Free (or at least way cheaper) DEVONThink alternative?
Submitted by SansPoint on July 1, 2006 - 8:41am.
I rather like the idea of having a program to manage all my digital crap, since I suck at doing it myself. DEVONThink looks nice, but I just don't have that kind of money. I've been using Journler 2.0, but it's a bit clunky, particularly in how it does entries with tables. Yeek.
Any recomendations?
- 3915 reads
Pathfinder as cheaper DEVONEThink alternative.
i played with DT a bit, and realized that with some arranging i could use Pathfinder (a MUCH better Finder replacement) as a crude DT replacement.
The way this works is by organizing a good folder structure on your Mac, and then use PF as the means to collect, process and edit content of those folders.
So, for example; i created a folder in ~/Documents named '@Knowledge', and i made sub directories within it:
@@NOW - Stuff i'm working on right now.
@Art - Artists, galleries, articles.
@Body - Food, exercise, health.
@DIY - Projects, how-tos.
@GTD - Productivity, GTD, life-hacks.
@Ideas* - Images relating to current artistic work.
@Mind - Philosophy, religion.
@Music - Tablature, lyrics, lists of bands.
@Tech - Programs, manuals, links.
@Ideas is a symbolic link to a folder in my Pictures folder, which keeps all my images in one place and helps prevent duplicates.
In Pathfinder you can use the 'Shelf,' which is a customizable area to show folder contents. In my case, i always have @Knowledge showing in the shelf, so all my sub directories are listed and one click away.
How i use this:
As i work on projects, surf the web, etc. i simply clip and drag clumps of text, images, URL's directly into the corresponding folder in my shelf in PF. In this way i'm keeping all my 'stuff' in the folders i've predefined. i often 'print' webpages, receipts, order confirmations, etc to .pdf and save into my defined folders as well.
This is excellent for collection of anything.
i also use PF's built in features to process/sort files. PF allows me to view images (in scalable thumbnails), play movies (or at least see one frame to ID them), play audio, read PDF and text files, sort and touch files and such. PF also has built in compression and editing capabilities for simple image cropping, text editing. SO rather than open 14 apps i use one to sort and process all my files.
PF also has a built-in terminal window which allows me to ftp files, run todo.sh, and other functions right there in the window.
Also, since PF uses native files rather than creating a massive database, it keeps my file system clean and free of unwanted clutter.
Basically, after rearranging PF a little i made a DT replacement for my initial $30 investment. :D
i might post a image howto if there's any interest.
Pathfinder website:
http://www.cocoatech.com/pf4/