The Basics

Editing

Web Publishing

Scripting

Dynamic Content

Events

Palettes

Managing Links, Pages, and Importing

VoodooPad on your iOS Devices

Security and Privacy

Miscellaneous

Importing

VoodooPad is a great resource for typing stuff out, but what about when you have something on your computer that you want to import? Well...learn more below!

There are quite a few different ways to bring things into your VoodooPad document.

Pasting

Copy and paste is the most common way of bringing something into your document. Most of the time it is easiest to copy things from email or websites and paste it into your VoodooPad document. The same thing can be applied to images as well. Pasting puts the content into the page you are currently on, and if deleted it all goes away. If you have pasted an image that you would like to edit later on, please read the page on VoodooPad Edit Images.

Dragging a File into the Work Area

An easy way to bring things into VoodooPad is to simply drag and drop them in. For image file types you will get the option to Paste or Link. If VoodooPad cannot paste the file in, it will automatically link it. You can also drag in a whole bunch of files which will all be linked at once.

Linking does not copy the file into the VoodooPad document, so be sure not to delete the original. Clicking the link will do the same thing as double clicking the documents' icon in Finder. You can move the file around and VoodooPad will find it again.

Once a file is linked, every time you type the file name, VoodooPad will link to that file. You can check out what you have linked by choosing Window ▸ Palettes ▸ Info ▸ Document and looking at the box that says Files & URLs next to it.

Important things to know:

File ▸ Import

The File ▸ Import menu will allow you to bring in text files, images, and any other file type VoodooPad supports. A new VoodooPad page is created within the document for each file imported.

Save to VoodooPad PDF Service

From many applications you can choose File ▸ Print, then choose PDF ▸ Save PDF in VoodooPad. If you have a single document open, a PDF page will be created in it. If you have multiple documents open, VoodooPad will ask you which one to import it to. You can then find your PDF in the pages palette or updates popover (located in your window toolbar).

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This feature can be installed or uninstalled in the advanced preferences.

If you purchased VoodooPad from the Mac App Store you will need to follow a few additional steps in order to enable this service:

Importing Complete Web Pages

If you want to import a complete web page into VoodooPad, you can import it as a PDF or a web archive. Safari is the recommended web browser.

To import a web page as a PDF:

To import a web page as a web archive:

The Bucket

The bucket is your instant link to VoodooPad from anywhere on your computer. It pops up by hitting ⇧⌘7 all at the same time. Type, paste, and drag things into VoodooPad without ever bringing the application forward.

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To get started, have VoodooPad open with a document you would like to use to store notes. VoodooPad does not have to be the active application in order for the bucket to open, it just has to be open on your computer. While you are in another application, like Safari or the Finder, hit the shortcut key ⇧⌘7 (this can be changed in VoodooPad's advanced preferences). You will see the bucket pop up, giving you an area to type in, as well as some options to choose from at the bottom.

The text area of the bucket works the same as in VoodooPad. You can type, paste, or drag pictures and files into it. Give it a try.

Where is the stuff in the bucket going?

Select the document and page you would like the bucket to send the data to. You can select a page one of the following ways:

The bucket will also remember the last page you dumped things into, and fill that in automatically when you open the bucket.

You can get the bucket to automatically pick up whatever you have selected on a website by using this nifty bookmarklet. To add it to your web browser:

Send to VoodooPad Bucket

If everything worked according to plan, the bucket will pop up and whatever text you have selected will be automatically put into the bucket.

Browser Bookmarklets

Did you know that you can add bookmarklets to most web browsers (such as Safari and Firefox) that will send content to a VoodooPad page? Here are a couple:

To add a VoodooPad Bookmarklet to your browser, just drag and drop one of the links up to your browser's bookmark bar. A page will be created in your VoodooPad document named either 'ReadMe' or 'Browser Bookmarks' depending on which bookmarklet you chose.

With a little bit of Javascript know-how, you can change the VoodooPad page the bookmarklet uses by changing the name of the "VPPageName" variable in the bookmark. Hint: it's the very first variable in the bookmarklet. And if you end up creating your own bookmarklets that you think are cool, let Plausible Labs know! We would love to share them with everyone.

Services Menu

If you find yourself needing to paste stuff into your document but do not want to mess with all those pesky steps, try using the Services Menu. From anywhere on your computer, highlight a bit of text. Choose the Applications' Menu (the one that comes to the right of the apple in the menu bar) then Services ▸ VoodooPad. From there you will have the option of Appending to Current Page, Appending to Services Drop Page, or Make a New Page and the text you have highlighted will magically find its way onto that page.

If you aren't seeing anything under 'Services', make sure you have text highlighted first. If you have text highlighted, and do not see Append to Current Page, Append to Services Drop Page, or Make a New Page, then follow these steps:

Clippings

Clippings are bits of text you use often that can be easily inserted into the current document. You can find them under Edit ▸ Insert and you can add your own by dropping text files into VoodooPad's clippings folder. To find this folder, go to VoodooPad's menu bar and choose Help ▸ Open VoodooPad's App Support Folder ▸ Clippings.

If you are interested in creating your own, follow these steps:

The text file does not have to come from VoodooPad, it just needs to be a TXT or RTFD formatted file. If it is RTFD, then the color and formatting of the text as well as files embedded in it will also transfer over.

Combining Documents

It is possible in VoodooPad to combine documents, or import one document into another document.

You cannot have two pages with the same name. If you are merging two similar documents, you might have to rename a few pages before importing with this method.

In Summary