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TimDuschenes
TimDuschenes
Participant
April 24, 2026
Answered

Peter Kahrel's sidenote script not applying sidenote_reference character style?

  • April 24, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 35 views

I’m having two issues using Peter Kahrel’s sidenote script:

  1. The sidenote_reference style is not being applied to the superscript footnote numbers in the text
  2. The sidenotes are retaining overrides. I can remove these randomly, but can’t figure out how to avoid having any overrides.

Both issues are visible in this screenshot: 
Note that the superscript footnote marker has successfully been replaced by the Sidenote anchor+number, but the style has not been applied. The sidenote itself is showing the blue ‘Style Overrde Highlighter,’ showing that an override has been applied

 

The text is imported from an rtf file, and the footnotes appear to import correctly. My Footnote Options are set to the most basic defaults.

 

Has anyone else encountered this? How can I fix this, without manually applying the style to every reference?

Indesign 2025, running on a Mac, using latest version of sidenotes.

    Correct answer TimDuschenes

    Peter Kahrel kindly helped me fix the issue regarding sidenote_reference character styles. Posting the solution in case anyone else has this issue:

     

    The problem is that the cross-reference format lost its application of the character style for the sidenote reference in the text. It's easy to fix. Open the Cross-Refernces window (Window > Type & Tables > Cross-References):

     

    Then select Define Cross-Reference Formats from the fly-out menu:

     

    Check the Character Style for Cross-References checkbox and the dropdown select the style (sidenote_reference). Click OK a couple of times to get back to the document and you'll see that the style is now correctly applied.


    The overrides issue turns out to be unrelated to sidenotes. I believe the root of this problem is how Google Docs exports footnote styling in rtf files.

    2 replies

    TimDuschenes
    TimDuschenesAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    May 2, 2026

    Peter Kahrel kindly helped me fix the issue regarding sidenote_reference character styles. Posting the solution in case anyone else has this issue:

     

    The problem is that the cross-reference format lost its application of the character style for the sidenote reference in the text. It's easy to fix. Open the Cross-Refernces window (Window > Type & Tables > Cross-References):

     

    Then select Define Cross-Reference Formats from the fly-out menu:

     

    Check the Character Style for Cross-References checkbox and the dropdown select the style (sidenote_reference). Click OK a couple of times to get back to the document and you'll see that the style is now correctly applied.


    The overrides issue turns out to be unrelated to sidenotes. I believe the root of this problem is how Google Docs exports footnote styling in rtf files.

    Frans v.d. Geest
    Community Expert
    Frans v.d. GeestCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 25, 2026

    You will need to contact Peter Kahrel for this…

    https://community.adobe.com/members/peter-kahrel-390796

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