[Tex/LaTex] Is that possible to put one figure in the top and one two-column figure in the bottom of a same page

floatstwo-column

I am adding figures into a two-column LaTeX file. In one page, I need to put a one-column figure and a two-column figure in a same page. The one-column figure should be in the top of the page and the two-column figure should be in the bottom. (I think I've seen this sort of layout in some papers.) However, I found it really hard.

I have tried float package. It didn't work. I even have tried to reset the float placement parameters, e.g., \dblfloatpagefraction to 1. It didn't work either. The two-column figure always falls into the next page.

I have almost accepted the truth that this is formidable. But I am still holding the last hope that someone knows how to do this.

Best Answer

For two-column figures, use the figure* environment. Also note that the placement of such figures is always delayed by one page (by default). The following MWE shows an arrangement that allows a top-floating one-column figure together with a bottom-floating two-column figure on the same page (with the aid of dblfloatfix):

enter image description here

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}% http://ctan.org/pkg/lipsum
\usepackage{graphicx,dblfloatfix}% http://ctan.org/pkg/{graphicx,dblfloatfix}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-3]

\begin{figure*}[b]
  \centering\includegraphics[width=\linewidth,height=0.1\textheight]{example-image-b}
  \caption{B caption}
\end{figure*}

\lipsum[4-7]

\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth,height=0.1\textheight]{example-image-a}
  \caption{A caption}
\end{figure}

\lipsum[8-12]
\end{document}

Note that the figure numbering is not ideal. Figure 2 (one-column) is at the top while Figure 1 (two-column) is at the bottom. It is possible to play around with the figure counters in order to obtain a better result. However, this is all because figure*'s difficulty in being placed properly.

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}% http://ctan.org/pkg/lipsum
\usepackage{graphicx,dblfloatfix}% http://ctan.org/pkg/{graphicx,dblfloatfix}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-3]

\begin{figure*}[b]
  \stepcounter{figure}% To correct for figure placement & numbering
  \centering\includegraphics[width=\linewidth,height=0.1\textheight]{example-image-b}
  \caption{B caption}
\end{figure*}

\lipsum[4-7]

\begin{figure}[t]
  \addtocounter{figure}{-2}% To correct for figure placement & numbering
  \centering\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth,height=0.1\textheight]{example-image-a}
  \caption{A caption}
  \addtocounter{figure}{2}% Re-establish correct figure number
\end{figure}

\lipsum[8-12]
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to place a double-wide figure float (ie, figure*) on the bottom on the first page of a two-column document

You mention that very specific requirements for the document - only two pages, and a two-column format. The following minimal example duplicates this using the multicol package. It allows multiple column document format via the multicols environment that takes a mandatory argument:

\begin{multicols}{<n>}
  ...
\end{multicols}

This is an option in lieu of specifying a twocolumn document class option. As such, specifying your first image before starting the multicols environment, and specifying the second image after produces the desired result. The first image is still specified within a figure float with a float specifier of [b] (for bottom placement) while the last figure has a float specifier of [t] (for top placement):

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multicol}% http://ctan.org/pkg/multicol
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}% http://ctan.org/pkg/graphicx
\usepackage{lipsum}% http://ctan.org/pkg/lipsum
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}[b]
  \centering
  \includegraphics{figure1}
  \caption{This is the first figure}
\end{figure}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum[1-7]
\end{multicols}
\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering
  \includegraphics{figure2}
  \caption{This is the second figure}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

In the above example, graphicx is loaded with the demo package option which replaces all images with a 150pt x 100pt black rectangle (for compatibility reason). You should remove this for your document. Also, lipsum was used to generate dummy text.

[Tex/LaTex] Multi-page one-column abstract in a two-column document

You can copy the following code as a file long2.sty, place it in your document folder, and then use it as shown below:

%%
%% This is file `long2.sty'.
%%
%% Author: Tomas "tohecz" Hejda <tohecz@gmail.com>
%%
%% Licenced under LaTeX-Project Public License version 1.3 or newer.
%% 
\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}[1995/06/01]
\ProvidesPackage{long2}[2012/08/19 v0.1 long2: breakable one-column preamble in a two-column document]

\newlength\longtwo@top
\newlength\longtwo@bottom

\newsavebox\longtwo@box
\def\longtwo@repeat{%
    \longtwo@column[{\@twocolumnfalse
    \ifdim\ht\longtwo@box>1.00\textheight%1
      \begingroup
      \vbadness10000
      \setbox0\vsplit\longtwo@box to 1.00\textheight%1
      \setbox1\vbox{\unvbox\longtwo@box}
      \global\setbox\longtwo@box\vbox{\unvbox1}
      \setbox2\vbox to \textheight{%
        \unvbox0
      }
      \ht2=0.9\textheight
      \box2
      \endgroup
    \else
      \ifdim\ht\longtwo@box>0.84\textheight
        \global\let\longtwo@repeat\clearpage
      \else
        \global\let\longtwo@repeat\relax
      \fi
      \unvbox\longtwo@box
      \vspace{15pt plus 15pt}
    \fi
    }]%
  \longtwo@repeat
}

\long\def\longtwo@[#1]{%
  \begingroup
    \let\longtwo@column\twocolumn
    \let\longtwo@mkttl\maketitle
    \def\maketitle{
      \begingroup
      \let\newpage\relax
      \longtwo@mkttl
      \endgroup
    }
    \longtwo@column[{\@twocolumnfalse
    \global\setbox\longtwo@box\vbox{#1}%
    \ifdim\ht\longtwo@box>\textheight
      \begingroup
      \vbadness10000
      \setbox0\vsplit\longtwo@box to 1.00\textheight%1
      \setbox1\vbox{\unvbox\longtwo@box}%
      \global\setbox\longtwo@box\vbox{\unvbox1}%
      \setbox2\vbox to \textheight{%
        \unvbox0
      }
      \ht2=0.9\textheight
      \box2
      \endgroup
    \else
      \ifdim\ht\longtwo@box>0.87\textheight
        \global\let\longtwo@repeat\clearpage
      \else
        \global\let\longtwo@repeat\relax
      \fi
      \unvbox\longtwo@box
    \fi
    }]%
    \longtwo@repeat
  \endgroup
}

\def\longtwocolumn{\@ifnextchar[\longtwo@\twocolumn}

\endinput
%%
%% End of file `long2.sty'.
%%

The document can then look like this (package lipsum and command \lipsum[x-y] are only used to produce some dummy text):

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

\usepackage{long2}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\parskip0pt plus 8pt

\title{My title}
\author{My the first}

\begin{document}

\longtwocolumn[{
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
\lipsum[1-8]
\end{abstract}
\lipsum[9-15]
}]

\lipsum[16-25]

\end{document}

PS: I'm considering making it a package (after I add some features), that's why I posted a complete package file ;)

PPS: Brief introduction of the idea: We store the whole one-column part in a box, then we check whether the box is larger than a page. If yes, we \vsplit it, output the first part, and call \longtwo@repeat on the rest, which does the same again.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to place a double-wide figure float (ie, figure*) on the bottom on the first page of a two-column document

[Tex/LaTex] Multi-page one-column abstract in a two-column document

Related Question