Yes, I agree entirely. I’ve been using some databases with only 8-12 files for ebooks in which the individual chapters are in their own PDF. I could dump them all in a folder in the Finder but DT has the benefit of x-platform annotation and links.
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You could always use Federico Viticci‘s shortcut for clipping to Devon think. I’ve modified it so much to fit my particular Workflow, but I think his standard shortcut links below is very helpful for saving a variety of things into DEVONthink. It works very well.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/2039e10de0264b658cf0fabdcc1cc248
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Could you elaborate on your script that converts highlighted pdf sections into anki flashcards? I think this sounds AMAZING, and I would love to do something similar. Thanks!
I wrote one of the first posts on the MPU Discourse: DEVONthink: stuck at the bottom of the hill
I am still on DT and upgraded to DTP3 and I like the new version. However the the DTTG apps on iOs and iPadOS are in need of some love. They need to make their functions into parameters so they can be used with the new Shortcuts ecosystem. Then we can all whip up our own shortcuts quickly to connect the files to OmniFocus (or Things depending on what time of day) and Calendar.
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@derekvan, @MitchWagner et al.: damnit. It seems there’s a glitch in Shortcuts’ Make PDF action that literally moves hyperlinks around the page. I can’t fix the Shortcut ‘til that’s resolved.
I’ve reported it in the Feedback app. Fingers crossed.
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Huh. I seem to have lost my original DT scripts somehow—probably when I finally uninstalled DTPO just a few weeks ago. 
Thankfully, I seem to be getting better at scripting over time! I had an older version of this script that worked on files on the file system. Adding the DEVONthink functionality to that previously took me forever, but I was able to do it in an hour this afternoon. Hurrah!
All of the instructions and associated files (I think) are written up here:
Let me know if it works and if you have any thoughts or feedback.
This works great, Ryan, and thanks for sending it along so quickly!
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Best comment in this thread… And so true. I tried Things for a year and the switch back is on!
My sentiments exactly (even down to the down to the Stockholm Syndrome). I have active Dt databases, but the shortcomings of the iPad version – and the lack of Mac App Store version – are keeping me in a limbo, where I’m not sure, whether I’ll be continuing to use Dt in the long run 
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How big is the archive approximately? How many mails? I had performance issues years back when I tried to archive all my work mail in Dt.
I was and a long time user of DT. However since I have retired my needs are simple and I am transitioning to using a folder structure in iCloud documents and am in the process of a conscious decoupling from DEVONthink.
Actually for most things as I get older I am just going back to the stock Apple apps.
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I am running into some issues. Not with the size per se or the searching but with how to make the daily backup archives. Current DB stats 71,341 email messages, 12.2 GB, 463,994 unique words, 45,690,310 total words according to the DB properties
In all honesty I can’t tell you exactly why I am so smitten with DEVONthink 3. In the same way I can’t tell you how I worked when I had paper piles and yet could find most of what I had. I can find things and seem to ‘know’ where stuff is and also, a big one for me, can ‘see’ it in a way I can’t on finder etc. I have also made some effort to make my naming systems and so on DEVONthink 3 friendly.
I also now find the Notetaker can be operated entirely from Keyboard and I would buy it for that alone.
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I’m currently working on an article about a multi-billion-dollar company that I’ve written about a LOT over the past few years. If See Also helps me make the article significantly better, then that’ll make me more inclined to stick with DT.
It also occurs to me that DT doesn’t need to be as big an either/or as I’m making it out to be. Documents are easy to get into DT, easy to get out of them in their original format. And indexing makes it simple to index files in the Finder, so DT can serve as a back-end to another app with a more user friendly interface, such as Notebooks or Keep It.
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I have been toying with a “Workspace” database. I delete all the files in it when I’m done with it. When I’m working on something new that requires referencing a lot of documents/links/whatever, I dump everything in and make a mess. It is kinda refreshing.
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Workspace databases are awesome. I’ve done it for big final exams in school before. I had about a six week course, and I saved materials and lectures by week in dropbox. Then the last week I put everything into a database and use it to complete a final paper or exam.
This approach helps keep the overhead down and the feeling anxiousness of managing another app. Then if I’m done with the project, I just delete the database and save the class in long term storage or whatever.
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Thanks for this post Ryan. Stuff here I didn’t know about even. I have used DEVONthink 3 by ‘feel’ for a few years now. That is the truth, very little of my use is ‘conscious’ if I can put it that way so I can’t often regurgitate how I use it. I can’t do without it though. I couldn’t tell you how I ride a bike… It just works for me. I find that there was on the upgrade a curve which I got past somehow: I was very frustrated and cross. My bad and I nearly dropped the app. Then suddenly I started finding things like the Note Taker… wow.
I find the company approachable and I find they DO care how their customers use it. I know some folk here who I have a lot of resepect for say otherwise so…
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I have to say too that though I see a lot of complaints about how DEVONthink 3 team don’t respond and help and so on that I have found the exact opposite. I do think it might be a matter of ‘style’. I am not sure. I have found them amazingly helpful, beyond what I would expect regarding other apps and so on. In one case loading an app they don’t even like to work out the problem I was having.
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Your use case is mine exactly. I’ve been on Evernote forever and it’s … ok … but I keep trying to find a replacement. Keep It looked good, but despite a lot of help from the developer, iCloud sync with the Mac just didn’t work. If it were only iPad and iPhone, no problem. So I keep looking at DT … seems good, but maybe much more than I need. With your experience so far, what would you recommend?
Good point. The DT team is extremely responsive.
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