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Footnotes

Footnotes in PDFs are an important part of scholarly writing. They allow authors to provide additional context, cite sources, and offer clarifications without interrupting the main text flow. In this section, we will explore how to effectively use footnotes in your documents. There are many requirements for formatting them, so we provide a default configuration that works well for most use cases while still allowing customizations. We recommend using the UI to play with the settings and see how they affect the output.

Here is an example configuration from a template. If you want a more in-depth explanation, the PrinceXML documentation has a great overview of the various options.

Terminology

  • Callout – the reference placed in the running text (often a superscript numeral or symbol) that tells the reader a footnote is available.
  • Marker – the matching numeral or symbol that introduces the footnote in the notes area; it must correspond to the callout so readers can follow the trail.
  • Separator – the rule or space that visually divides the main text from the footnote block; use it to keep dense notes from bleeding into the body copy.
  • Footnote body – the text of the note itself, usually set in a smaller size with the same alignment as the surrounding notes.
  • Footnote area – the dedicated region at the bottom of the page where the markers and bodies are arranged; spacing here determines how many notes can fit on a page.

Placement of footnotes

The policy field determines how closely a footnote is tied to the page that contains its callout: - auto (default) lets the formatter decide, which can move the footnote to the next page when there is not enough room. - keep-with-block keeps the footnote on the same page as the paragraph that triggers it, which is useful when a callout is near the end of a block of text. - keep-with-line pins the footnote to the exact line that contains the callout, ensuring line-accurate references even when it means pushing more body text to the next page.

Example configuration

# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://cdn.sciflow.net/schema/1.0.0-beta/export/components/footnote/footnote.schema.json
kind: Footnote
ui:
  showTo:
    - editor
runners:
    # Set up the footnotes for the PDF output
  - princexml
spec: 
  policy: keep-with-line # see section on placement of footnotes
  fontSize: 9pt
  breakInside: auto # if set to auto, footnotes will be placed on a page even if they would continue on the next page
  separatorStyle: clipped-line # set to none, line, or clipped-line
  # more options are available through the UI