Zotero: Self-Guided Tutorial

Step 1: In your Zotero library, click on an item with an attached PDF.

Step 2: Zotero's PDF Reader window will open. Use the annotation toolbar in the top menu to annotate the PDF.

Highlight:

The first icon in the annotation toolbar is for highlighting. Click the pen, then highlight the text you would like to annotate. (Pro Tip: Click the last icon (color) before clicking the highlight pen to select your desired highlight color.)

Stickynote:

Clicking the second icon will add a stickynote at the location that you select in the PDF. 

Select a section or image:

The third icon in the toolbar can be used to select a section or image to annotate. The text and/or image(s) selected will appear in the annotation panel on the left.

Color Coding:

The last option in the toolbar is for color coding. Click this icon first to select the color for your annotations. Then click the icon for your chosen annotation type (highlight, sticky note, or select).

You can make changes to any saved annotation. You can find your saved annotations in the left panel of the reader. In this panel, click on a saved annotation to quickly add notes and tags.

Click the menu icon in the title bar or right-click to change the color of the highlighted or selected text. And, if the page number is not correct, you can select the "Edit page number" option.

Back in your Zotero Library, you can quickly add any saved annotations for an item as attached notes. To do so, right-click on an item in your list, then select "Add Note from Annotation". 

Your annotation will be added to your library. And, you can view the note in the left panel. Notice that the note also contains the citation information. Also, the content of the note is editable. So you can change the title or other details.

Just like you can add bibligraphic and citation information using the Zotero plugin in Word, you can add notes. Go to the Zotero tab, then click Add Note. The first time you add a note, a window will appear allowing you to select a citation style. Select one and then click OK.

A search window will appear, in which you can search and select the note you want to add. Then, you note will appear in your document. Notice that the in-text citation is included.