Do one of the following:
Last updated on
16 May 2021
About editorial notes
Editorial
notes are brief comments or annotations for yourself or other contributors.
In Galley and Story views, all notes are displayed inline (within
the text), and the content of the note is displayed between note
bookends 
. In
Layout view, each note is indicated by a note anchor 
. The
content of the note is displayed in the Notes panel and can be color-coded
for each user.
Notes panel overview
The Notes panel contains the name of the note’s author, the date and time it was last modified, the story label, the page number, the note number out of total notes, the number of characters and words, and the content of the note.
A. User color B. Show/Hide notes C. Go to note anchor D. Go to previous note E. Go to next note F. New note G. Delete note
Note:
Regardless of which view you are using, the content of the Notes panel appears the same.
Open the Notes panel
-
Choose Window > Notes.
In Layout view, choose Notes > New Note.
Use Notes Mode
Notes Mode is a convenient way to add, split, or delete notes, depending on where the insertion point is located or what text is selected.
-
Do any of the following:
To create a new note, place the insertion point in text.
To convert text to a note, select the text.
To split a note, place the insertion point inside a note.
To convert the note to text, select the note bookends (in Galley view or Story view).
To move the insertion point out of a note, place the insertion point at the beginning or end of the note.
-
Choose Notes > Notes Mode.
Add a note
-
Do either of the following:
Using the Type tool
, click
where you want to place the note, and choose Notes >
New Note. Using the Note tool
, click
where you want to place the note.
Adding a note in Layout view opens the Notes panel if it is not already open.
-
In Galley or Story view, type your note between the note bookends. In Layout view, type your note in the Notes panel.
You can add as many notes as you want in any location. However, you cannot create a note within another note.
You can also add a note using Notes Mode.
Convert text to a note
-
Select the text that you want to move into a new note.
-
Choose Notes > Convert To Note.
A new note is created. The selected text is removed from the body of the story and pasted into the new note. The note anchor or bookend is located where the text you selected was cut.
If you add notes to a linked InCopy story, they also appear in the story in InDesign, and can be edited in InDesign.
You can also convert text to a note using Notes Mode.
Note:
You can assign keyboard shortcuts to convert a word, line, paragraph, or story to a note. Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, and then choose Notes Menu from the Product Area menu. Add a shortcut to the command, and then click OK.
Convert notes to text
-
Open the Notes panel.
-
Select the text in the Notes panel that you want to add to the text of the document. Or, in Galley view, select the text in the inline note.
-
Choose Notes > Convert To Text.
You can also convert notes to text using Notes Mode.
Note:
If you select only a portion of the note contents when you convert the contents to text, the original note will be divided into two separate notes, and the portion of the note contents that is converted to text will appear between the two new notes.
Navigate between notes
When
you navigate through notes, the active text insertion point moves
from the current note anchor to the anchor of the next or previous
note. When navigating between notes in Layout view, click the Go
to Note Anchor button 
to
view the note anchor associated with the note displayed in the Notes
panel.
-
Click anywhere within the contents of a story.
-
Do one of the following:
Choose Notes > Previous Note or Notes > Next Note.
Select Previous Note or Next Note from the Notes panel menu.
Click the Go To Previous Note button
or
the Go To Next Note button 
in
the Notes panel.
Note:
In the Galley and Story views, you can use the Find/Change command to locate a note. The Notes section of the Preferences dialog box contains a setting to include notes in Find/Change searches.
Split a note
-
In the Notes panel or in the note itself, place the insertion point where you want to split the note.
You cannot split a note if the insertion point is at the beginning or end of the note, or if the note is empty.
-
Do one of the following:
Choose Notes > Split Note.
Choose Split Note from the Notes panel menu. The active text insertion point is placed between the two split notes.
You can also split a note using Notes Mode.
Expand or collapse notes
When expanded, the content of the note appears between the bookends. As you enter the content of the note, the bookends move apart to accommodate the text. You can collapse the bookends to hide the content of the note.
-
Select the Type tool, and
then click the begin-note bookend
or
the end-note bookend 
.
-
If the insertion point is in a note container, choose Notes > Collapse Note.
To expand or collapse all notes in the active story, choose Notes > Expand/Collapse Notes In Story.
Select and open a note in Layout view
A
note anchor marks
the location of a note in Layout view. The Notes panel displays
the contents of the note, along with specific information about
the note.
-
Select the Type tool or
Note tool .
-
Move the pointer over the note anchor until the pointer appears as a pointing hand.
-
Do one of the following:
Click the note anchor.
Choose Notes > Previous Note or Notes > Next Note.
Edit a note
- In
Galley view or Story view, select the Type tool , and
then click between the bookends of the note you want to edit, and
make your changes.
- In Layout View, select the Type tool , click
the note anchor to open the note in the Notes panel, and make your
changes.
Check spelling or find/change text in notes
-
Select the Galley or Story view tab.
-
Expand the notes you want to spell-check or search. Choose Notes > Expand/Collapse Notes In Story to expand all notes.
-
Choose Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling or Edit > Find/Change.
Note:
If you choose Change All while spell-checking or finding text, text in collapsed notes is ignored in Galley View or Story View, but all occurrences of the text are replaced in Layout View.
Move or duplicate notes
You can move or duplicate notes.
Move or duplicate notes in Galley and Story views
-
Shift+Alt‑click (Windows) or Shift+Option-click (Mac OS) the start-note or end-note bookend to select the note.
-
Do one of the following:
Drag the selected note to move it.
Shift-drag the selected note to duplicate it.
Duplicate a note anchor in Layout view
-
Do one of the following:
Using the Type tool
, drag
across the note anchor to highlight it, and then choose Edit >
Copy. Paste it in a different location.Using the Note tool or Type tool, hold down Shift, and drag the anchor to where you want to place it in the text.
Delete notes
- To delete a single note, Shift+Alt‑click (Windows) or Shift+Option-click (Mac OS) the start-note or end-note bookend to select the note, and then choose Notes > Delete Note.
- To delete all notes in the active story, choose Notes > Remove Notes From Story.
- To delete all notes in the document, choose Notes > Remove All Notes.
Printing and exporting notes
When you print an InCopy document, you can print any notes that are included in the document at the same time. You can also export notes from InCopy as PDF annotations. However, notes in tables are not exported as PDF annotations.
Specify note preferences
Preferences settings let you set the color for note anchors, bookends, and backgrounds when inline in the Galley and Story views. You can also choose to display note info as a tool tip, as well as choose whether to include note content in Find/Change operations and spell checking in the Galley and Story views.
-
Choose Edit > Preferences > Notes (Windows) or InCopy > Preferences > Notes (Mac OS).
-
Select a color for note anchors and note bookends from the Note Color menu. Select [User Color] to use the color specified in the User dialog box. This is especially useful if more than one person is working on the file.
-
Select Show Note Tool Tips to display note information and some or all of the note content as a tool tip when the mouse pointer hovers over a note anchor in Layout view or a note bookend in Galley or Story view.
-
Specify whether you want to include inline note content when using the Find/Change and Spell Check commands (in Galley and Story views only).Note:
In Layout view, you cannot use the Find/Change and Spell Check commands to search for the contents of notes, regardless of the settings in the Preferences dialog box. However, Change All does edit the contents of notes.
-
Select either [None] or [Note Color] (the color you chose in step 2) to use for the background color of an inline note.
-
Click OK.
To show or hide notes, choose View > Show Notes or Hide Notes.