LibGuides: Citation Management Software: PDFs & Other Documents

Attaching documents

You can attach a variety of file types - for example: pdf, .ppt. doc - to a Mendeley record. To add document files to your Mendeley library, do one of the following:

Attach it to an existing record by clicking on "add file" under "Files" in the record itself.
Drag and drop the file into Mendeley (a new Mendeley record will be created).
Set up a watch folder, and add files to the folder (a new Mendeley record will be created).
Download a file from the shared Mendeley catalogue.

Marking up PDFs

Once you have attached a PDF file to its record, you can use the PDF viewer to read and annotate the file. Any changes you make will be saved.

Important notes:

If you are sharing PDFs within a Mendeley group and you want others to see your annotations, you must share the document before adding annotations. After the document is shared, everyone in the group will be able to see everyone else's annotations.
Any annotations you made before sharing the document will not be transferred (they will remain private).

Exporting Annotations and Notes Associated with a PDF

You can export PDFs with your annotations:

open the pdf in the pdf viewer
select "Export PDF with annotations" in the File menu
make sure "notes" is selected for export along with the article if you want to include the notes you created in the Mendeley record
Save the file to you computer