PDF Handling Preferences

PDF Handling preferences allow you to define the automatic renaming process of PDF documents that you want to import to an EndNote library. These settings only apply to the renaming of PDF documents that have relative attachment links, and so are stored in the library's .Data folder. (See Selecting a Relative Path or an Absolute Path for File Attachments.)

To access these settings, go to the Edit menu, select Preferences, and then select PDF Handling from the list of preferences.

The renaming and auto-import processes work in the background when you open an EndNote library and while you are working in a library.

Auto Renaming Options

Select an auto-renaming option.

Don't Rename: This is the default option. EndNote does not rename PDF documents when they are imported into a library.

Author + Year + Title: EndNote uses these fields as the first, second, and third fields in the PDF filename. A filename is created from the available data in the selected fields.

Author + Title: EndNote uses these fields as the first and second fields in the PDF filename. A filename is created from the available data in the selected fields.

Author + Year: EndNote uses these fields as the first and second fields in the PDF filename. A filename is created from the available data in the selected fields.

Title: EndNote uses only the Title field in the PDF filename. A filename is created from the available data in the selected field.

Custom: You can select up to three fields to base the name on, as described below.

Custom Option

The Custom option allows you to create a personalized method of renaming PDF documents.

A Rename Options dialog opens when you select this radio button. The dialog lets you choose up to three fields (or None) in the PDF filename. For example, you could select:

  • Author, Year, Title (default setting)

    or
  • Title, Author, Year

    or
  • Title, Year

    or
  • You can select any combination of fields from the menu. However, you cannot select the following fields.
    • Figure
    • File Attachments
    • Last Updated
    • Rating
    • Read Status

Note: Look at the text box below the Custom radio button after you have made your selections from the dialog to ensure that you selected the needed fields.

PDF Auto Import Folder

Select the Enable automatic importing checkbox to enable automatic importing of your PDFs.

Select the folder from where you want EndNote to import PDFs into your library automatically. Download or copy your PDF files to this folder for automatic importing and renaming. EndNote imports all PDFs in your PDF Auto Import Folder and stores them in a temporary group called Imported References. This group will not appear the next time you open EndNote, but the references will still be in your library. If you wish to put the references in a custom group, you should do so before closing EndNote, while they still appear in Imported References.

After EndNote runs the import operation, EndNote creates a subfolder called Import within the Auto Import Folder. During the import, EndNote creates a copy of the PDF in the .Data folder of the library, and then moves the original PDF to this subfolder after importing. To save disk space, you may want to occasionally clean out this subfolder.

Keep in mind that EndNote does not import PDFs from subfolders within the PDF Auto Import Folder.

File Renaming Conventions
  • Files names — 50 character maximum count, including the period (.) and filename extension.
  • 15 character maximum count per field.
  • Year Field — 4 character limit.
  • A hyphen (-) is used to separate fields
  • An underscore (_) is used for any characters that cannot be represented in a file name.

    EndNote replaces the following characters with an underscore (_) during the renaming process.
    • Quotation Mark (")
    • Asterisk (*)
    • Slash Mark (/)
    • Colon (:)
    • Left Angle Bracket (<)
    • Right Angle Bracket (>)
    • Question Mark (?)
    • Backslash (\)
    • Vertical Bar (|)
File Naming Rules
  • You can rename attached PDF documents at any time by selecting a reference containing a PDF attachment, and then selecting from the References menu, File Attachments > Rename PDFs. All the PDFs attached to that reference will be renamed according to the rules. See Renaming Attachments and PDF Files.
  • If a PDF file name exceeds the 50 character limit, then EndNote truncates the file name during the renaming process.
  • Unicode characters are accepted during the renaming process.
  • If you select Author-Year-Title renaming, and the PDF document does not have a year, EndNote inserts a hyphen (-) between the author name and the title to replace the missing year data.
Import File and Import Folder Options

EndNote renames all PDF documents that you import via the Import File and Import Folders commands based on your current renaming preferences.

For example, if you define renaming as Author+Title, then EndNote renames the PDF by author name and title and ignores the date of the published work.

This rule also applies to Custom preference settings.

Related Topics

Importing PDF Files to Create New References 

Importing PDF Folders to Create New References