Export images embedded in notes

[sinnpi]

With the new pdf annotation feature in the beta of Zotera, it is possible to select an area of an opened pdf, and to embed an image of that selection in a note.

Expected behavior: These images are stored in the ./Zotero/cache/library folder, and I think the export should include them in the form of a \includegraphics{} command.

Actual behavior: Currently these images seem to be ignored (blank space) in the export if the option "Export notes" is activated.

[github-actions[bot]]

It looks like you did not upload an support log. The support log is important; it gives @retorquere your current BBT settings and a copy of the problematic reference as a test case so he can best replicate your problem. Without it, @retorquere is effectively blind. Support logs are useful for both analysis and for enhancement requests; in the case of export enhancements, @retorquere needs the copy of the references you have in mind.

If you did try to submit a support log, but the ID looked like D<number>, that is a Zotero debug report, which @retorquere cannot access. Please re-submit a BBT debug log by one of the methods below. BBT support log IDs end in -apse or -euc. Support logs that include sample references will end in -refs-apse or -refs-euc; these are the type @retorquere needs for export or citekey issues.

This request is much more likely than not to apply to you, too, even if you think it unlikely, and even if it does not, there's no harm in sending a debug log that turns out to be unnecessary. @retorquere will usually just end up saying "please send a debug log first". Let's just skip over the unnecesary delay this entails. Sending a debug log is very easy, depending on your situation, follow one of these procedures:

1. If your issue relates to how BBT behaves around a specific reference(s), such as citekey generation or export, select at least one of the problematic reference(s), right-click it, and submit an BBT support log from that popup menu. If the problem is with export, please do include a sample of what you see exported, and what you expected to see exported for these references, either by pasting it in a comment here (if it is small) or attaching it as a .txt file (if it's large). These logs will have an ID that ends in -refs-apse or -refs-euc.

2. If the issue does not relate to references and is of a more general nature, generate an support log by restarting Zotero with debugging enabled (Help -> Debug Output Logging -> Restart with logging enabled), reproducing your problem, and selecting Send Better BibTeX debug report... from the help menu.

Once done, you will see a support log ID in red. Please post that support log id in an issue comment here.

Thank you!

[retorquere]

Really can't do anything here without a support log as per point 1.

[sinnpi]

Support log ID: WTLKG8MG-refs-euc

This was the note I was trying to export (screenshot):

And the export is

@book{wernerFunktionalanalysis2018,
[...]
  note = {Test note
\par
(Werner, 2018, p. 244)},
[...]
}

The image embedded in the note is missing from the export.

[retorquere]

The image data is not in the export. There is something that points to an image attachment with the key CRU99GMV, if you type that in the quick-search box, do you find the image? But generally the export translators can't access any data that Zotero does not explicitly hand them -- knowing the path on disk doesn't help. I'll see on the dev forum what they say.

[sinnpi]

Searching for CRU99GMV finds the note in question. It isn't clear to me what exactly it points to though, it just shows the book entry with the note highlighted in the results list.

On a side-note, I was a bit perplexed how you got that ID as I didn't see it in the confirmation dialog before sending the support log. It seems like the dialog used to display the data cuts it off at 3160 bytes, so that the user can't see what's actually being submitted (at least on my system). The reports on Application context, Support Log, and References were all truncated for me, only the Errors list was shorter than 3160 bytes and therefore not cut off. Not sure if this is worth opening an issue.

[retorquere]

I cut off the data in the display - zotero becomes unusably slow if I display all of it. You can see the full data that would be sent by exporting as BetterBibTeX JSON.

[retorquere]

I've asked the devs here. We'll have to wait that out.

[sinnpi]

I've just realized that the image files also live in Zotero/storage/<key>/image.png (same folder that keeps other attachments.) So in this case the image file in question is located in Zotero/storage/CRU99GMV/image.png. It seems that the files are always just named image.png, and filed under a unique data-attachment-key.

[retorquere]

That increases the chances that they're exportable, but I can see that the note is attached to a book item with title Funktionalanalysis and which has one PDF attachment, but there's no data about CRU99GMV in the item other than it being mentioned in the note.

[retorquere]

Can you right-click the library that this item is in, export it as BetterBibTeX JSON, and drop it here? I'm curious to see whether CRU99GMV appears as a regular library item at all.

[sinnpi]

I suppose the trouble is that the image is first created as an annotation of a pdf, and then there is the option to add the annotation to a note.

I did export my entire library and searched for CRU99GMV, and the only occurrence is the mention in the note. It seems that the annotations are stored somewhere else.

[retorquere]

Surprising. But that means that right now, there's nothing I can do about this.

[sinnpi]

https://www.zotero.org/support/pdf_reader_preview

Annotations are stored in the Zotero database, not in the PDF file, which allows for much more advanced functionality as well as fast syncing. The File menu contains a new option to export PDFs, which will convert any Zotero annotations into standard annotations in the exported file. (An upcoming version will let you omit annotations, but in the meantime you can drag files to your filesystem to copy just the file.) Similarly, when exporting metadata from your library, there's a new “Include Annotations” option under “Export Files”. We plan to support other ways to export annotations in future updates. Your annotations will never be locked in Zotero.

It seems like it's currently just not supported yet. Right now, Zotero understands 'export annotations' as 'export them into the pdf', it seems. I think we'll just have to wait.

[retorquere]

It's just been confirmed that this requires a change to Zotero to work.

[hasanalrasyid]

Hi, just a heads up. I suppose that these images can be retrieved using above pull request. In my use case, its enough for me to retrieve the images and the bib file. I would process it further using a pandoc filter.

[retorquere]

The pull request has open questions, but for export, the information is not available to the translator, so a change in Zotero is needed to make it work in export.