endif %}{% if annotation.comment %}
{{annotation.comment}}
{% endif %}{% endfor -%}

Inside Zotero, you can use the Zutilo plugin for deep links.

[Ylberi]

Thanks for your template and the link. I am grateful and somewhat overwhelmed, lol. There is a lot to learn apparently. I started tinkering with some templates and it is mind-blowing. My bible notes never looked this good and organised! Thanks a lot. I appreciate it!!