Option for figure to appear just before the first reference in the text?

Question

Using some combination of the [htpb!] options (or some other means I'm not aware of), is it possible to allow a floating figure to be placed immediately before the first reference in the text, rather than on the following page?

Consider an example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}% MWE only
\usepackage{cleveref}

\begin{document}

    \section{Lorem ipsum}
    \lipsum[1-2]

    \section{Results}

    \lipsum[3]

    Results are shown in \cref{fig:results}.

    \begin{figure}[hbt]
        \includegraphics{Figures/results}
        \caption{Some results}
        \label{fig:results}
    \end{figure}

    \lipsum[1-4]

\end{document}

For my "results" figure (a pdf, roughly 5cm square), this code will place it at the top of the following page. In this case, I would prefer that the figure be on the same page, just above the first reference in the text if necessary.

Is there combination of [htpb!] that will use this order of preference for placing the float?

1. Here
2. At the bottom of this page
3. Just before "Here"
4. At the top of the next page

Number 3 seems to be the option that is missing. From my understanding of float behavior, LaTeX will always place the float between text paragraphs, meaning there should be space between \lipsum[3] and the paragraph where I've referenced the figure. That space is the "just before" where I would like LaTeX to automatically place the figure when the next option would be the following page.

Without invoking the figure before the reference in the text, is there a way to have the figure appear before the text where it is invoked?

Here's what I want it to look like:

I accomplished this by moving the figure above the reference. I want to LaTeX to do that for me, but not all the time -- only when the next best option is the top of the next page.

Answer 1

As per my understanding, the intended solution should try to prevent the figure from floating. The proposed solutions given below does exactly this.

The first solution does not make the figure float at all. It simply utilizes the \captionof command from the caption package.

The second solution forces the float at its current location by utilizing the H placement option from the float package.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{lipsum}

\usepackage{caption}

\usepackage{float}

\usepackage{cleveref}

\begin{document}

\section{First Method --- Use the \texttt{caption} Package}

\lipsum[1]

\begin{center}
  Actual Figure\\
  Actual Figure\\
  Actual Figure
  \captionof{figure}{Figure caption 1.}
  \label{fig:results1}
\end{center}



Results are shown in \cref{fig:results1}.


\section{Second Method --- Use the \texttt{float} Package}

\lipsum[2]

\begin{figure}[H]
  \begin{center}
    Actual Figure\\
    Actual Figure\\
    Actual Figure
    \caption{Figure caption 2.}
    \label{fig:results2}
  \end{center}
\end{figure}


Results are shown in \cref{fig:results2}.



\end{document}

Answer 2

The default figure positioning will place the figure at the top of the current page. In this example it is placed at the top even though the reference (and the figure source) are on the last line of the page.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cleveref}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\begin{document}

aaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaa
aaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaa

\section{Results}
Results are shown in \cref{fig:results}%
\begin{figure}
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{example-image}
    \label{fig:results}
\end{figure}.

aaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaa
aaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaaaaa\\aaa

\end{document}

The reference is to section 1 not to the figure as there is no caption, a feature of the code in the question:-)

Answer 3

This solution uses tikzpagenodes to determine how much space is left on the page. It also uses the aux file to communicate between the two locations. Consequently, it takes 3 runs to get a stable solution.

The idea is to place the bifigure environment where you want it to go if it won't fit at the desired location, \bilocation. If it won't fit in either location, it will be moved to the top of the next page.

In this case, 26\baslineskip or less will fit the desired location, 27\baselineskip will fit the first location, and 33\baselineskip will wind up on the next page.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tikzpagenodes}
\usepackage{environ}
\usepackage{afterpage}
\usepackage{lipsum}% MWE only
\usepackage{cleveref}

\newcounter{binumber}
\newsavebox{\bipolar}
\newlength{\bidistance}
\newif\ifbipolar% okay to expand image at \bilocation

\newcommand{\newbilocation}[3]% #1 = bifigure counter, #2 = \thepage, #3 = \bidistance)
 {\expandafter\xdef\csname bipage#1\endcsname{#2}
  \expandafter\xdef\csname bidistance#1\endcsname{#3}}

\makeatletter
\NewEnviron{bifigure}{% place at secondary (first) location
  \stepcounter{binumber}%
  \parindent=0pt
  \parskip=0pt
  \def\@captype{figure}%
  \global\setbox\bipolar=\vbox{\BODY}%
  \@ifundefined{bipage\thebinumber}% first time
   {\afterpage{\clearpage\usebox\bipolar\vskip\textfloatsep}}%
   {\expandafter\let\expandafter\bipage\csname bipage\thebinumber\endcsname\relax
    \ifnum\bipage=\value{page}%
      \expandafter\bidistance\csname bidistance\thebinumber\endcsname\relax
    \else
      \bidistance=0pt
    \fi
    \ifdim\bidistance<\dimexpr \ht\bipolar+\dp\bipolar+\textfloatsep\relax
      \tikz[remember picture]{\pgfextracty{\bidistance}{\pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointorigin}%
          {\pgfpointanchor{current page text area}{south}}}%
        \global\bidistance=-\bidistance}%
      \ifdim\bidistance<\dimexpr \ht\bipolar+\dp\bipolar+\textfloatsep\relax
        \global\bipolartrue% let \bilocation handle it
      \else
        \vskip\textfloatsep
        \usebox\bipolar
        \vskip\textfloatsep
        \global\bipolarfalse
      \fi
    \else
      \global\bipolartrue
    \fi}%
}

\newcommand{\bilocation}% place at preferred (second) location
 {\tikz[remember picture]{\pgfextracty{\bidistance}{\pgfpointdiff{\pgfpointorigin}%
      {\pgfpointanchor{current page text area}{south}}}%
    \global\bidistance=-\bidistance}%
  \ifbipolar
    \ifdim\bidistance<\dimexpr \ht\bipolar+\dp\bipolar+\textfloatsep\relax
      \afterpage{\clearpage\usebox\bipolar\vskip\textfloatsep}% next apge
    \else
      \vskip\textfloatsep
      \usebox\bipolar
      \vskip\textfloatsep
    \fi
  \else% account for existing image
    \advance\bidistance by \dimexpr \ht\bipolar+\dp\bipolar+2\textfloatsep\relax
  \fi
  \protected@write\@auxout{\let\arabic=\relax}%
    {\string\newbilocation{\thebinumber}{\arabic{page}}{\the\bidistance}}%
 }
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\rule{1pt}{33\baselineskip}

\begin{bifigure}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[height=.2\textheight]{example-image}
    \caption{Needed for label}\label{fig:results}
\end{bifigure}

\section{Results}
Results are shown in \cref{fig:results}.

\bilocation

\lipsum[1-4]\clearpage
\end{document}