Good question, I’ll have to think about what it actually is, but it’s not about graphics or multimedia. I have no issues with pasting images (mostly screenshots) into Obsidian. Well, as I think of it, maybe I am a bit annoyed by how you interact with pasted images in preview mode. Even though I understand that I am technically just pasting a markdown link into the note and that the image that is displayed below the link is “not really there” and that I therefore can’t interact with it, I keep finding myself clicking underneath the image in order to continue writing. I see the cursor sitting right after the pasted link and all I have to do is press enter and it will appear below the image preview, but it feel like if I do that, I will write between the link and the image…
It’s not just images actually. Also links that are “unfolded” once the cursor is inside them sometimes make orientation difficult (because the entire text shifts. Same thing with callouts or blockquote. In the case of links there is the additional difficulty that you can’t position the cursor in the link by clicking on it (because that will take you to wherever the link is pointing, so you have to click just next to the link and then use the cursor keys to navigate into the link.
I do appreciate markdown, and one solution might be that I use source mode more often (where these issues are absent), but it makes text with links pretty much unreadable (I use a lot of aliases) and when I’m taking notes based on pasted screenshots it’s simply not possible.
Apart from that, I think "it looks nice is part of the appeal, but if I took the time to sit down and consciously design the UI of my obsidian vault, I could probably prettify my Obsidian quite a bit. But before I do that, there is some work to be done on functionality, like creating more templates for reoccurring types of notes etc. So designing the UI is probably not going to happen any time soon…
I know this wasn’t directed at me, but I’ve been itching to post about Craft for a few days, so this may save us another new thread.
I have been using Evernote (digital catch-all) and Obsidian for quite some time. Obsidian catches all my weekly reviews, my thoughts and ideas, while Evernote saves my “digital stuff”. So…receipts, PDF’s, certain emails, screen shots, web clippings → Evernote. Original thoughts → Obsidian.
But with the EN price increase I just can’t justify the ~$170 CAD it would cost me a year. Especially as I begin to notice many of my EN notes get “saved” and then never looked at again.
I know Obsidian can work with PDF’s, and in some ways it can be an EN replacement – but in many ways, it can’t. And above all else, I have to enjoy being in the app.
When I open Obsidian to write out my weekly review or compile a thought, it’s the best. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it works perfectly. When I want to take some pictures and maybe incorporate some more media into the note though – Obsidian just feels…clunky and ugly.
I’ve been using Craft for a few weeks now. I didn’t initially love it, but it’s grown on me. It looks great, it ingests media and attachments, and my notes are easily exportable should I ever want to move on.
I’m really enjoying it, and the beauty is a big part of that. It’s more fun working in nice apps – I guess I’m superficial that way.
Yes, but not in Craft, in Obsidian. And yes it’s working very well. I created a GOT repo on a single folder (and its subordinate folders) and I can share everything from code to notes with the other folks working on the project.
Me Too! Which is why I’m moving more and more into Obsidian, so far it’s replaced DEVONThink, Omnifocus, Apple reminders (only used for Siri inputs to Omnifocus), Scapple and looks like it will also be able to replace Scrivener and AeonTimeline for my uses.
I finally fell super deep into the Obsidian rabbit hole since the last time I posted.
Craft has been strictly for collaborative ‘showcasing’ so to speak for whatever is needed.
Obsidian has been my go-to writer / collector of thoughts.
Ulysses has been abandoned won’t be renewing again.
I am now looking into 2 items of my workflow.
integrating DevonThink - maybe have it index Obsidian?
re-evaluate my reading workflow to integrate better
I would typically use Feedly and Pocket together to get what I need and learn. Now, I am thinking is it better to shift to Readwise or Matter, pull the information from what I save and put into Obsidian or DevonThink.
Does anyone use Obsidian with a base model (8 GB memory) Mac laptop? Trying to stay away from electron apps due to their memory usage, but if it’s doable…
Does collecting stuff off the Internet constitute a valid use case for obsidian? Or should I be only writing original notes in Obsidian? The only cross-linking that I do so far in Agenda is “client names in daily notes” pointing to unique client notes for long complicated jobs.
It depends on what you mean by “collecting stuff off the Internet.” Obsidian isn’t a web clipper, and only handles markdown files, PDFs, and jpgs natively. There are plugins and browser extensions that provide at least some web clipper functionality, but they all mostly turn webpages into markdown notes. They’re fine if you want to save a short article as a note.
Devonthink will clip anything from the internet and give you lots of options has to how you’d like to save it.
I already am using Mark Download extension to grab webpage content to markdown content. All I ever use is markdown (if I switch to Obsidian) PDF’s and jpgs. Tables, I’ll have to recreate.
Devonthink is a nonstarter for me, personally, because I did have a copy of Pro, but it’s AI couldn’t find anything to co-relate → my interests are all over the map, and not concentrated in one or two areas of interest. Gave away my license.
If all you’re collecting is markdown notes, PDFs, and jpgs, then Obsidian might work just fine. If you do a lot of work on a phone or tablet, you might want to check out Notebooks.app, which I personally find better than Obsidian on mobile devices.
Using Agenda right now, love it, and trying Obsidian because “everyone’s using it”. I do a lot of editing and referencing my notes on my phone with Agenda.
Wow, that was short-lived on mobile; paid Obsidian Sync or iCloud on mobile and that’s it. I had placed my vault on iDrive’s Cloud Sync folder; that won’t work.
I know you’ve decided against Obsidian, but just in case anyone else reads this, I’m heavily using Obsidian with quite a few plugins (Tasks, Dataview, QuickCapture, Omnisearch etc.) on MacBook Air 2017 with 8Gb RAM. I do all my task management in Obsidian and work on lengthy documents. No performance issues to speak of!
I collect to Obsidian from the web via Omnivore (another plugin!). It’s wonderful in that it’s seamless and configurable.
The mobile app is the biggest weak point, in that it’s slow to startup. However, I have created mobile toolbar options to quick capture either a time stamped note or a task to the daily note which speed things up once it’s loaded. Native quick capture on mobile is on the roadmap.
I had placed my vault on iDrive’s Cloud Sync folder; that won’t work.
You have to let Obsidian (on mobile) create its Obsidian sync folder (that you can recognise by its special Obsidian folder icon, similar to other apps) and then use that for the vault.
I just recently reconfigured my setup to make DT and Obsidian play nicely.
All my files are kept on an external SSD for the sake of switching or reformatting computers, and a general skepticism about relying on cloud storage to make the system work. The main folders I keep on that drive (academic, private, etc.) are each indexed to their own database in DEVONthink. Each database also indexes its own reference folder for Bookends libraries that are stored in iCloud.
This setup works great when I’m at home on my Mac, but not so nicely with my iPad on the go, which was a problem. I had interoperable references figured out through DT/Bookends, but taking notes always felt quite messy (in the past I used Applescripts to reformat and export markdown annotations from DT to Obsidian, but it was clunky at best).
The solution I’ve arrived at is to set up a real-time sync between the relevant folders on my SSD, and Obsidian’s folder in iCloud, using FreeFileSync. There’s a batch script that runs in the background on my desktop computer watching for updates on either side, and keeping things in sync. With this setup, I can edit a text file on my iPad in Obsidian, then turn around and have those changes already synced to my DT database, even though DT is working with local files.
So far it seems that all this works reasonably well with DTTG, too, though I haven’t stress tested it yet. Mentally, I really appreciate being able to stay within the local filesystem and just have whatever changes I make show up in the cloud where they need to. It’s nice to be able to use Obsidian’s interface for editing and navigating my documents while still being able to edit things in DT if that’s where I’m working. I believe this should also be more accommodating of other automations, as well, such as getting Hazel to move things around for me if I ever find the need.
I always enjoy reading about successful uses of DEVONthink and Obsidian. At the moment I use the EagleFiler and NotePlan apps in those roles but, you never know. One day I might have to change and it is good to keep up.
Obsidian is actively working on improving mobile startup time and planning quick capture. Obsidian Roadmap - Obsidian
In the meantime, since upgrading to an iPhone 15 Pro Max with 8 GB RAM, I find that Obsidian usually stays active in the background and opens instantly.
iCloud is buggier and slower for syncing apps like Obsidian that store individual files in standard system folders than for apps like Bear and Drafts that store user data in their own databases and use CloudKit.
→ my interests are all over the map, and not concentrated in one or two areas of interest. Gave away my license.