DEVONthink Pro Office uses Image Capture, Mac OS X’s own scanning framework, for accessing flat bed scanners, all-in-one devices, and document scanners (the Fujitsu ScanSnap is an exception, it uses a proprietary driver software). How would you know that your scanner is compatible? Simply try it. But, finally, with Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’, there is a simpler way: Apple has published a list of compatible scanners: Click here to look up your scanner. Thank you, Apple! (mehr)

Just a quick note that Mac OS X 10.6.1 again breaks compatibility with the earliert version of the Mail.app plug-in. You may should know that Apple Mail does not support third-party plugins at all so what we did is basically a hack (one reason we did not make a plug-in for Safari but a bookmarklet). The solution is simple: choose Help > Install Add-ons… and re-install the Mail.app plug-in to update it. This installs a newer version of the plug-in which will happily work with 10.6.1.

Fujitsu has opened a site dedicated to ScanSnap owners and those of you who want to become one: the ScanSnap Community. So if you own a ScanSnap or plan to to so, check out the Updates, Testimonials, Tips & Tricks, and Ask the Expert sections to learn more about what you can do with a document scanner. (mehr)

The Services menu is one of the most underestimated features of Mac OS X. It provides useful commands that work from within almost any application on the Mac without hacking them (unlike, say, contextual menu items which run inside another application’s memory space and so can crash it). Both DEVONthink and DEVONagent provide useful commands which allow, e.g., to quickly clip selected text to your database, summarize text, or run a web search. In addition we provide useful Services menu plugins as freeware.

If you are using Instapaper to keep articles for offline reading you may like the ‘Add to Instapaper’ script for DEVONthink Pro, written by one of our power users. Click here to read about it in our user forum. Thank you, bartekb81.

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). (mehr)

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. (mehr)

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. (mehr)

DEVONthink is based from the ground up on artificial intelligence (AI). And like with natural intelligence the results it delivers is based on a variety of parameters. With DEVONhink 2.0 public beta 4 we have added more control over how the AI behaves. To improve the predictability of the AI results, open DEVONthink’s Preferences, General tab, and adjust the Mood slider from “Moody” to “Stable” (see the picture). Choose the setting that best fits your needs. (mehr)

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. (mehr)