How to force oversized figure off of the bottom of the page and up to the top

Question

I have a figure that is bigger than the margins. In the long run, the size won't matter. But for now, Latex is putting it on its own page (which is fine) and placing it at the very bottom of the sheet. It looks bad because it gets mixed up with the page number. Is there any way to convince Latex to move the figure up to the top of the page? BTW, the [t] argument has no effect. Thanks.

EDIT: Here's a bit of code that produces the problem:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{subfig}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\subfloat[\label{fig:a}]{\includegraphics[width=5in]{example-image-a}}
\par
\subfloat[\label{fig:b}]{\includegraphics[width=5in]{example-image-b}}
\par
\caption{Note that the figure space overlaps the page number.}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

The two PNGs can be any fairly square figures with widths around 5 in.

Answer 1

I've sometimes found that it is enough to put negative vertical space above the tall float, e.g.,

  \begin{figure}
      \vspace*{-2.5\baselineskip}
      \centerline{\hbox{\includegraphics*[keepaspectratio=true,width=0.87\textwidth]{mytallfig.pdf}}}
      \caption{My lengthy multiline caption}
  \end{figure}

or something along those lines. This requires some fiddling around in each case, however, and so I like the more systematic suggestions that others have made above. But this lazy solution works.

Answer 2

You can always lie:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{subfig}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\makebox(0,545){%
  \parbox[b]{5in}{%
  \subfloat[\label{fig:a}]{\includegraphics[width=5in]{example-image-a}}
  \par
  \subfloat[\label{fig:b}]{\includegraphics[width=5in]{example-image-b}}
  \vspace*{10mm}\par\mbox{ }}}
  \caption{Note that the figure space overlaps the page number.}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

Answer 3

If there's a single float on a floats-only page, LaTeX by default centers the float vertically, i.e., tries to create equal amounts of whitespace above and below the float. Your description -- that LaTeX is placing your float at the very bottom of the page -- makes it sound like the float is too tall for the page as well as, apparently, too wide. (If a float is too tall for the textblock, LaTeX aligns its top edge with the top edge of the text block; any vertical overage will thus become apparent at the bottom of the text block, possibly to the point of interfering with the page number.)

I suggest you change the dimensioning of the subfloats to focus on their relative vertical dimension rather than on their absolute horizontal dimension.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{subfig}
\usepackage{showframe} % just to show page layout
\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\subfloat[\label{fig:a}]{\includegraphics[height=0.4\textheight]{example-image-a}}
\par
\subfloat[\label{fig:b}]{\includegraphics[height=0.4\textheight]{example-image-b}}
\par
\caption{Note that the figure space no longer overlaps the page number. Note that the figure space no longer overlaps the page number. Note that the figure space no longer overlaps the page number. Note that the figure space no longer overlaps the page number.}
\end{figure}

\end{document}