Introduction

Once upon a time I was trying to explain DEVONthink to someone who had never used it. I started by saying it’s an information management tool, but that’s pretty vague. So I went on to say that it can hold, organize, and search files (like the Finder, only better); it can edit plain and rich text files (like TextEdit, only better); it can annotate PDFs (like Preview, only better); it can store and present photos, movies, music, and webpages (though, admittedly, not as well as Apple’s Photos, Music, TV, and Safari apps); and that’s just the barest beginning. As I went through this litany of features, I realized that DEVONthink can take the place of a huge number of apps—if I had to, I could do nearly all my work within DEVONthink. It’s that powerful.

As a result, when it comes to writing about DEVONthink, I almost don’t know where to begin. That’s my problem as an author, and it may be your problem as a user, too. DEVONthink has a marvelously deep, rich set of features, and it can adapt itself to just about any set of needs or work preferences. But, this wealth of power is like a 50-page restaurant menu in which every dish sounds equally delicious. There are so many excellent choices that finding a clear strategy to make the most of the meal—or the software, as the case may be—can be a daunting prospect.

My goal in this book is to do just that: to help you wrap your brain around DEVONthink’s extensive options and figure out how best to use it to accomplish your goals. Whether you are starting out with the app for the first time or are a seasoned user looking for ways to get more out of it, I hope to show you where to focus, what to try, and how to think about DEVONthink in the most effective way.

DEVONthink already has plenty of good documentation in the form of built-in help files (also available as a standalone ebook). The purpose of this book is neither to replace that information nor to explain the operation of every command and button. Instead, I concentrate on the key tasks you’ll want to accomplish. After providing an overview of the app’s main concepts and interface, I walk you through the principal activities you’ll do over and over, such as getting information into DEVONthink; organizing, finding, and working with that information; using any of numerous techniques to automate DEVONthink; and, finally, getting your information back out by exporting or sharing it.

And if all that leaves you hungry for more, I also provide a bit of dessert—a chapter (Dig Deeper) that goes into some of the program’s advanced capabilities, as well as Appendix A: Keyboard Shortcuts, which is sure to be helpful for power users.

Version 1.14 of this book is current as of DEVONthink 3.9.3. We plan to update this book approximately once per quarter to keep up with changes in DEVONthink. Even so, you may occasionally encounter something in the book that doesn’t quite match with what you see on your screen. I don’t expect these small inconsistencies to cause you any problems, but I do recommend reading the release notes for each update of DEVONthink you install for details on what’s new. And be sure to access the blog included in the online Ebook Extras for this ebook from time to time to see if I’ve added any new information.