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I have always been under the impression that when \raggedbottom is in effect then any footnote is printed immediately below the text and not at the bottom of the page. Fo example, semi-quoting from the footmisc package: " [When] \raggedbottom is in effect ... LaTeX would normally set the footnotes a mere \skip\footins distant from the bottom of the text." However, with the following MWE:

\documentclass{book}
%\documentclass{article} % try any of these classes (plus others)
%\documentclass{memoir}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\raggedbottom % here or later
\begin{document}
\raggedbottom % here or earlier
\lipsum[1]
Footnote.\footnote{Footnote}

\lipsum[2]
\end{document}

The footnote is always at the bottom of the page, not just below the bottom of the text.

I know that there is code that can put footnotes immediately after \raggedbottom text Footnotes position flush top

Am I wrong (unlikely)? Is the LaTeX documentation wrong (unlikely)? Is it a question of mixed messages (...)?

Peter Wilson
  • 28,066

1 Answers1

1

The \end{document} or, more generally, \newpage (\clearpage) fill the page above the footnote, so the footnote is at the bottom. The problem occurs when you have a page break without filler, as with \pagebreak or something big that doesn't fit (or \vspace{\textheight}). Then the raggedbottom output routine fills below the footnote instead of above.

Ironically, \end{document} with the article class is one time where it makes sense to put the footnote up against the text, but only when there is enough space on the page to start another article.

Donald Arseneau
  • 6,079