If your book has footnotes, you’re probably using automatic InDesign footnotes in your layout. And that’s great! But what if you compiled your footnotes in a separate Word document or didn’t use the automatic footnote feature in Word or InDesign?
Before Word and InDesign added their automatic footnote features, and well before Fiona and I met each other, we both invented a way—interestingly, the same way—to lay out InDesign footnotes manually for print books. In this blog post, I’ll explain the layout method that we both used—it still works perfectly.
What kind of notes should you use?
Before you start typesetting your footnotes, you need to decide how to handle them. There are three basic ways:
Use endnotes
Are your footnotes boring? Would general readers have a better experience if they didn’t have to see them on nearly every page? If so, consider putting the notes at the end of each chapter or at the end of the book. The endnote solution is by far the easiest one if you are not using the automatic InDesign footnotes feature. We cover this topic thoroughly in chapter 29 of Book Design Made Simple.
Use asterisks
For a book with only a few footnotes, set an asterisk after each note and place the notes at the bottom of the relevant pages. In the case of more than one note on a page, use these symbols in the following order (see page 348 in Book Design Made Simple), beginning again with a single asterisk on each new page:
But if you have one note—or more—on almost every page, that is probably too many, and you should go to a numbering system. In either case, you can follow “The method” below.
Use numbered footnotes
This one is pretty obvious. Your main text has reference numbers, each one with a corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page. The layout method for numbered InDesign footnotes is the main topic of this blog post. Read on.
The method for typesetting InDesign footnotes
First, I’ve discovered that you can automate much of the method explained below by purchasing an InDesign add-on called Footwork. But if you’re only working on a single book or don’t want to spend any money, continue reading.
For those of you who know InDesign pretty well, here’s a quick summary:
- Save all your footnotes in a separate Word document from the rest of your manuscript.
- In InDesign, make all your reference numbers magenta so they are easy to spot.
- Use two different sets of threaded text frames on each page: one for the main text, and a second one for the footnotes. Then match the footnotes to the reference numbers.
- Remember to return the reference numbers to black.
For those of you who are not as practiced with InDesign, follow the steps below.
Prepare your Word document
Depending on how you set up your footnotes in Word, you might have to copy and paste all the footnotes from your manuscript into a separate Word document specifically for footnotes. If you haven’t already typeset your manuscript in InDesign, it’s worth the effort to copy and paste the footnotes into Word’s or InDesign’s automatic footnote feature at this stage! But if that’s not an option, just prepare a separate Word doc containing all your footnotes, then continue following these steps.
Set up your InDesign document
Your InDesign pages are going to need two text frames per page: a larger one for the main text, and a smaller one for the footnotes. So go to your book’s A-Parent (previously called A-Master) page and add a new text frame for footnotes at the bottom of both pages (see below). The height of the text frames really doesn’t matter because you’ll be resizing each one as you go through your pages later on, but be sure to align the bottom of the text frames with the bottom baseline for your main text. Notice that there are no text frames for the main text; they will appear automatically on the pages once you’ve placed your main text.
Add a new text frame to the bottom of both A-Parent (A-Master) pages, being sure to align the bottom of the new text frames with the bottom baseline for your main text.
You’ll want your footnotes to align at the bottom of the text frame rather than the top, so that they sit nicely on the bottom baseline despite having a smaller type size and leading. Select both text frames by clicking and dragging across them, then choose Object > Text Frame Options (Ctrl/Cmd+B) and, under the General tab, go to Vertical Justification and select Bottom from the Align drop-down box, than click OK.
Align the text to the bottom of its frame by choosing Bottom in Text Frame Options.
One more small but helpful step is to thread the two footnote text frames together on the A-Parent (A-Master) page. With your Selection Tool, click on the out port of the left frame and then click anywhere inside the right frame to link the two frames. To confirm that the frames are linked, go to View > Extras > Show Text Threads and then select one of the text frames with the Selection Tool to see the link. The bottom of your A-Parent (A-Master) page will now look like this:
Now the two footnotes text frames on your A-Parent (A-Master) page are linked.
Place your manuscript and optimize the text
Place and autoflow your main text as described in chapter 8 of Book Design Made Simple. You’ll notice right away that the type fills each page and covers up your footnote text frames, but you’ll fix this in a moment.
Now go ahead and optimize the text as described in chapter 9 and apply character styles (chapter 13).
Place your footnotes
The next task is to get the main text frames out of the way of the footnote text frames. You’ll save yourself a bit of time by following these simple steps:
Zoom out so that you can see at least two spreads simultaneously (see right).- Using the Selection Tool, drag to select both main text frames on a spread at once.
- Grab the handle at the bottom center of the selection and drag it up so that the frames no longer cover the footnote text frames.
- Select both footnote frames by dragging over them while holding down Ctrl/Cmd+Shift. As a result, a solid outline should replace the dotted outline on each frame, and the frames will therefore be unlocked and usable. This saves you the trouble of going back through the book and doing this step later.
- Move on to the next spread and repeat steps 3 and 4, continuing through the entire book.
With your footnote text frames now visible and unlocked, return to page 1 and do the following:
- Go to InDesign > Preferences > Type (Mac) or Edit > Preferences > Type (PC) and uncheck Smart Text Reflow. (This way, InDesign won’t make any automatic changes to the flow of your text. All changes will be made manually by you.)
- Using the Type Tool, insert the cursor in the very first footnote text frame.
- Place your footnote text. It will flow into the frame and you’ll see the red overset text symbol ([+]) in the out port.
- Using the Selection Tool, click on the overset text symbol, scroll down to the next spread, and click inside the left footnote text frame there. Because you threaded the frames together when you set up your parent (master) page, the text should flow into both frames on the spread.
- Repeat step 4 throughout the book, threading from each recto page to the next verso. Even if you run out of footnote text and it’s no longer flowing in, just keep on to the end.
- Optimize your footnote text, just as you did for the main text of your book.
- Apply character styles as needed throughout the footnotes. We’ll deal with paragraphs styles later.
At this point you should have two independent sets of threaded text frames, as shown below. You can probably see exactly where this is going now, right? Read on for more hints about how to make the process go smoothly.
The main text frames at the top and the footnote text frames at the bottom are linked independently.
Style your reference numbers
Set up a character style for your reference numbers in the main text (see page 85 in Book Design Made Simple). This will make them superscript and highly visible. The settings I suggest are shown below. (If you already have a References style, just change the character color to magenta.)
If you haven’t already, you must find all your reference numbers in the main text and apply the ref character style. You’ll do this with one of the following searches:
If they are already superscript, simply follow the directions on page 93 of Book Design Made Simple, but I will repeat them here: Zoom in or out to make your text a readable size on the screen, then put your cursor in the text near the start of page 1. Go to Edit > Find/Change (Ctrl/Cmd+F). Select the Text tab, then click in the Find Format box. When the Find Format Settings box comes up, go to Basic Character Formats. Set Position to Superscript, and leave all the other fields blank. Click OK and the Find Format box will fill in automatically. Now click inside the Change Format box. In the Character Style drop-down list, select ref, then click OK. (When you’re done it should look like the example to the right.) Next, hit the Find button. After you see the first superscript number, click Change. It should turn to magenta, and the character style should change to ref. If you’re satisfied that it’s working properly, click Change All.
If your reference numbers are full size, enlarge your view till your text is readable on the screen, then put your cursor in the text near the start of page 1. Go to Edit > Find/Change (Ctrl/Cmd+F). Select the GREP tab, then type \d in the Find what box. Now click inside the Change Format box. In the Character Style drop-down list, select ref, then click OK. (When you’re done it should look like the example to the right.) Next, hit the Find button. This search is going to find every single digit in your book, so carefully go through and select only reference numbers 1–9 in this way, changing them to the ref character style by clicking on Change. Each reference number should become magenta, with the character style changing to ref. Once the first 9 numbers are done, do a new search, this time for 2-digit numbers by entering \d\d in the Find what field. (For 3-digit numbers, enter \d\d\d.) Continue through the text until you’ve applied the ref style to every reference number.
Phew! As usual, it takes longer to read the instructions than it does to do the job. You’ve finished the tedious parts now, so let’s move on.
The simpler method: Style your footnotes without horizontal lines
Set up your footnote (ftn) paragraph style. Follow the example on page 348 of Book Design Made Simple, or make up your own style. Use the ftn style throughout for all your footnotes. You may skip the next section and go to “Match reference numbers to notes” below.
The more complicated method: Style your footnotes using horizontal lines
Warning: Adding rules (lines) above your footnotes involves adding two more paragraph styles plus some custom formatting. If you want to go ahead with it, here’s what to do:
Set up your footnote (ftn) paragraph style. Follow the example on page 348 of Book Design Made Simple, or make up your own style. You’ll use this style for all footnotes except the first footnote on each page—that style (ftn1) will include a short horizontal line to visually separate the footnotes from the main text for your readers. Base your ftn1 style on your ftn style with just one difference:
Apply the ftn1 style to all of your footnotes at once by inserting your cursor in any footnote text frame and selecting all (Ctrl/Cmd+A). Open the Paragraph Styles panel and select the ftn1 style.
Match reference numbers to notes
Since you’re laying out footnotes manually, you’ll need to make sure the footnotes appear at the bottom of the pages where they are referred to in the main text. The tricks explained below will help to speed things up for you, and honestly, you may find the page balancing act to be fun. (I know I do.)
Be sure to add any images and make all other additions to your pages before you match your reference numbers to the footnotes. Any additions or subtractions to your pages can change the flow of your main text, and will therefore change the placement of the reference numbers.
Starting on page 1, check to see if there is a footnote reference number on the page. If there isn’t, simply delete the footnote frame and extend the main text frame down to the bottom margin. If there is a footnote reference number, adjust your two text frames so that the appropriate footnote appears (or at least begins) on the same page. Having magenta reference numbers really helps, doesn’t it?
Leave at least one blank linespace between the top footnote and the main text. If you can’t fit an entire footnote on the same page as the reference number, run it over to the next page, leaving at least two footnote text lines on both pages to avoid an orphan and a widow. (You must avoid widows and orphans—yes, even in footnotes.) This is a common practice, so don’t worry about it—within reason. If the footnotes spill over repeatedly, consider rewording something in the main text, resizing an illustration, or placing a reference number somewhere farther along so the notes can catch up with the text.
You’ll see that all your footnotes currently have the small horizontal line above them. When you come to a page that has more than one reference number, change the paragraph style of the footnotes below the first one to ftn to remove the horizontal line.
The page on the left has just one footnote. The page on the right has two footnotes, the top one with a horizontal line above (paragraph style ftn1), and subsequent footnotes on the same page without the horizontal line (paragraph style ftn). Be sure to leave some white space between the main text and the footnotes. See how nicely the footnotes align across the bottom of this 2-page spread? If a page with footnotes is facing a page without footnotes, the footnotes will align perfectly across the bottom with the main text.
You may very well need a third style, too, for the notes that split between pages. Let’s call it ftn2. Set it up like the ftn1 style but without a first line indent so that it doesn’t appear to be a new paragraph. At the end of the first page of the note, type Enter/Return. Keeping your cursor in that paragraph, open the Paragraph panel and click on the Justify all lines icon to force the last line of the paragraph to end flush right so it doesn’t look like the end of a paragraph (even though it is). Next, apply the ftn2 style to the continued part of the note.
This footnote continues from the left to the right page, so the ftn1 and ftn2 styles are applied. And because a break is used at the end of the first page, the alignment of that paragraph is changed from Left Justify to Justify all lines (also called Full Justify).
Finishing touches
Once your InDesign footnotes are in their final places, delete any remaining unused footnote frames. Remember to return the reference numbers to black (go to the Character Styles panel, find the ref style, and change Character Color to black).
So what do you think?
The automatic InDesign footnotes feature definitely makes life easier, and I recommend using it whenever possible. If you plan to use Word’s and then InDesign’s automatic footnote functions, everything will go more quickly. But it’s good to have this method in your toolbox, as it will always work in a pinch.
Did you try this system? What do you think? If you need to typeset InDesign footnotes manually for whatever reason, I hope this blog post helps.
Read more: InDesign endnotes go live in InDesign CC 2018 »
Read more: Running heads – what to include in your novel or nonfiction book »
And more: Your copyright page – everything you need to know »
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
This is an old method that we have been using in the Middle East since the 1980s, because the placement of words on the lines is real and there is no spacing between the lines.
The program we use is
3b2
I am now trying to do this method on InDesign, but the numbering is continuous because I started from the first page by drawing the writing block and then pasted the words inside it..
But it seems that it is not good.. so I will return to the world of the eighties (:
Hello Abdallah,
Isn’t it nice that InDesign has many ways to accomplish the same tasks? And sometimes the old ways work best.
Glenna and Fiona
Hello, how do I make the text space for the footnote line fixed? Did you understand what I said? The space between the footer and text always varies in size. For example, some are 3 lines high up to the text, but there are others that are 6 lines high, you know? I want to leave 3 lines on every page that contains the footnote.
Hello Carlos,
This is tricky. Since you are controlling the text frames by hand plus avoiding widows and orphans, you will need to use the usual tricks of tracking, etc. to get your text to end exactly 3 lines above your footnotes. Here’s our article on those tricks: https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/book-typesetting-layout-issues-indesign/
You can use the tricks on the text but also on the footnotes, of course.
It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle! Good luck with your layout. You may not get it perfectly right, but by using all the possible tools and methods, you will come close.
Glenna
I am creating an InDesign Book with multiple documents. I need a different set of footnote numbering for sidebars, each sidebar’s footnotes start at one. The sidebars are separate (not the same thread) from the rest of the book. The rest of the book’s footnotes are continuous. When I go into the second document, I set the footnotes to start at xx. I can’t figure out how to change the xx to one just for the text boxes. I spent hours online looking for an answer.
Hello Deanna,
The solution for footnotes in sidebars is to use a different system from the one you’re using for the main text. We wrote about this in our blog at https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/typesetting-indesign-footnotes/. Basically, put each sidebar into a separate Word document. Then separate each Word doc into one for the text and another for the footnotes. Then in InDesign create two different text frames for each sidebar (or two different sets of columns, or however your sidebars are set up), one for text and one for footnotes. Flow the sidebar text into the set of linked text frames that you made for sidebar text, then flow your footnotes into the other set. Pull the handles of the two text frames up or down until you get each footnote below the appropriate text. If you use this method, you can number both the text references and the footnotes so that they start at 1 for each sidebar without any problem. Plus any changes you make in one sidebar will have zero effect on any other sidebar.
I hope this helps!
Glenna
Can you please make a video that shows how to do this procedure?
Hi Mordechai, we’ll consider your request for sure.
Dear Glenna,
Do you know a way to use INDesign to place more than one footnote on one line? This is for a critical edition, where there are multitude of footnotes and space needs to be maximised.
Thanks!
Omar
Hello Omar,
Since you’ve already read our article about footnotes, you realize that InDesign’s automatic footnote method will not work in your situation. Though I have never seen a book with footnotes like what you describe, why not try it?
I have 2 suggestions:
1. Make the numbers bold in the footnotes, and separate the notes with an em space. This will make them easier to find.
2. Try endnotes instead. They can actually save space by being together at the end of the chapter or the book. Pages 249-250 of Book Design Made Simple shows how you can design them, possibly in multiple columns, depending on your overall design. And if you want to bunch them together as you describe in your letter, go ahead and try it, but use the bold numbers and the em space that I mentioned above.
I will be interested to find out how you solve this problem. Good luck and let us know!
Glenna
If there are as many or more characters in the footnotes as there are in the main text, you might consider using a facing page approach for your critical edition. Put the main text on the left, and the commentary on the right (or vice versa).
Hello Daniel,
That’s an inventive approach, and I bet it would work just fine.
Glenna
Great post, detailed and helpful.
But, there’s a better way to do the first 10 steps or so — the bit where you’re flowing the main text and footnote text.
This is one of the few times when it’s a good idea to put text frames on master pages! (I don’t mean primary text frames, I avoid those. I mean regular text frames.) The setup should be as follows (for the book described, which is just a regular book with footnotes underneath):
1. Create a master page consisting of 2 pages, i.e. one spread.
2. Draw 2 regular text frames on this master page: one on the top verso page, one of the top recto page. They should both occupy around 2/3 of the height of the page.
3. Thread them together on the master page — the left, verso frame should be threaded to the right, recto frame.
4. Now repeat this for the footnote frames: create 2 frames at the bottom of the page, and thread them together.
So we now have 2 pairs of text frames on a single master spread.
Go back to the first regular page in the book. Load up the text cursor with the main text (“place” is the best way of course), and then shift click on the top margin of the first top frame.
You will find that the text now automatically flows throughout the book into the top pair of frames, left to right, until the end.
So with a single click you’ve auto-flowed the main text of the book.
Now, repeat this with the footnote text, clicking on the top margin of the first footnote text frame on the first page.
So, two clicks and all the text is flowed in 2 separate stories, top and bottom.
Continue as described in this post.
Now, although it can be fun to divide the pages in just the right way so that the correct footnotes appear with the main text, it can get tedious. And if there are edits and changes, a huge amount of work would need to be redone.
So allow me at this point to make a plug for my own Footwork script for InDesign. It’s a very complex, and fully-featured, but easy-to-use script that will layout an entire book automatically, changing the heights of the main text frames and footnote text frames automatically to ensure that the correct footnotes appear at the bottom of the page in sync with the footnote references above in the main frame. If there are late edits or changes, just rerun the script from that point onwards, and the frames are readjusted again to ensure the right footnotes appear on each page until the end of the book!
Check it out: https://www.id-extras.com/products/footwork
Hello Ariel,
Thanks for alerting us to your product, which looks very helpful. I’ve added a note about it in the post. https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/typesetting-indesign-footnotes/
Glenna
Hello, very helpful tip indeed! I am trying to use asterisks and numbers footnotes on the same page but it not working, my document has these 2 styles on the same page (some of them are asterisks and others are numbers), is there any way I can make this work?
Thanks
Hello Wissam,
It’s very unusual to have 2 systems going on the same page, and confusing for the reader. But I imagine that the numbered notes are bibliographical references and things like that, and the asterisks are more interesting to the general reader. If that is the case, my best advice would be to put the numbered notes at the end of the chapter or the book, and keep the asterisks on the page.
On the other hand, if the numbered notes are for your main text and the asterisks are for sidebars, you should put the asterisks inside the sidebars (and it really helps to have a background color (or light gray) behind the sidebars so there’s absolutely no doubt that the sidebar notes are related to the sidebar text).
In either case, you should follow the method described in the article. In your main text, it’s helpful to make the reference numbers (the superscript ones) and the asterisks a bright color so you can easily spot them on the page and verify that your notes are on that same page.
If for some reason you absolutely must put both systems at the bottom of the page, group the asterisked notes above the numbered ones, with a noticeable space or a rule between them.
I hope this helps, but if it’s still not clear or helpful, please write to us again.
Glenna
Another really helpful post. Thank you! 🙂
L
Glad you found it helpful!