Before I start this I'm looking for confirmation this is possible in
xslt.

I have a request to produce an instructors version of a training
guide as well as student version. Both will have a wide gutter on the
left side when produced.  The instructor guide will have instructor
notes in this area. I will be pulling multiple paras into the gutter
area, but not filling the space.

Is it feasible to try this in xslt? If feasible, can I make sure the
page breaks are the same in the instructor and student versions? They
want to make sure they can reference page 32 and make sure everyone
is looking at the same page.

For the student version, set 'color' (and any border colors) to
'transparent' on the instructor notes so that they don't show.  AH
Formatter won't even include the transparent text in the output.  If
producing PDF/UA (and why wouldn't you?), you can add
'axf:pdftag="Artifact"' or 'axf:pdftag="Private"' on the sidenote's FO
so that any traces of the instructor notes should be ignored by a screen
reader.  See:

Tony Graham.
--
Senior Architect
XML Division
Antenna House, Inc.
----
Skerries, Ireland
tgraham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx