Forcing figures position in (last page) column

Question

I'm writing a two columns document and I have two figures on the last page stacked in one column. The first one at the top and the second one almost at the bottom. How can I force the second one to be shown just after the first one with no empty lines between them?

Answer 1

Place the two graphics/diagrams and their captions within a single figure environment (with some vertical space added between graphic 1 and graphic 2).

EDIT: Cross-referencing works as usual -- put \label commands after each \caption.

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}

\lipsum[1-5]

\begin{figure}
\centering
\rule{1cm}{1cm}% placeholder for graphic
\caption{A figure}\label{fig:a}
\bigskip
\rule{1cm}{1cm}% placeholder for graphic
\caption{Another figure}\label{fig:b}
\end{figure}

See figure~\ref{fig:a} and figure~\ref{fig:b}.

\end{document}