Footnote Options

Minimum Space Before First Footnote: the minimum space between the bottom of the column and the first footnote line.

Space Between Footnotes determines the distance between the last paragraph of one footnote and the first paragraph of the next. The Space Before/Space After values in a footnote's paragraph style apply only if the footnote runs to multiple paragraphs.

First Baseline Offset determines the position of the baseline of the first line of footnote type relative to the footnote area. See Chapter 16: Everything in its Right Place: Using Grids for more on first baseline offsets.

Place End of Story Footnotes at Bottom of Text With this option selected the last column's footnote will appear directly below the end of the story. Otherwise it will appear at the bottom of the column.

Allow Split Footnotes lets footnotes break across a page when it's too big to fit on the page. Without splitting the line containing the footnote reference number jumps to the next page, or the text becomes overset. With Allow Split Footnotes on, you can still prevent an individual footnote from splitting by choosing Keep Options from the Paragraph palette menu, and selecting the Keep Lines Together and All Lines In Paragraph options.

Rule Above This Specifies the location and appearance of the footnote divider line should you choose to use one. These options are very similar to those for paragraph rules (see Chapter 14: Mo' Style).

Figures 6.25A and 6.25B . Footnote Options.

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Notes on Footnotes

Footnotes are usually indicated by a superscript numeral immediately after the text being referenced. Use superscript in the text but a full-size numbers in the notes themselves.
The numbers should be separated from the note of the text by a single space without punctuation.
Footnotes should be numbered when there are many of them, but if you have only a few they can be marked with a dagger, asterisk, or other symbol. Endnotes always use numerals to facilitate easy reference to the main text.
Footnotes and endnotes are usually set one-two points smaller than the body text, with leading that is a point or two tighter. They should be in the same type family as the body text.
Footnotes should be separated from the type area by a space at least as big as the body text leading, or by a thin rule.
When a document has only a few footnotes you can use symbols instead of numbers to indicate the footnotes. The traditional order is * [asterisk] [dagger] [double dagger] § [section sign] ¶ [paragraph mark]. This is one of InDesign's footnote numbering options.