Table of subfloats

Question

I'm trying to sort figures (using subfloat) in a table, with labels for each subfigure. My point is, using only subfloat, that the subfigures are referred in the text as figure a, b, ... and so on. But I'd like to sort them in column too, so that they will be referred as 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, ...

Is there a way to do that using the subfig package (through the subfloat command)? Or is there another package?

EDIT: The solution does not completely do what I would like ... Here is some precision. I would like to have two kind of figures: the one where each subfloat is different, and has its own "number", and the one where subfloats have to be sorted by column and row.

Here is an example based on the first answer:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[lofdepth,listofformat=parens]{subfig}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\newcounter{subfigRow}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\newRow}{\refstepcounter{subfigRow}\setcounter{sub\@captype}{0}}
\makeatother
\AtBeginEnvironment{figure}{\setcounter{subfigRow}{1}}
\DeclareCaptionLabelFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}
\DeclareSubrefFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}
\DeclareCaptionListOfFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}

\begin{document}
\listoffigures
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
1 &
\subfloat{\label{one}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{two}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{three}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}\\
\newRow
2 &
\subfloat{\label{four}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{five}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{six}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}\\
 & (a) & (b) & (c)
\end{tabular}
\caption{A bunch of figures}\label{fig:first}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[htb]
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{seven}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{eight}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{nine}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{ten}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{11}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{12}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\caption{Another bunch of figures}\label{fig:second}
\end{figure}
As seen in \subref{one} and \subref{six} of Figure~\ref{fig:first} and
\subref{eight} of Figure~\ref{fig:second}
\end{document}

that gives

My point is to have the number removed in the second case.

Answer 1

Here's a way to do it semi-automatically. We define a new counter for the row number; each time you add a row of subfigures you use the \newRow command to increment the row counter and reset the subfigure counter. I've also added code to format the captions in the list of figures and the references to show how the whole thing would work together.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage[lofdepth,listofformat=parens]{subfig}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\newcounter{subfigRow}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\newRow}{\refstepcounter{subfigRow}\setcounter{sub\@captype}{0}}
\makeatother
\AtBeginEnvironment{figure}{\setcounter{subfigRow}{1}}
\DeclareCaptionLabelFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}
\DeclareSubrefFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}
\DeclareCaptionListOfFormat{parens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}

\begin{document}
\listoffigures
\begin{figure}[htb]
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{one}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{two}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{three}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad

\newRow
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{four}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{five}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{six}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\caption{A bunch of figures}\label{fig:first}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[htb]
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{seven}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{eight}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{nine}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\newRow
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{ten}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{11}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{12}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\caption{Another bunch of figures}\label{fig:second}
\end{figure}
As seen in \subref{one} and \subref{six} of Figure~\ref{fig:first} and
\subref{eight} of Figure~\ref{fig:second}
\end{document}

Answer 2

Is this the kind of thing you want?

I have used the subcaption package, combined with minipages.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{subcaption}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\begin{subfigure}{\textwidth}
\centering
    \rule{20pt}{30pt}
    \caption{}
    \label{fig:subfig1}
\end{subfigure}\\
\begin{subfigure}{\textwidth}
\centering
    \rule{20pt}{30pt}
    \caption{}
    \label{fig:subfig2}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\begin{subfigure}{\textwidth}
\centering
    \rule{20pt}{30pt}
    \caption{}
    \label{fig:subfig3}
\end{subfigure}\\
\begin{subfigure}{\textwidth}
\centering
    \rule{20pt}{30pt}
    \caption{}
    \label{fig:subfig4}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{}
\end{minipage}
\end{figure}

\ref{fig:subfig1}, \ref{fig:subfig2}, \ref{fig:subfig3}, \ref{fig:subfig4}

\end{document}

Answer 3

Ok. I just needed to adapt the solution from @Alan Munn, and change some of the subfig package options. So here is the final solution:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[lofdepth, subrefformat=subparens]{subfig}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\newcounter{subfigRow}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\newRow}{\refstepcounter{subfigRow}\setcounter{sub\@captype}{0}}
\makeatother
\AtBeginEnvironment{figure}{\setcounter{subfigRow}{1}}

\DeclareSubrefFormat{subparens}{(\thesubfigRow#2)}


\begin{document}
\listoffigures
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
1 &
\subfloat{\label{one}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{two}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{three}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}\\
\newRow
2 &
\subfloat{\label{four}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{five}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}} &
\subfloat{\label{six}\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}\\
 & (a) & (b) & (c)
\end{tabular}
\caption{A bunch of figures}\label{fig:first}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[htb]
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{seven}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{eight}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{nine}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{ten}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{11}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\subfloat[A subcaption][A subcaption\label{12}]
    {\includegraphics[width=.3\textwidth,height=.25in]{foo}}
\qquad
\caption{Another bunch of figures}\label{fig:second}
\end{figure}
As seen in \subref*{one} and \subref*{six} of Figure~\ref{fig:first} and
\subref{eight} of Figure~\ref{fig:second}
\end{document}

And it gives

Thanks for your input ;-)