Select the text where you want to place the note using the Type tool.
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Learn how to use editorial notes in Adobe InDesign to add comments, track reviewers, and collaborate during document review.
Editorial notes help you communicate with collaborators during the document review. Notes appear in text and are color-coded by user, making it easy to track who added which comments. In InDesign, notes can only be printed from Story Editor and cannot be exported to PDF.
Notes provide a flexible way to add comments, questions, or temporary content without affecting the published document. You can add multiple notes at any location in your text, and notes remain visible to anyone who opens the document.
Create a note using the Notes panel
Select Type > Notes > New Note.
Type your note content in the Notes panel displays the note content along with author information and timestamp. The note anchor marks the note location in your text.
Create a note using the Story Editor
Select the text where you want to place the note using the Type tool.
Select Edit > Edit in Story Editor.
Select Type > Notes > New Note.
Select the Show/Hide Notes icon, and then select the New Note icon, in the Notes panel.
Type your note content in the Story Editor panel. The note anchor marks the note location in your text and appear as bookends containing your text.
Select View > Extras > Show Notes or Hide Notes to control note visibility while working.
Set your user name for note attribution
Notes are color-coded and attributed using the workflow user name. To ensure your notes are properly identified, verify that your User Name is set correctly.
Select File > User.
Enter your name in the User Name field and select a Color for your notes and tracked changes.
Select OK.
Edit preferences for Notes
Select Edit > Preferences > Notes (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Notes (macOS).
Select a Note Color.
Select Show Note Tool Tips to display note information and the note content as a tool tip when the mouse pointer hovers over a note anchor in the Layout View or a note bookend in the Story Editor panel.
Select Include Note Content When Checking Spelling and Include Note Content in Find/Change Operations if you want InDesign to search the Notes while performing spell-check and find actions in the Story Editor panel.
Note
You cannot use the Find/Change and Spell Check commands to search for the contents of notes in the Layout View.
Select the Inline Background Color from None or Note Color.
Select OK.
Convert text to a note
Select the text you want to convert using the Type tool.
Select Type > Notes > Convert To Note. InDesign moves the selected text into a new note, and the note anchor appears at the location.
Convert a note back to text
Select the text from the note you want to convert in the Notes panel or the Story Editor panel.
Select Type > Notes > Convert To Text. The note content is inserted into your story at the note anchor location, and the note is removed.
Split a note into two notes
Place the cursor inside the note where you want to create the split using the Type tool.
Select Type > Notes > Split Note. You’ll now have two separate notes. The first note contains the text before the insertion point, and the second note contains the text after the insertion point. Both notes retain the same author and color coding.
Navigate between notes
Place the cursor anywhere in your story using the Type tool.
Select Type > Notes > Next Note to move to the next note, or select Type > Notes > Previous Note to move to the previous note.
Working with Notes Mode
Notes Mode offers a context-sensitive way to manage notes based on your current selection or cursor position. When you activate Notes Mode (Type > Notes > Notes Mode), InDesign automatically performs different actions:
- With the cursor in regular text, it creates a new note.
- With text selected, it converts the selection to a note.
- With the cursor inside a note, it splits the note at that location.
- With notebookends selected in the Story Editor panel, it converts the note back to text.
- With the cursor at the beginning or end of a note, it moves the insertion point out of the note
This adaptive behavior can streamline your note management workflow, particularly when working with multiple notes in the Story Editor.
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