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Lattice requires macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later. It is built to use modern macOS frameworks, so older macOS versions are not supported.

No. Lattice creates a secure link to your PDF file — it does not duplicate or move it into a hidden app container. Your PDF stays exactly where you left it in Finder.

Optionally, you can configure Lattice to auto-organise your files into subfolders (by year, collection, or both) using copy or move — but this is opt-in and fully under your control.

When you import a PDF, Lattice extracts what it can from the file itself — title, authors, and any embedded DOI or arXiv identifier. It then queries multiple academic metadata services (Crossref, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, and others) to fill in the remaining fields.

You can also trigger metadata refresh at any time from the inspector or context menu, or enter a DOI manually to fetch a complete record.

Lattice extracts the following annotation types from your PDF:

• Highlight
• Underline
• Strikethrough
• Text (sticky notes)
• Free Text
• Square (rectangle) — exported as a cropped image
• Circle — exported as a cropped image

Each annotation includes type, page number, selected text, user comment, and color. Square and circle annotations are rendered as cropped images of the marked region, which is especially useful for figures, tables, and diagrams.

Go to Lattice Settings → Export. There you can customise two separate templates:

• Metadata Template — controls the overall structure of the exported note
• Annotation Template — controls how each individual annotation is formatted

The syntax uses {{variable}} for substitution and {{#field}}...{{/field}} for conditional blocks. Available variables include title, authors, year, abstract, annotations, and more.

Open the macOS Shortcuts app and create a new Shortcut. Add the Lattice action — it will prompt you to choose a paper from your library, then return the formatted metadata and annotations as text.

From there, you can route that text to any app: paste into Obsidian via the Obsidian action, create a new Bear note, append to a Craft document, copy to clipboard, or do anything else Shortcuts supports.

Assign a global keyboard shortcut to trigger it from any app without switching to Lattice first.

.md — a plain Markdown file. Best when your export only contains text — titles, authors, abstracts, highlights, and comments. Supported by almost every notes app.

.textbundle — a self-contained package that keeps the Markdown body and any image assets together. Choose this when your export includes region annotations (square or circle annotations rendered as images), so the images travel with the note.

Yes. Lattice supports migrating your library from other reference managers using three main methods:

1. Zotero Migration: If you are a Zotero user, you can fully import your entire library, including all collections, folder hierarchies, and PDF attachments. In Lattice, navigate to Settings → Backup → Zotero, select Import, and choose the directory containing your zotero.sqlite database file.
2. Local PDF Folder Import: If your reference manager stores PDFs locally, you can directly drag and drop the folder containing your PDFs into the Lattice window. Alternatively, click the + (plus) icon in the top-right corner, select Import files, and choose the folder containing all your PDFs. Lattice will recursively scan all subfolders to automatically find and import every PDF.
3. BibTeX and RIS File Import: Lattice also fully supports importing metadata using .bib and .ris files. You can click the + (plus) icon in the top-right corner, select Import files, and choose your .bib or .ris file to import your records.

Email stringer_fan@qq.com with:

• Your macOS version
• The Lattice app version (from Lattice → About Lattice)
• Steps to reproduce the problem
• A screenshot or screen recording if relevant

If your report leads to a verified fix, you may be eligible for an additional discount code as a thank-you.