Formatting footnotes
Formatting footnotes
thanx in advance,
i'm having two problems:
1. trying to format the position and size of the footnote number
2. formatting footnotes in a way that effects the whole document
if there's anything to do about it that would be great
i'm having two problems:
1. trying to format the position and size of the footnote number
2. formatting footnotes in a way that effects the whole document
if there's anything to do about it that would be great
OOo 3.0.X on MS Windows Vista + 00o 2.4
Re: formatting footnotes
Press F11 to display the style toolbox, then click on a footnote. In the style toolbox, the proper style is selected, then you can edit it by right-clicking it and selecting the option "Modify". Change the font, alignment, color, etc. All your footnotes will now follow the same layout. If you need this for all new documents, you then need to save the new style in your default template. Do a search on this forum about how to create a new Writer template.
LibreOffice 4.2.3.3. on Ubuntu 14.04
- Hagar Delest
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Re: formatting footnotes
See also:
- [Solved] Size of footnotes
- [Tutorial] Creating a new default template
Thanks to add '[Solved]' at beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.
- [Solved] Size of footnotes
- [Tutorial] Creating a new default template
Thanks to add '[Solved]' at beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.
LibreOffice 25.2 on Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE Faye) and 24.8 portable on Windows 11.
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- Posts: 302
- Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:43 am
- Location: Vancouver, BC
Re: Formatting footnotes
Just to add to that, make sure that the footnote's style is "footnote." In my last big document, I converted a bunch of endnotes to footnotes, and cut/pasted text into my footnotes, and I ended up having to go through all 150+ notes and assign the "footnote" style to them after the fact. If they're not all "footnote" style, then they won't respond to any changes to make to the paragraph style called "footnote."
LibreOffice 5.2.5.1 on MacBook OS X 10.12.3, "Sierra"
Re: Formatting footnotes
thanks for the tip but now when i position the footnote number as superscript the text which i type afterwards also comes up as superscript in the same smaller elevated font as the number ?!
OOo 3.0.X on MS Windows Vista + 00o 2.4
Re: Formatting footnotes
Are you making your own footnotes, or are you using the Writer-managed notes (Insert > Footnote/Endnote?
Using the Writer-managed notes, I can't get the footnote number formatting (which is in it's own field) to "bleed" into adjacent text, either for the anchor number in the text area, or the note number in the notes area.
Maybe you can explain in more detail exactly what you're doing, or attach a sample document that shows what you're having trouble with. You can use the "Upload Attachment" link (below the message entry area after you click "POST REPLY"). [Forum] How to attach a document here
Using the Writer-managed notes, I can't get the footnote number formatting (which is in it's own field) to "bleed" into adjacent text, either for the anchor number in the text area, or the note number in the notes area.
Maybe you can explain in more detail exactly what you're doing, or attach a sample document that shows what you're having trouble with. You can use the "Upload Attachment" link (below the message entry area after you click "POST REPLY"). [Forum] How to attach a document here
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
Re: Formatting footnotes
firstly thank you everyone for your help however i'm still having trouble.
i tried pressing F11 and modifiying footnote anchor, footnote character (under character styles), and just plain footnote (under page styles) but i failed to see any options for adjusting the alignment. aside from the fact that when i adjusted the position of the seperator line it just went back to the position that it's always in anyway so my attempted change was entirely useless. please help
secondly, i didn't see any options for adjusting the position of the text or footnote number regarding where to begin on each line or other things like that. am i missing something?
(p.s. is the footnote anchor that i can modify through the F11 option the little number in the text or in the actual footnote?)
i tried pressing F11 and modifiying footnote anchor, footnote character (under character styles), and just plain footnote (under page styles) but i failed to see any options for adjusting the alignment. aside from the fact that when i adjusted the position of the seperator line it just went back to the position that it's always in anyway so my attempted change was entirely useless. please help

secondly, i didn't see any options for adjusting the position of the text or footnote number regarding where to begin on each line or other things like that. am i missing something?
(p.s. is the footnote anchor that i can modify through the F11 option the little number in the text or in the actual footnote?)
OOo 3.0.X on MS Windows Vista + 00o 2.4
Re: Formatting footnotes
To modify the appearance and layout of footnotes or endnotes, you have to visit several different locations in the application. Further, several different locations and settings use the same label, "footnote," even though they control different aspects of the footnote layout. You really have to pay close attention: Page Styles > Footnote is different from Paragraph Styles > Footnote.
Note: When you modify a style, the changes will automatically apply to every region of text that's linked to that style.
Right-click in the footnote text > Edit Paragraph Style, or F11 > Paragraph Styles > Footnote
Here you can change settings that control the appearance and layout of each note's text paragraph, not including the note's numbering layout.
Right-click anywhere in the page > Page, or F11 > Page Styles > Default > Footnote
Here you can change settings that control the layout of the footnote area on the page: how big the separator line is, how much space is around it, how much of the page can be occupied by footnotes.
F11 > Character Styles > Footnote Characters
Here you can change settings that control the appearance of the numbers (or other symbols) that appear to the left of the notes. You can change the color, size, position (subscript/superscript) for the characters in the footnote label.
F11 > Character Styles > Footnote anchor
Here you can change settings that control the appearance of the numbers (or other symbols) that appear in the document text. You can change the color, size, position (subscript/superscript) for the characters in the anchor that shows which note goes with the preceeding text.
Tools > Footnotes/Endnotes
Here you can change settings that control the overall properties of the notes: what kind of numbering is used, where the notes appear in the document, ...
F11 > Page Styles > Footnote
This is a page style that's used for footnote pages when you ask Writer to put all the footnotes at the end of the document. You won't need it if your notes appear below the text they refer to.
Note: When you modify a style, the changes will automatically apply to every region of text that's linked to that style.
Right-click in the footnote text > Edit Paragraph Style, or F11 > Paragraph Styles > Footnote
Here you can change settings that control the appearance and layout of each note's text paragraph, not including the note's numbering layout.
Right-click anywhere in the page > Page, or F11 > Page Styles > Default > Footnote
Here you can change settings that control the layout of the footnote area on the page: how big the separator line is, how much space is around it, how much of the page can be occupied by footnotes.
F11 > Character Styles > Footnote Characters
Here you can change settings that control the appearance of the numbers (or other symbols) that appear to the left of the notes. You can change the color, size, position (subscript/superscript) for the characters in the footnote label.
F11 > Character Styles > Footnote anchor
Here you can change settings that control the appearance of the numbers (or other symbols) that appear in the document text. You can change the color, size, position (subscript/superscript) for the characters in the anchor that shows which note goes with the preceeding text.
Tools > Footnotes/Endnotes
Here you can change settings that control the overall properties of the notes: what kind of numbering is used, where the notes appear in the document, ...
F11 > Page Styles > Footnote
This is a page style that's used for footnote pages when you ask Writer to put all the footnotes at the end of the document. You won't need it if your notes appear below the text they refer to.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
Re: Formatting footnotes
I have been having great difficulty with footnotes, as have others, apparently. Basically, I want to (1) change the font size and colour of the text anchor, (2) change the font size and colour of the number in the footnote and (3) change the font size of the footnotes..... and this is changing existing footnotes, not starting from a blank sheet.
To do (1) I have opened the document, selected F11, character styles (second button form the left, with an A on it); right clicked Footnote anchor and selected Modify. Mine defaults to Times New Roman, Regular, 12pt (although I have no idea why and I would dearly love to change this). My choices are Calibri, bold, 8pt; Font effects, Red (everything else "without" or unchecked; Position - Superscript, raise by 75%; relative font size 80%, 0 degrees rotation/scaling. And it works OK.
To do (2) I have the document open, and select F11, Character styles and right click Footnote characters and select Modify. My choices are Calibri, bold, 8pt, font effects, Red (I have picked all these settings so I can really see the effect.) This also works OK.
To do (3) is a real problem because I just cannot get it to work following the general steps as outlined above.Whatever I do I have Footnote, Calibri, 8, showing in the toolbar and this seems to override anything I do. My workround is to select each footnote in turn whilst holding down Ctrl, then go to the toolbar where it shows 8pt and change it to 10pt.
I am not a tecchie and it has taken me two days to work this lot out, despite all the good, mainly helpful and friendly advice in this forum. I am simply frustrated that two out of three procedures work fine but I cannot get the third to work as the others do.
I hope that my experiences and workrounds might help others who are struggling, which is why I have posted this.
Open Office 4.1.5; Windows 10
To do (1) I have opened the document, selected F11, character styles (second button form the left, with an A on it); right clicked Footnote anchor and selected Modify. Mine defaults to Times New Roman, Regular, 12pt (although I have no idea why and I would dearly love to change this). My choices are Calibri, bold, 8pt; Font effects, Red (everything else "without" or unchecked; Position - Superscript, raise by 75%; relative font size 80%, 0 degrees rotation/scaling. And it works OK.
To do (2) I have the document open, and select F11, Character styles and right click Footnote characters and select Modify. My choices are Calibri, bold, 8pt, font effects, Red (I have picked all these settings so I can really see the effect.) This also works OK.
To do (3) is a real problem because I just cannot get it to work following the general steps as outlined above.Whatever I do I have Footnote, Calibri, 8, showing in the toolbar and this seems to override anything I do. My workround is to select each footnote in turn whilst holding down Ctrl, then go to the toolbar where it shows 8pt and change it to 10pt.
I am not a tecchie and it has taken me two days to work this lot out, despite all the good, mainly helpful and friendly advice in this forum. I am simply frustrated that two out of three procedures work fine but I cannot get the third to work as the others do.
I hope that my experiences and workrounds might help others who are struggling, which is why I have posted this.
Open Office 4.1.5; Windows 10
OpenOffice 4 on Windows 10
Re: Formatting footnotes
Further to my previous posting, I have just discovered that if you select F11, then Paragraph Styles, rather than Character Styles, then Footnote, you can make all the changes you want all in one go.
Told you I'm not a tecchie!
Told you I'm not a tecchie!
OpenOffice 4 on Windows 10
Re: Formatting footnotes
Sorry - I'm wrong..... and other things are going wrong now, like some letters or numbers are responding to the changes, whilst others are not.
I'll stop posting here now, you will be glad to hear.
I'll stop posting here now, you will be glad to hear.
OpenOffice 4 on Windows 10
Re: Formatting footnotes
Sometimes doing many things incorrectly messes up things so much that it is far quicker and easier to stop trying to "diagnose the problem so it can be fixed". Instead, remove all formatting and start again from scratch applying it as required.Andy_I wrote:... other things are going wrong now, like some letters or numbers are responding to the changes, whilst others are not.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.