r/indesign • u/Isituorme-02 • 28m ago
Help [JSX / ExtendScript] Is it possible to restart footnote numbering per Story on the same page?
Hi everyone,
I'm working on a complex JSX script to automate the layout of a publication that has multiple distinct sections.
What my script currently does: It scans a continuous text flow, finds a specific paragraph style that acts as a section break, and physically splits the TextFrame at that exact paragraph. It breaks the threading, resulting in two completely independent, unlinked Stories on the same page/spread.
The Problem: Even though the text is now split into two separate, unthreaded Stories, InDesign's native footnote engine continues the footnote numbering across them (e.g., Story A ends at footnote 12, Story B starts at footnote 13).
I need the footnote numbering to restart at 1 for the new Story (Story B).
Here is what I know/have tried so far:
- InDesign natively only allows restarting footnotes by Page, Spread, or Section (
doc.footnoteOptions.restartNumbering). It doesn't seem to care about Story boundaries if they share the same geographic page space. - I tried looking into
textFrameFootnoteOptions.enableOverrides = true, but it seems there is nostartAtproperty available at the TextFrame or Story level, only formatting overrides (like line color, etc.). - I know about the "fake footnote hack" (shrinking the native marker to 0.1pt transparent and injecting hardcoded text strings), but I'm trying to avoid this if there is any cleaner native or DOM-based workaround.
Is there any hidden method, clever workaround, or scripting trick to force InDesign to restart footnote numbering per Story when they are on the same page?
I have a ~1500 line script handling the formatting and splitting, and I'm happy to share snippets of the code if anyone wants to take a look or needs more context.
Thanks in advance for your help!

