Footnotes spanning 2 columns in InDesign display correctly but do not print properly

[dakotakid_parker]

First time I've had to use the footnote options in InDesign. I have several pages with footnotes which occur at the bottom of each page in each associated text block. Span across columns is checked in bothe the Footnote Style I created, as well as in the Layout options. The footnotes display correctly on screen as intended. 

When I print spreads from InDesign to an Epson P5000, the footnotes only print the text that is under the lefthand column. All of the footnote text on the right disappears.

Exporting the pages to a PDF generates the file as it shows on screen, and the resulting file prints to the same printer as expected.

This appears to be a bug in InDesign's printing capabilities.

Anyone have a suggestion as to what is going on?

See the two screen shots to see the problem.

[Barb Binder]

Hi @dakotakid_parker:

I can recreate this in both InDesign 20.3.1 and 19.5.4, also using an Epson printer. 

I think it is worth both of us confirming that our printer driver and firmware is up-to-date, but if that does't do it, please log this a bug here: https://indesign.uservoice.com/.

And in the meantime, thank goodness export to PDF to print is working correctly.

~Barb

[dakotakid_parker]

The driver and firmware on the Epson P5000 was older. I updated the driver to the most current, restarted, and printed the offending pages again. Same result. The footnotes spanning column 2 don't print.

I updated the firmware. No change in the printed output. Still wrong. 

Luckily the pub files need to go as pdf, and as you pointed out, that's still working.

A bug in InDesign. Reported.

[dakotakid_parker]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue, but somehow it got marked solved, which it definitely is not. There's just a kludgy workaround.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @dakotakid_parker,

Thanks again for sharing the details and confirming the steps you've already tried. I’ve gone ahead and reported this to the team so it’s being looked into.

In the meantime, if you're comfortable sharing a sample file that clearly shows the issue, it would be super helpful for us to test it internally and pass it along to team. Just a simple document with one or two footnotes set to span columns should do the trick.

Let me know once you’ve shared it. Really appreciate your help in getting this looked into!

Abhishek

[dakotakid_parker]

I can’t access the file currently as I’m out of the office. Next week.

James Parker
[This is a public forum. Identifying information was removed by the moderator.]

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @dakotakid_parker,

Thanks again for confirming, and no worries! Really appreciate your willingness to share the file.

I checked in with the product team, and to investigate this further, they've requested all related assets. When you're back in the office, could you please share the InDesign file, any linked fonts or images, and the PostScript file generated during the print attempt where the footnotes didn’t output correctly? You can package the file and share it via any of the public cloud sharing services like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Reference: https://adobe.ly/3FHp1Or

Feel free to send the downloadable link here or via DM(if confidential), whichever works better for you.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[dakotakid_parker]

Don’t know if there was/is a postScript file generated. It’s part of a longer (190 page) book. When I have time tomorrow will forward. 

[dakotakid_parker]

I duplicated the offending pages into another file this afternoon, and ran the three spreads to the printer. No error. Then I went back to the original file, which hasn 't been modified, and printed them to the same Epson P5000 printer with no error. I was unable to duplicate the error. My CC app shows InDesign still at v20.3.1. I've been away from this project for a couple of weeks. Haven't changed a thing. I'm unable to duplicate the error.

Maybe it was a memory thing when I was proofing the entire file to 13 x 19. The test I just performed was to plain paper 11 x 17 with no printer's marks, while the error was in the larger sheet, with printing marks. The entire file is too big to package and share -- right now it's over 9GB with images not optimized as yet.

I can post the test file of just the six pages of text and footnotes...