[Tex/LaTex] Is it more standard to use subfig or subcaption package with beamer

beamercaptionssubfloats

Suppose I'm making a beamer presentation and I want to have a figure with some subfigures (each of which shows an image).

Is it more standard/popular to use the subfig package or the caption and subcaption packages for this purpose?

What are the exact include statements I should use to include the appropriate packages? I want to make sure I get the optional parameters correct.

Best Answer

Update

From version caption.sty 2015/09/17 v3.3-111 Customizing captions (AR) subcaption and caption are compatible with beamer, so you can use either subcaption or subfig. For older versions of caption, read below.

Initial answer (old versions of `caption`)

If you really need subfigures in a presentation, with beamer you should use subfig. subcaption and beamer are not compatible.

This

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{subcaption}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
test
\end{frame}

\end{document}

gives the error

! Package caption Error: The `subcaption' package does not work correctly
(caption)                in compatibility mode.

which forces you to load caption with compatibility=false:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage[compatibility=false]{caption}
\usepackage{subcaption}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
test
\end{frame}

\end{document}

and the caption package author says about this option:

But please note that using this option is neither recommended nor supported since unwanted side-effects or even errors could occur afterwards. (For that reason you will get a warning about this.)

Load subfig with the caption=false option:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage[caption=false]{subfig}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
test
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Since internally subfig requires the caption package; using the caption=false option prevents caption from taking (ot attempting to take) control over captions in beamer.

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to build and combine sophisticated layouts in figures

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage[labelformat=simple]{subcaption}
\renewcommand\thesubfigure{(\alph{subfigure})} % see subcaption doc

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\captionsetup{singlelinecheck=off}
\captionsetup[subfigure]{singlelinecheck=on}
%
\captionbox{Foo\label{fig:1}}[0.42\textwidth][l]{%
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-1.png}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1a}% Bug: Produces an unwanted space
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-2.png}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1b}%
\\
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-3.png}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1c}% Bug: Produces an unwanted space
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-4.png}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1d}%
}
\captionbox{Results. \subref{fig:2-A}: Foo. \subref{fig:1b}: Bar}{%
  \subcaptionbox{\label{fig:2-A}}{%
    \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{2-A.png}}
  \subcaptionbox{\label{fig:2-B}}{%
    \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{2-B.png}}
}%
\end{figure}

\end{document}

Note that we need to use the optional argument of \captionbox here so \\ will work inside it. Furthermore there is a bug in the current version of the caption package so the combination of \phantomsubcaption and \label will produce an unwanted space. This will be fixed in the very next version 3.3 of the caption package. Until then one can place the \phantomcaptions at the end of the box as workaround:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage[labelformat=simple]{subcaption}
\renewcommand\thesubfigure{(\alph{subfigure})} % see subcaption doc

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\captionsetup{singlelinecheck=off}
\captionsetup[subfigure]{singlelinecheck=on}
%
\captionbox{Foo\label{fig:1}}[0.40\textwidth][l]{%
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-1.png}%
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-2.png}\\
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-3.png}%
   \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{1-4.png}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1a}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1b}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1c}%
   \phantomsubcaption\label{fig:1d}%
}
\captionbox{Results. \subref{fig:2-A}: Foo. \subref{fig:1b}: Bar}{%
  \subcaptionbox{\label{fig:2-A}}{%
    \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{2-A.png}}
  \subcaptionbox{\label{fig:2-B}}{%
    \includegraphics[width=0.20\textwidth]{2-B.png}}
}%
\end{figure}

\end{document}

(\captionbox is not documented yet but is available since version 3.2 of the caption package; its syntax is equal to \subcaptionbox but will produce a regular caption instead.)

[Tex/LaTex] Subfigure without using caption packages

Using minipages and a new counter you can produce your subfigures without any packages at all; you can also define a command to provide subcaptions:

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{chngcntr}

\newcounter{mysfig}
\counterwithin{mysfig}{figure}

\renewcommand\themysfig{\thefigure(\alph{mysfig})}
\makeatletter
\newcommand\Scaption[1]{%
\refstepcounter{mysfig}%
\vskip.5\abovecaptionskip
  \sbox\@tempboxa{\small\themysfig~#1}%
  \ifdim \wd\@tempboxa >\hsize
    \small\themysfig~#1\par
  \else
    \global \@minipagefalse
    \hb@xt@\hsize{\hfil\box\@tempboxa\hfil}%
  \fi
  \vskip\belowcaptionskip}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-2]
\begin{figure*}
\stepcounter{figure}
\begin{minipage}[t]{\columnwidth}
\begin{minipage}[b]{\columnwidth}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{example-image-a}\par
\end{minipage}
\Scaption{this is the caption for the left subfigure}
\label{sfig:testa}
\end{minipage}\hfill
\begin{minipage}[t]{\columnwidth}
\begin{minipage}[b]{\columnwidth}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{example-image-b}
\end{minipage}
\Scaption{this is the caption for the right subfigure, spanning two lines}
\label{sfig:testb}
\end{minipage}%
\end{figure*}
\lipsum[1-5]
References to subfigures~\ref{sfig:testa} and~\ref{sfig:testb}

\end{document}

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