Keeping tables/figures close to where they are mentioned

Question

Is there any package or a method to force LaTeX to keep floating environments like table and figure closer to where they are declared?

Answer 1

Easing the float placement by options:

You could use more positioning options. Not just [h]. If you wish to place the figure near, allow more positioning options, for instance by [htbp] (here, top, bottom, page). Use a ! symbol to remove further restrictions. So, in many cases this is sufficient:

\begin{figure}[!htbp]

Useful package regarding float placement:

• float introduces a placement option H enforcing the placement exactly at that point.
• placeins provides the command \FloatBarrier to limit the floating of figures or tables. You could place such a barrier before and after a listing.
• afterpage allows a more clever \clearpage, putting the effect off until the page is full: \afterpage{\clearpage}

Further reading:

Because it's an important and not easy subject, there's a lot of material to be found, for instance in FAQ collections. There's an extensive document dealing with graphics inclusion, manipulation and placement:

• Using Imported Graphics in LaTeX and pdfLaTeX by Keith Reckdahl.

The interesting part for your question may be Part IV: The Figure Environment beginning on page 55.

There is also Frank Mittelbach's excellent answer describing the floating mechanism and related options in great detail:

• How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX?

Answer 2

Controlling floats isn't difficult once you understand what LaTeX is trying to do with them. Requisite FAQ link: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=floats

Three things, broadly speaking, will prevent floats from staying close to their definition:

• underspecified position parameters. I recommend always using [htbp] until the document is complete.

• graphics too large. Do you really need a graph 2/3 the page size?

• too many graphics near each other. Once graphics start building up, it just isn't possible to keep the last one near its source location.

Above all, forget about formatting your floats until the document is absolutely finished. You'll produce better results and write the document faster that way.

Answer 3

Check out the float package. It adds ability to include [H] forced here float placement. You can also select this as automatic default with \floatplacement{figure}{H}.

Answer 4

try \begin{figure}[!htb], in nearly all cases it helps. If not then use:

\usepackage[section]{placeins}

it prevents placing floats before the section.

Answer 5

Fairly often all that you need is to declare tables and figures earlier, before the first point of reference (for example, one or two paragraphs before the point of reference, or before the previous subsection heading).

Unfortunately, it tends to be a little bit of trial and error. Some kinds of floats need to be declared earlier than others; for example, floats with placement [b] are sometimes trickier than floats with [t].

Answer 6

As @asia1281 mentioned, the [h] directive helps. I'd not know of [h!] before (thanks!), but reading around seems to suggest that it isn't quite forced as there may still be circumstances where LaTeX refuses to put the float right there.

Another thing that may help is one of \clearpage and \cleardoublepage. These force all unprocessed floats to be typeset and then a new page or two (with \cleardoublepage and some classes). If you wait until you're document is written and you are worrying only about apperance, you can put one of these commands at the end of the text on the very bottom of a page to force the outstanding floats to appear right thereafter. This is really best saved for final stages and needs to be redone (or at least checked) whenever the text is edited.

Answer 7

An easy way to specify for LaTeX to place something is by adding an optional argument for position:

\begin{figure}[h]

where the [h] means here, or

\begin{figure}[h!]

where the [h!] is for forced here. Do these work?