PDF Annotation Creator

A simple Obsidian plugin that adds a right-click menu option to create annotation notes for PDF files, designed to work seamlessly with the Annotator plugin.

Features

• 📝 Right-click to create: Right-click any PDF → "Create Annotation Note"
• 🚀 Auto-open Annotator: Automatically opens the annotation view after creating the note
• ⚙️ Customizable template: Configure the note template in settings
• 📁 Same folder: Creates the annotation note in the same folder as the PDF

Requirements

⚠️ Important: This plugin requires the Annotator plugin to be installed and enabled.

Installation

From Community Plugins (Recommended)

1. Open Obsidian Settings
2. Go to Community Plugins and disable Safe Mode
3. Click Browse and search for "PDF Annotation Creator"
4. Click Install, then Enable

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder: <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/pdf-annotation-creator/
3. Copy the downloaded files into this folder
4. Restart Obsidian
5. Enable the plugin in Settings → Community Plugins

Usage

1. Make sure you have a PDF file in your vault
2. Right-click on the PDF file in the file explorer
3. Click "Create Annotation Note"
4. The annotation note is created and Annotator opens automatically

Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Note suffix	Suffix added to the annotation note filename	_annotation
Auto-open Annotator	Automatically open Annotator after creating the note	true
Note template	Template for the annotation note	See below

Default Template

---
annotation-target: {{filename}}
---

Available Placeholders

Placeholder	Description	Example
{{filename}}	Full filename with extension	paper.pdf
{{basename}}	Filename without extension	paper
{{path}}	Full path to the PDF	Papers/paper.pdf

Example

For a PDF file named Attention_Is_All_You_Need.pdf in the Papers folder:

• Created note: Papers/Attention_Is_All_You_Need_annotation.md
• Note content:

  ---
  annotation-target: Attention_Is_All_You_Need.pdf
  ---

Troubleshooting

Annotator doesn't open automatically

1. Make sure Annotator plugin is installed and enabled
2. Try disabling and re-enabling "Auto-open Annotator" in settings
3. Manually open: Cmd/Ctrl + P → "Annotator: Open as Annotation"

"Annotation note already exists" message

The plugin won't overwrite existing annotation notes. If you want to recreate:

1. Delete the existing *_annotation.md file
2. Right-click the PDF again

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome on GitHub.

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

• Annotator - The core PDF annotation plugin this works with
• Obsidian - The amazing note-taking app