Figure next to list (caption problems)

Question

I am trying to put a figure next to a list, where the list is talking about the figure. This is fine, I can do that with the minipage environment. However, my problem is that when I try to put a caption on the figure, it captions the entire "figure" containing the minipages, not just the picture itself. I have included an example of what I have done.

I have searched around on the internet but haven't been able to work out a solution. I have tried using subfigures, wrapping text, floatinf figure, etc. None of these have worked, often giving an output with the figure in the wrong place.

Any thoughts on how to fix this?

Here is my document so far:

\documentclass[twoside,a4paper]{report}
\usepackage[ignorefoot, ignoremp, ignorehead]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsthm,amssymb}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{eepic}
\usepackage{mhchem}
\usepackage{chemstyle}
\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{./Scripts/simplemargins}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{bigstrut}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{paralist}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{cite}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}[ht]
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \begin{itemize} [ ] % To get list without points
            \item{Blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
            \item{More blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
        \end{itemize}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[scale=0.2]{caption_example.pdf}
        \caption{default}
        \label{fig:label}
    \end{minipage}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

Example output

Answer 1

Use the chemstyle package with option floatrow (to make sure the floatrow package will be used by the chemstyle package) and put a \RawFloats as first command inside the figure:

\documentclass[twoside,a4paper]{report}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx} % option "demo" added for compiling without images
\usepackage[floatrow]{chemstyle}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}[ht]
\RawFloats
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \begin{itemize} [ ] % To get list without points
            \item{Blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
            \item{More blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
        \end{itemize}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[scale=0.2]{caption_example.pdf}
        \caption{default}
        \label{fig:label}
    \end{minipage}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

(The \RawFloats command is described in the floatrow package documentation.)

Answer 2

As Martin suggested in the comments, minimizing the code often helps (that's why it's called a minimal example :)

You've added two \usepackage{graphix} to your preamble, this seems too much. And to reproduce your problem, all the chemical packages seem too much too.

If I minimize your example, I don't see a problem with the code, as you can see in this screenshot.

\documentclass[twoside,a4paper]{report}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \begin{itemize}[ ] % To get list without points
            \item{Blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
            \item{More blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
        \end{itemize}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[scale=0.2]{caption_example.pdf}
        \caption{default}
        \label{fig:label}
    \end{minipage}
\end{figure}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}

With your code I cannot seem to compile the document when I have \usepackage{chemstyle} turned on, so this might be the first package to look at.

Additionally I don't have access to %\usepackage{./Scripts/simplemargins}. Looking at the name, I suggest this simplemargins might be the culprit. Maybe it's doing something weird with the margin which influences the caption...

Answer 3

One workaround for how the chemstyle package takes control of the caption placement is to not use a figure environment for the list and figure, and generate the caption using

\captionof{figure}{<caption>}

instead of

\caption{<caption>}

With this method, the construct will no longer float, which may or may not be acceptable for you.

---

Another way would be to use a subfloat with the subcaption redefined to look like a normal figure caption:

\documentclass[twoside,a4paper]{report}
\usepackage[ignorefoot, ignoremp, ignorehead]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsthm,amssymb}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{eepic}
\usepackage{mhchem}
\usepackage{chemstyle}
\usepackage{color}
%\usepackage{./Scripts/simplemargins}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{bigstrut}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{paralist}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{cite}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\begin{document}
\captionsetup[subfigure]{font=normalsize,labelformat=simple}
\renewcommand{\thesubfigure}{Figure \arabic{figure}:}

\begin{figure}[ht]
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
        \begin{itemize} [ ] % To get list without points
            \item{Blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
            \item{More blah blah blah
                \begin{enumerate}
                    \item{Text}
                    \item{Text}
                \end{enumerate}
            }
        \end{itemize}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\linewidth}
\subfloat[default]{
        \centering
        \includegraphics[scale=0.2]{caption_example.pdf}
        \label{fig:label}}
    \end{minipage}
\end{figure}

\end{document}