Devonian Times Masthead

The DEVONtechnologies Blog

Articles in the category Tips

March 1, 2022

How to Create Documents from the Clipboard

Screenshot of clipboard panel and a new document in DEVONthink.

When rapidly capturing data from a source for use in another application, copy and paste is a commonly used method. In DEVONthink there is a built-in shortcut to create new documents from clipboard content but you need to understand what you’ll get from the content you copied. (more)

February 22, 2022

How to Make Screen Captures

DEVONthink's Sorter in screen capture mode.

As the old adage goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. This is certainly true in computing too. It is very common to capture things we want to remember or share. macOS has always had nice screen capturing capabilities but the images are captured to a static location. Here is how to take and file screen captures directly in DEVONthink. (more)

February 15, 2022

Surviving in the Age of Surveillance

Symbolic picture of a quadcopter with a spy camera attached.

On his blog, David Sparks a.k.a. MacSparky paints a dark picture of an age of mass surveillance. And David is right. We can only watch out and base our decisions what products to use and which services to trust on smart choices. Here are some of our thoughts and two links. (more)

February 8, 2022

Understanding PDF Page Numbering

PDF page folio and page number on thumbnail.

In DEVONthink and DEVONthink To Go you can copy page links in a PDF. These item links allow you to jump to a specific page in the PDF. But sometimes the number in the item link is wrong… isn’t it? Or you may manually add a page parameter but it isn’t jumping to the correct page!? Here’s how PDF pages and the item link parameter work. (more)

February 1, 2022

How to Open Files Externally

Screenshot of the Open With menu in the Get Info pane.

DEVONthink not only allows you to store your files, but also to open them in their associated external applications. But sometimes when you open a file externally, it opens the wrong application. Here’s how the Open With menu and launching external applications work in DEVONthink. (more)

January 25, 2022

Assessing Your Computing Habits

Desk with computer, hands writing notes.

From time to time it’s a good idea to examine one’s habits and databases in DEVONthink and DEVONthink To Go. Here are some things to think about… (more)

January 18, 2022

DEVONthink To Go App Icon Shortcuts

DEVONthink To Go's application icon shortcut menu

With the speed of our networks and operating systems, the timeframes of our interactions have only grown shorter and shorter. While “entering data at the speed of thought” isn’t quite there yet, DEVONthink To Go’s application icon delivers some commands for a few quicker interactions. (more)

January 11, 2022

How to Fully Uninstall DEVONthink

Broom sweeping DEVONthink.

There are certain situations where you may need to fully uninstall DEVONthink. Maybe you are switching jobs and will be returning a company-issued computer. Or perhaps you are selling your current Mac and want to make sure you have cleaned off your DEVONthink installation. Whatever the reason, here is how to do a full uninstall of DEVONthink. (more)

December 14, 2021

How to Color Your Tags

Colored tags in DEVONthink's user interface.

With the mass of information often found in a DEVONthink database, color can be a helpful visual indicator when browsing your documents. Many people know you can apply color labels on your documents, similar to the Finder, but here’s how to also color your tags in DEVONthink. (more)

December 7, 2021

How to Add Plain Text Extensions

Icon of unknown file type.

Plain text files are at the very core of many things in the computing world. Markdown and HTML, system logs, delimited files for tabular data… the list goes on an on. DEVONthink supports many plain text file types, but there may be types DEVONthink doesn’t recognize. Here’s how to add new plain text extensions that can then be viewed and edited in DEVONthink. (more)