README.org

org-pdftools: a custom org link type for pdf-tools

This project was inspired by and built upon org-pdfview from @markus1189.

Current features

The provided function includes:

• (Sort-of) backward compatibility with org-pdfview: simply change the link prefix from pdfview: to pdftools:.
• The reason this URL prefix change was proposed is that pdftools: links can also point to pdf-occur searchs. Multi-file search is also supported.
• Beyond the original link implementation that stores only file path and page number, now you can store the precise location of annotations.
• If there are selected texts on the current PDF page, it will be marked-up using pdf-tools markup functions (by default, underline) automatically and the corresponding annotation id is stored in the link.

Planed features

This is the first step of a set of overhauls of Emacs PDF notetaking experience. The features below are planned (either in this package or as PR to other packages):

• [ ] Integrate with org-noter, such that org-noter can remember the precise location (in the resolution of the exact annotation).
• [ ] PDF annotation will have full and synced information with the associated org-note. (Besides the note content, potentially each annotate will record the IDs of the corresponding org heading and even it’s parent org heading, such that tree-rebuild is possible.)
• [ ] Jump from a PDF annotation to a associated org-heading.
• [ ] Optionally grab image/text excerpt from the PDF and insert below the corresponding org-heading.
• [ ] Link export with image/text-based excerpt from the PDF.
• [ ] (Long-term) transform old org-noter notes to newer ones and sync with the corresponding PDF.
• [ ] (Long-term) Org <-> PDF Annotation converter.