With DEVONthink Pro 2.0 we introduced the Sorter, an small independent application that allows you to add data to your databases even when DEVONthink is not open. But it’s not a simple drop box — there is much more you can do with it (and even more in one of the next releases). (more)

DEVONthink offers the possibility to save any file from any application directly to the global inbox. No more saving to the desktop and importing later.

First make sure that this function is enabled. Choose DEVONthink > Install Add-Ons, check Global Inbox in Save Dialogs and click Install. This inserts a shortcut to the global inbox into the Finder’s sidebar. To save a document to DEVONthink now, look for the ‘Inbox’ item in the sidebar of the save dialog and select it as the location of choice. This even works when DEVONthink is not open, the document will be imported when you open the application the next time. (more)

DEVONthink Pro not only organizes all your knowledge, it also lets you get more of it. Add RSS, RDF, or Atom feeds to your databases (e.g. by drag-and-drop of a feed: URL or by creating a new feed via Data > New > Feed) where they appear like groups with an orange RSS icon. (more)

DEVONthink Pro Office comes with built-in support for both Image-Capture-compliant scanners as well as ones that use a TWAIN driver to communicate with your Mac. Some scanners however refuse to work with both approaches and work best with their own scan software. Don’t worry, you can make even make most of these scanners work with DEVONthink. (more)

DEVONthink Pro features its own document type for tabular data named ‘sheet’. Sheets resemble spreadsheets and can hold textual data organized in rows and columns. Create a new sheet with Data > New > Sheet, name it, and add some columns with Data > Sheet > New Column or Edit Columns. (more)

When you add your documents and clippings to DEVONthink, you’re never locked in. DEVONthink provides you with a variety of export options based on standard file formats, not obscure XML constructs or even proprietary file formats. Whatever you store in DEVONthink, you’ll get it out in exactly that format again. (more)

With DEVONthink Pro 2.x’s ability to keep more than one database open at the same time you might consider splitting your older huge all-in-one database. The most effective way to do this is:

Alternatively you can drag the items to the other database’s name in the sidebar. In this case the items will end up in that database’s local inbox and you can move them from there to the database’s top level. (more)

DEVONthink 2.0 uses QuickLook for displaying file formats that it cannot show directly, e.g. Pages, Numbers, or .eml email documents. While this allows DEVONthink to display all files for which a QuickLook plugin is available, many previews don’t allow you to select text, e.g. for copying it. This is where the plain text view comes in. Switch to the plain text view using the plain text view icon in the document’s navigation bar if available. (more)

DEVONthink and DEVONagent, like many other Mac applications, make heavy use of toolbars. The tools give you immediate access to frequently used functions such as for navigation, switching views, creating and deleting items as well as searching. But there are many other tools available for you that you don’t see on a first glance. (more)

If you want to import a batch of scanned PDFs without converting them to searchable PDFs right away, e.g. because you want to run the time-consuming OCR process later, you can easily do so. Import the files, e.g. to a group “To OCR”. Later, make sure to check Preferences > OCR > Original Document > Move to Trash, select all the documents, and convert them in one batch using Data > Convert > To Searchable PDF. This replaces the selected scanned PDFs with searchable copies and deletes the original file in one batch.