I'm adding two figures to my latex document which is two column format, making them cover both columns like below. However, this moves them to the second and third pages respectively even if I add this text on the very first page. This is strange to read since they are referenced on the first page. Is there a way to control where the figures get placed?
\begin{figure*}[h!]
\vskip 0.2in
\begin{center}
\centerline{\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{pps3steps.png}}
\caption{Pre-provisioning involves 3 high-level steps.}
\label{fig:pps3steps}
\end{center}
\vskip -0.2in
\end{figure*}
\documentclass{...}, the required\usepackage's,\begin{document}, and\end{document}. That may seem tedious to you, but think of the extra work it represents for TeX.SX users willing to give you a hand. Help them help you: remove that one hurdle between you and a solution to your problem. – Stefan Pinnow Sep 04 '19 at 18:51table*: How to put a full-width table at the top or bottom of the same two-column page as the reference text? (All floats are equivalent in the important respects.) – barbara beeton Sep 04 '19 at 19:11figure*has nohargument so\begin{figure*}[h!]specifies a figure with no legal place that it may be positioned so it will go to the end of the document or\clearpage. – David Carlisle Sep 04 '19 at 19:40\centerlineand\vskipare not latex commands and shouldn't be used in latex documents (\centerlinehere is doing nothing in any case) – David Carlisle Sep 04 '19 at 19:45figure*always comes at the earliest on the page after it appears in the source – David Carlisle Sep 04 '19 at 19:49