I have a problem using the footnotes in InDesign

Question

I am designing a book for a client who needs to include many footnotes, which contain large-sized paragraphs each. In many cases, he placed three or more note calls within a single paragraph of the main text. This means that InDesign has to deal with the accommodation of extensive footnotes on a single page. Sometimes the application does the job perfectly. However, it usually cuts the main text in the middle of the page, in order to accommodate note calls and footnotes together on the next page. Thus leaving large empty spaces in the main text of some pages.
How do I get InDesign to distribute the main text perfectly, without leaving large empty spaces on the pages and also showing the large note calls and footnotes?

Barb Binder · Answer

Hi Carlos:

I see layout as very similar to a jigsaw puzzle. You have to figure out how to make things fit and footnotes just make it even more complicated. Check your keep settings on your body paragraphs (I'd suggest Keep Lines Together at Start and End at 2 lines):

and be sure Allow Split Footnotes is on in Footnote options:

to give InDesign a fighting chance. After that, you may need to play with gentle leading/tracking overrides to try to make it work.

~Barb

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