How to Add Endnotes
Endnotes are notes your reader finds at the end of a chapter or at the back of your book, instead of at the bottom of the page. Each note leaves a small raised number in your text, and the reader can jump from the number to the note and back again.
- What it does
- Gathers your notes at the end of each chapter, at the back of your book, or both.
- Where to find it
- Add a note with the notes button in the editor toolbar. Style notes in Edit Styles, then Endnote Settings.
- Works in
- EPUB, print-ready PDF and DOCX.
- Before you start
- Choose where your endnotes print. Until you do, they do not appear in your book.
Add an endnote
- Click in your text where the note’s raised number should go.
- Open the notes button in the editor toolbar and choose Endnote. You can also press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+M⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+MCtrl+Shift+M.
- Type your note in the window that opens.
- Click Add.
The note’s number appears in your text. Lacuna numbers your notes for you and renumbers them whenever you add or remove one.
To change a note later, click its number in your text. The same window opens with your note in it.
Choose where your endnotes print
Your endnotes can print in two places. Use whichever suits your book, or both.
| At the end of each chapter | At the back of your book | |
|---|---|---|
| How | Turn on Add Endnotes At End Of Section | Add an Endnotes section |
| Your reader sees | Each chapter’s notes right after that chapter | One list, grouped under each volume, book part and chapter |
At the end of each chapter
- Open Edit Styles, then Endnote Settings (see Style your endnotes).
- Turn on Add Endnotes At End Of Section at the top of the panel.
- Click the new End of Section tab to set the heading and the separator.
Every chapter that has endnotes now ends with them. The End of Section tab appears only while this switch is on, and it holds:
- Title Text. The heading above each chapter’s notes. It starts as Notes.
- Subheading Preset (H2). Which subheading style that heading uses. The pencil beside it opens the style so you can change it.
- Separator Style. What sits between the chapter’s text and its notes: an Ornamental Break (the default) or a Page Break, which starts the notes on a fresh page.
- Ornamental Break Preset. Which ornamental break style the separator uses. The pencil beside it opens the style so you can change it.
The separator can use any ornamental break preset, including one you made. Here it uses Floral, a preset with a built-in image:
At the back of your book
- Click Add New Section(s) at the bottom of the sidebar.
- Point to Back Matter.
- Choose Endnotes. The new section is added at the end of your book, and opens.
The new Endnotes section gathers every endnote that comes before it, in reading order. A heading for each volume, book part and chapter keeps the notes easy to find. The section’s page sets how those headings look:
- Book Volume Title Headers (H1). The subheading style and alignment for each volume’s heading, in box sets and anthologies made of volumes. Turn on Hide book volumes to leave them out.
- Book Part Title Headers (H1). The subheading style and alignment for your book part headings. Turn on Hide book parts to leave them out.
- Section Title Headers (H2). The subheading style and alignment for each chapter’s heading.
- Global Styling Settings. Opens the Endnotes panel, which styles the notes themselves: their text and spacing (see Style your endnotes).
If your book has no Endnotes section yet, the Endnotes panel offers to add one at the end of your book: click Yes.
You can add more than one Endnotes section, for example one at the end of each volume. Each one gathers the notes that come after the Endnotes section before it.
Style your endnotes
- Click Edit Styles in the top bar.
- Choose Endnote Settings, under Notes.
The Endnotes panel opens beside your text. Global Styling Settings on your Endnotes section’s page opens the same panel.
The panel controls how every note looks. As with the rest of your book, you can save your choices as a preset and watch them change in the preview as you work. The panel’s tabs:
- Text. The font, size and line spacing of your notes, and Text Justification.
- Spacing. The space around your notes and between one note and the next.
- Backlinks. The small return arrow (↩) that takes your reader from a note back to where they were reading. EPUB only.
- End of Section. The heading and separator for notes at the end of each chapter, described above.
Questions
I added endnotes, but they don’t appear in my book.
Your notes need a place to print. Turn on Add Endnotes At End Of Section, or add an Endnotes section at the back of your book. Until you do one of these, your endnotes are not printed anywhere.
Why does each note appear twice?
Both places are turned on: Add Endnotes At End Of Section, and an Endnotes section. Each one prints every note. Keep the one you want and remove the other.
Why does every chapter start its notes at 1?
Endnote numbers start again in each chapter, the way most printed books number them. In an Endnotes section at the back of your book, each chapter’s notes sit under that chapter’s name, so a reader always knows which 1 they are looking at.
Why do some of my notes use * or † instead of numbers?
When a chapter has both footnotes and endnotes, Lacuna keeps them apart for your reader. Endnotes keep their numbers (1, 2, 3), and footnotes switch to the traditional symbols: asterisk (*), dagger (†), double dagger (‡), section mark (§), and onward.
Can I edit an endnote from the preview?
Yes, in the e-reader previews. Click the note’s number in the preview, then the pencil in the popup, and Lacuna takes you to that note in the editor. This works the same way as footnotes. Print preview does not show the popup.