[Tex/LaTex] cannot use \caption under minipage

Question

I am using following code to import two images next to each other. When \caption{} is used, LaTeX gives me error caption outside float.

\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig1.eps}
\caption{text for fig1}
\label{fig:fig1}            
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig2.eps}
\caption{text for fig2}
\label{fig:fig2}            
\end{minipage}

When I remove the \caption from both places, the code compiles correctly.

\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig1.eps}
\label{fig:fig1}            
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig2.eps}
\label{fig:fig2}            
\end{minipage}

But both the codes do not generate any label naming the figure. (something like Figure 21).

Am I missing anything?

Answer 1

To place a caption outside a floating environment, you can use \captionof from the capt-of or caption packages::

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption}

\begin{document}

\noindent\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig1.eps}
\captionof{figure}{Some figure}
\label{fig:fig1}            
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig2.eps}
\captionof{figure}{Some figure}
\label{fig:fig2}            
\end{minipage}

\end{document}

Notice the \noindent and % character I added to prevent undesired spacing.