Indesign CS3 Footnotes?

It appears that you'll have to do manual layouts of your footnotes, at first glance, if you want to place your footnotes in columns.

By definition, footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page (and column) of the referenced matter.

As lamented in the source page's author: "Why can't InDesign perform some basic word processing functions like proper footnotes, having text break across columns, table styles, running headers, etc..."

I echo the respondents: "...everyone uses InDesign differently. It can't do everything. Maybe you're using the wrong software, maybe Word or Framemaker would be a better choice. Indesign is for design (see, it's right there in the name). It sounds like your project is all word processing." "For the obvious reason that InDesign is not a word processor any more than Word is a layout program. Both try hard to have some of the functions of the other, but neither doing a particularly good job, although I reckon InDesign is a better word processor than Word is a layout tool. Framemaker might be a better choice of software for your task."

And there you have it. It's not coming from the experts, but it's still a very viable prognosis.

If you want this project to come out looking like you indicated in your question, I suggest making master pages of a larger matter frame at the top of each page, and a smaller frame near the bottom to act as a separate container for your footnotes. PLEASE NOTE: this method will not take advantage of the footnotes feature! You will be required to track, move and edit your footnotes so that they flow with the text *manually* -- unlike InDesign's footnotes feature which moves a footnote along with the reference were it to move to another column or page.

Adobe has video tutorials on their website that you can instantly access using Bridge. That's a great start. There are plenty of books that are out there which are out of this world. I'm a particular fan of David Blatner's and Anne-Marie Concepcion's book "InDesign Breakthroughs" as well as the newly released "Real World InDesign" book as well as their combined website, InDesign Secrets. Michael Murphy's TheInDesigner vlog series is also terrific! He's hosted along with Blatner and Concepcion on InDesignSecrets. You might also want to subscribe to the bimonthly newsletter, InDesign Magazine which publishes a lot of in-depth information about a variety of InDesign tips, techniques, walk-throughs, and helpdesk column hosted by Sandee Cohen as well as reviews of helpful plug-ins.