Ditching Evernote for Dropbox Paper - 2023 edition

Question

Hey all, so evernote is jacking their pricing up again, and I'm just not sure why I keep letting them do this to me. I'm considering moving to paper. Mind you, evernote got pretty fancy from a UI/UX end, and I have been using it for YEARS. I'm pissed I have to consider leaving, but I'm also asking myself why I keep spending money when I already pay for dropbox.

Have you all found a way to move files from evernote to paper easily? Am I going to have to rebuild the library again?

Have you found a better alternative to evernote and/or paper?

MaxAigner · Answer

Hi Thomas, I am currently facing the same problem 😄

844 Notes that have to be moved - if I need half a minute per Note that would make about I don't know.. almost exactly 7 hours non stop speed copying..

[Edit] So there is a ENEX export function in the dropbox Windows-Store App (not on the web version) -> simply right click on the notebook and press export -> to ENEX.

You can convert the ENEX files into markdown using 
https://github.com/wormi4ok/evernote2md?tab=readme-ov-file

but it currently has the bug that it overrides duplicated filenames (so this bug has to be fixed first)

Once we have the markdown we might be using

the C# DotNet Paper API and create papers like hell

https://github.com/dropbox/dropbox-sdk-dotnet?tab=readme-ov-file

note the PaperDocCreateArgs command.

Here is what ChatGPT4 thinks might work - I did not try it yet as I am at work, but it seems the API calls are all there.

using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Dropbox.Api;
using Dropbox.Api.Paper;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Replace YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN with your actual access token
        var task = Task.Run(() => CreatePaperDocument("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"));
        task.Wait();
    }

static async Task CreatePaperDocument(string accessToken)
    {
        using (var dbx = new DropboxClient(accessToken))
        {
            try
            {
                var paperApi = dbx.Paper;

// Specify the import format (e.g., Markdown or PlainText) and optionally a parent folder ID
                var createArgs = new PaperDocCreateArgs(ImportFormat.Markdown);

// Here you can specify the content of the document
                string paperContent = "# Your Markdown Content Here
This is a new Paper document.";

// Create the new Paper document
                var paperDoc = await paperApi.DocsCreateAsync(createArgs, paperContent);

Console.WriteLine($"Paper document created successfully. Doc ID: {paperDoc.DocId}");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Error creating Paper document: {ex.Message}");
            }
        }
    }
}

Jay · Answer

Hi @thomasriffey, thanks for messaging the Community.

Currently, there isn't an official method to migrate files from Evernote into Dropbox Paper.

There could be another app or service that will allow you to move files from one to another.

If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.