DEVONthink Pro

This long-awaited release debuts many exciting new features and improvements including: a new integrated user interface, custom metadata, reminders, and new automation options that are even accessible to non-programmers.

We have extended the capabilities of our already powerful search engine with search prefixes, like tags: and name:, to allow constructing more focused searches. Working with annotations and navigating PDFs is now easier and more efficient. A new OCR engine transforms scans into searchable PDFs faster and more accurate, the rewritten web interface supports teams with user and access permission management, and the new Sorter makes it easier than ever to add new data to DEVONthink. PDFs and images can also be imprinted with custom data, including Bates numbering. And if privacy is your concern: encrypted databases keep your data securely locked away from prying eyes.

In addition to the wealth of new features, DEVONthink has maintained and improved the core technologies you've relied on in previous versions. To make it easier to get started with DEVONthink, we have also thoroughly revised and rewritten the documentation, providing a handy and quickly accessible reference.

NOTE: Starting with this release DEVONthink requires OS X El Capitan (10.11.5) or later.

Product Line

• Three new editions: DEVONthink, DEVONthink Pro, and DEVONthink Server. All editions support automation, multiple databases, and all file types.

User Interface

• Added a new integrated user interface, utilizing panes versus independent windows for many functions.
• Added support for the dark mode color scheme in macOS Mojave and later.
• Added the Info inspector, showing general information and custom metadata about selected files.
• Added the Annotations & Reminders inspector, allowing you to set reminders, view Finder comments, and create, view, and edit annotation files. Reminders can be one-time or scheduled, and they support several alarm options, including executing scripts.
• Added the Content inspector displaying: the table of contents found in some Markdown, EPUB, and PDF documents, or the thumbnails for PDFs.
• Added the Document inspector displaying: indexed metadata, added annotations (highlights, text, etc.) and detected links in PDF, RTF, and web-based documents, e.g., web archives.
• Added the Concordance inspector giving you access to a word frequency list. It also has a new Cloud view, showing a word cloud with sizes based on word weight.
• Added the See Also & Classify inspector, displaying suggested filing locations for or documents related to the selected item.
• Added the Search inspector, providing in-document search-and-replace and a list of search results. It also allows viewing the context of the search term and easy navigation through the document.
• Added the Reading List sidebar to gather items you want to read or return to at a later time, e.g., to easily access bookmarks, PDF pages, or specific points in video or audio.
• Added the Extras sidebar providing access to up-to-date scripts, templates, tips and tricks, and news from us.
• Added the Import sidebar integrating scanning and email archiving.
• Added an Activity pane for a less intrusive display of certain processes.

Security

• Added encrypted databases for maximum privacy.

Searching & Navigating

• Added search prefixes, e.g., tags: or name:, to allow for more focused searches. These are also used in scripting.
• Search, including advanced criteria options, is now integrated into the main window.
• Improved indexing and searching, including better support for Asian languages and indexing PDF and RTF attachments.
• More precise highlighting of search hits when using proximity operators, e.g., NEAR or BEFORE.
• Added Filter panes for filtering the displayed files by tags, dates and marks (label color, locked state, etc.), or geolocation data.
• Added Go > To Group, Data > Move To, and Edit > Insert Item Link commands and popovers. These allow quicker access to open, reorganize, or link to items in your databases.
• Favorites can now contain documents.
• Tighter integration with the filesystem when using indexed files.

Working with Documents

• Added a new 64-bit OCR engine with multi-core processing, Asian language support, and output to multiple formats.
• Added the ability to create custom imprints, including placeholder text and Bates numbering, via Preferences > Imprint. For use with images and PDF files.
• Added support for barcode detection.
• Added a new web sharing interface and web server, utilizing secure connections via TLS and allowing creation of users with per-database permissions.
• The Sorter has been redesigned and supports: searching open databases, multiple note taking options, including audio, video, and integrated screen captures, and includes the Clip to DEVONthink functions.
• The Clip to DEVONthink browser extension for Safari is now a native extension.
• Added custom metadata to support situation-specific needs. Multiple data types are supported, e.g., sets, Booleans, and numbers.
• Added more options to convert metadata to tags, e.g., hashtags or geolocation data.
• Added support for geolocation data, including the ability to enter it manually.
• Added ratings, 0 to 5 stars.
• Added automatic image tagging using machine learning.
• Added the Formatting bar, shown under the toolbar, for use with rich text documents.
• Added the Editing bar, displayed over the View/Edit pane, for quicker editing with document type-specific tools.
• Added side-by-side view for editing HTML and Markdown documents.
• Added form views and support for specific data types (number, date, etc.) to sheets.
• Added Tools > Summarize Highlights to create a new RTF file containing the highlighted text from selected PDF and RTF files.
• Added Tools > Create Metadata Overview to easily assemble metadata for selected files in a sheet that can be shared or exported.
• Improved EPUB support with reading, search, and conversion to other formats, e.g., rich text or PDF.
• Improved automatic WikiLinking, including support for the square bracket syntax, and active links in the rendered view of Markdown documents.

Automating Your Work

• Added smart rules and Tools > Batch Process to execute event-driven actions on files, on a schedule or on demand.
• Added new, easy to use data placeholders for use in templates, imprints, smart rules, and batch processing.
• Added reminders that can be added to documents. They can be one-time or scheduled, and they support several alarm options, including executing scripts.
• Improved and extended the AppleScript capabilities, including the ability to use scripts in reminders and smart rules.

Other Improvements

• Revised and rewritten documentation.
• Improved background processing of several functions, like email archiving, indexing, thumbnail generation, etc.
• Improved performance.