>In my mental model, the PDF is not a secret and can be stored anywhere -- encrypted, if desired, but it sounds like a public document.
Sure, but I will need it at the same time and for the same reason as the combination which does belong in the password manager. To store it separately would be more difficult.
In any event, it's not large. I seem to remember it is only in the low hundreds of kilobytes. But there is occasion for such things.
>I unintentionally became the owner of one that is something like "cw3x34-ccw2x12-cw5x22-ccw2x45"
Mine is similar. I even have the cw/ccw in with the numbers, but that alone never seems to get it for me... sometimes I do need to look at the pdf. I simply don't get enough practice to do it from memory.
With cases like these, is it possible for you to simply copy the important text data into a note, or do you absolutely need the full pdf? Most attachments can be reduced down to their barest text form to avoid bloating the db.
I could likely copy the entire paragraph that explains where to zero the dial to, which direction to start (and how many turns). It would be, I don't know, 120 words or so? But I don't think that it taxes the password manager to just add the pdf to the attachment. I haven't yet ran into a scenario where I desperately need to pare my encrypted vault down in size. Perhaps I don't understand the technology all that well though, and I'm setting myself up for grief later.
It’s more of a purist attitude on my end for sure. I cannot stand the idea of storing a PDF and all its bloat for a single paragraph of information that could easily fit into an entry note. Vendor PDFs are also sometimes ridiculously unoptimized too. Even for a modest 500kb PDF, that’s still like a couple hundred plaintext entries that could have taken its spot.
Understood. But I also don't want to read the full thing all 16 or 18 pages, just to be sure that something essential wasn't included on page 15 that I left out because I only copy-pasted the paragraph of instructions on page 2. I think it is literally the only attached file in my vault... the next closest thing is a cryptokey or two. And even you'd agree those are password-adjacent enough that they belong.
Sure, but I will need it at the same time and for the same reason as the combination which does belong in the password manager. To store it separately would be more difficult.
In any event, it's not large. I seem to remember it is only in the low hundreds of kilobytes. But there is occasion for such things.
>I unintentionally became the owner of one that is something like "cw3x34-ccw2x12-cw5x22-ccw2x45"
Mine is similar. I even have the cw/ccw in with the numbers, but that alone never seems to get it for me... sometimes I do need to look at the pdf. I simply don't get enough practice to do it from memory.