For reading PDF files on my iPad I use most of the time the PDF Expert app combined with Dropbox. Moreover, I am experimenting with PDFpen apps for iOS and OS X which use iCloud in order to synchronize the PDF files and their annotations. Undoubtedly, the automatic and on the fly synchronization of my highlights and notes is quite impressive but I still consider Skim to be the best Mac application for reading PDF documents. As a result, I wanted an easy and fast way to send the PDF files, which I would like to read on my iPad, from Skim (more precisely from my DEVONthink databases) to my Dropbox and iCloud folders. This can happen with the following AppleScripts.
The first script sends the frontmost Skim PDF document to my Dropbox folder (:Users:MB:Dropbox:0 PDF files:) and the second to the iCloud folder for PDFpen (:Users:MB:Library:Mobile Documents:7PKJ6G4DXL~com~smileonmymac~PDFpen:Documents:). You should customize the variables which store the above paths in order for the scripts to function in your computer.
The Skim annotations are automatically embedded in the PDF document and you can see and edit them without any problem using either PDF Expert or PDFpen.
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organognosi.com
How to copy the frontmost Skim PDF document to Dropbox
Version: 1.0
Date: 24 November 2012
// LIKE THIS SCRIPT?
If this AppleScript is helpful to you, please show your support here:
http://www.organognosi.com/support
// SCRIPT INFORMATION AND UPDATE PAGE
www.organognosi.com/how-to-copy-the-frontmost-skim-pdf-document-to-dropbox-and-icloud
// REQUIREMENTS
Apps: Skim, Dropbox
Customize the value of the dropboxPath variable according to your system
// CHANGELOG
1.0 Initial Release
*)
tell application "Skim"
set namePDF to name of document 1
set dropboxPath to ":Users:MB:Dropbox:0 PDF files:"
set last4char to characters -1 thru -4 of namePDF as string
if last4char is ".pdf" then set namePDF to characters 1 thru -5 of namePDF as string
save document 1 in dropboxPath & namePDF as "PDF with Embedded Notes"
end tell
Click here to open the source code in AppleScript Editor
(*
organognosi.com
How to copy the frontmost Skim PDF document to iCloud
Version: 1.0
Date: 24 November 2012
// LIKE THIS SCRIPT?
If this AppleScript is helpful to you, please show your support here:
http://www.organognosi.com/support
// SCRIPT INFORMATION AND UPDATE PAGE
www.organognosi.com/how-to-copy-the-frontmost-skim-pdf-document-to-dropbox-and-icloud
// REQUIREMENTS
Apps: PDFpen or PDFpen Cloud Access, Skim
Customize the value of the iCloudPDFpenPath variable according to your system
// CHANGELOG
1.0 Initial Release
*)
tell application "Skim"
set namePDF to name of document 1
set iCloudPDFpenPath to ":Users:MB:Library:Mobile Documents:7PKJ6G4DXL~com~smileonmymac~PDFpen:Documents:"
set last4char to characters -1 thru -4 of namePDF as string
if last4char is ".pdf" then set namePDF to characters 1 thru -5 of namePDF as string
save document 1 in iCloudPDFpenPath & namePDF as "PDF with Embedded Notes"
end tell
Click here to open the source code in AppleScript Editor
I am thinking of starting a similar workflow with my DT system. Do you export your notes and highlights from you iPad back to Skim or directly back to DT? What if you begin reading a document on your iPad, but finish annotating it on Skim?