Try the following code:
\documentclass[11pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{booktabs,caption,fixltx2e}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}[h!]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{example-image-a}}
%\vspace{-0.5cm}
\footnotesize {\caption{Comparison with US policies}}
\label{fig:Comparison with US policies}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
The \fbox
will make white space around the image visible.
I am sure there is white space, because you use \vspace{-.5cm}
to compensate space below the picture, so there most probably is also some space on the sides.
With the example image, everything is fine.
Update
Now that the whitespace problem is confirmed, you have several options:
- change the picture, e.g. crop it
- change the picture's bounding box, this can be done by using appropriate parameters with
\includegraphics
-- see the documentation of the graphicx
package
- add whitespace at the end of the caption to manually correct the alignment; however, this is more quick and dirty than a real solution
What bothers you is not an error with LaTeX. It simply cannot know that some parts of your image are "undesired" and should not be considered when centering the caption. You must tell LaTeX what part of the image is important.
PS: Do not use \begin{center}...\end{center}
in a figure, as this adds vertical spacing. Use \centering
PPS: Are you sure you need a floating figure? Most often when people write h!
, they want the figure to be shown exactly where they put it. If it is not supposed to float, don't use a float.
\fbox{\includegraphicx[..]{...}}
as well? It'll indicate whether the problem lies with suspected whitespace around the image, or elsewhere. – Werner Sep 13 '15 at 16:45