Research Guides: Zotero: Mark Up PDFs

Categorize Sources

In addition to putting your sources in collections, you may also "tag" a source however you wish.

The benefit is that later, you will be able to search by these tags.

To tag a source:

Navigate to the right collection and source within Zotero (or search for the source using the search bar)
On the righthand panel, click the Tags tab
Click Add button and type in your tag

NOTES:

You can also add tags at the time you are importing source(s) using the Zotero bookmarklet. See Building Your Zotero Library
If you are using a library database that has subject tags of its own, these will often be imported into Zotero along with the other source information.

Organize and Read PDFs

The image sliders below contains five total screenshots of a Zotero Library, a Collection within that Library, and the PDF Reader. These screenshots show the desktop application, since the PDF Reader can't be used on the web version. In each screenshot, one or two elements of the interface are emphasized via an outline or icon.

Instructions: Select the arrows on either side of the image to display the next image.

Organize Your Library Overview

Zotero full library with info panel

Your Library houses all Collections, which can be named by Course, Project, or Theme. When you select a source, the Info (citation information) displays by default.

Zotero collection selected and search highlighted

Navigate between Collections using the left-most horizontal menu. You can also Search for sources or annotations.

Zotero notes panel

Toggle between Info and Notes using the right-most horizontal panel. You can add Notes from this panel or export all annotations from PDF Reader as a Note, seen here.

Read PDFs Overview

Zotero PDF Reader with interaction menu

All possible interactions are listed above the PDF, in a static menu. You can highlight, add notes, select areas, and change highlight color. To the left, you can see a personal comment tied to a text highlight.

Zotero annotation or page display

You can toggle the left-most panel off or on. You can also alternate between viewing your annotations or thumbnails of each page.

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