Saving to Zotero

How It Works

PrintFriendly saves through the same connection the official Zotero Connector uses: while the Zotero desktop app is open, it accepts saves from your browser. So it behaves the way the Connector does:

• Zotero has to be open on the same computer.
• You don't need a Zotero account, and there is nothing to sign in to.
• Saved items sync to your other devices like anything else in your library, if you use Zotero sync.
• You don't need the Zotero Connector installed. The Zotero desktop app is enough.

Saving a Page

1. Open the page and click the PrintFriendly button.
2. Delete anything you don't want, such as comments or a list of related links. The PDF matches what you see.
3. Open the Save menu and choose Zotero.
4. The first time, your browser asks for permission. Allow it.
5. Pick a collection and select Save. The collection you have open in Zotero is picked for you.

PrintFriendly makes the PDF and adds it to your library. Open Zotero to read it or annotate it.

The Permission Prompt

The first time you save to Zotero, your browser asks to let PrintFriendly reach two addresses:

• 127.0.0.1 is your own computer. It is how PrintFriendly reaches the Zotero app, and nothing leaves your machine on the way.
• storage.printfriendly.com is where PrintFriendly keeps the PDF it just made, so the extension can pick it up and hand it to Zotero.

Chrome and Edge ask right away. Choose Allow.

In Safari, a small PrintFriendly window opens first and explains what is coming. Click Continue, and Safari asks about both addresses. Choose Always Allow. Safari words this message the same way for every website, so it mentions things like passwords and credit cards. PrintFriendly only uses these two addresses to hand your PDF to Zotero.

You are asked once. In Safari, if you choose Allow for One Day instead, you are asked again the next day. If you have already given PrintFriendly access to all sites, you won't be asked at all.

What Ends Up in Zotero

Each save adds one Web Page item to your library, with:

• The title, author and date, when the page has them. A very long list of authors is shortened, ending in “et al.”
• The page's address, the website it came from, and the date you saved it.
• The PDF, attached to the item. Zotero names the file in its usual way, from the author, year and title.

PrintFriendly or the Zotero Connector?

They do different jobs, and you can keep both installed. They don't get in each other's way.

Use the Zotero Connector for research sources. That means journal articles, books, library catalogs, and databases like JSTOR or PubMed. The Connector recognizes what kind of source the page is and fills in the full citation: journal, volume, pages and DOI. It often downloads the publisher's PDF for you too. PrintFriendly can't do that, because it saves every page as a Web Page.

Use PrintFriendly for everyday web pages. That means news articles, blog posts, recipes, how-to guides and documentation. On pages like these, the Connector typically attaches a snapshot of the whole page as it appeared, with the menus and ads. PrintFriendly attaches a clean PDF of just the content, and you can delete anything you don't want, such as comments or related links, before you save.

The Connector recognizes many news sites too, so it may save a news story as a Newspaper Article where PrintFriendly says Web Page. If you want it cited that way, change the item type in Zotero after saving; the details carry over. Saving the same page with both tools gives you two separate items, so choose one per page.

Where It Works

Chrome, Edge, and Safari on a Mac, on a computer with the Zotero desktop app installed. Elsewhere:

• Firefox blocks extensions built like ours from reaching the Zotero app. Zotero's own Firefox Connector is built differently and isn't affected.
• iPhone and iPad can't: the Zotero app there doesn't offer the connection PrintFriendly saves through.

In any of these, use the Zotero Connector, or download the PDF from PrintFriendly and drag it into Zotero.