display the caption of a figure as if it was a subfigure

Question

I know how to use the subfig package to fit many subfigures (each with its own caption) into a larger figure (with a general caption).

I know how to use the sidecap package, the put a figure's caption on the side of the figure.

What I do not know is how to display a caption inside the figure, as if it were a subfigure. More precisely, I have three subfigures that I would like to fit on a 2x2 layout, with the remaining quadrant used for the caption.

Is that easy to achieve?

Answer 1

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{subfig}

\newcommand{\fakeimage}{{\fboxsep=-\fboxrule\fbox{\rule{0pt}{3cm}\hspace{4cm}}}}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\subfloat[Caption]{\fakeimage}\quad
\subfloat[Caption]{\fakeimage}\\
\subfloat[Caption]{\fakeimage}\quad
\begin{minipage}[b][3cm][c]{4cm}            
\caption{This is the global caption}\label{globalcaption}
\end{minipage}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

The \fakeimage command is just for producing a blank box; you should clearly see how the dimensions are used for the "caption box".

In order to get a ragged right setting of the caption (which is recommendable for such a narrow space available), adding

\captionsetup{justification=raggedright}

in the minipage environment would be sufficient.