How to use figure inside a minipage?

Question

I'm trying to include an image, and keep it centered, and prevent from wrapping from the next page. The following code works for that:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
    \begin{center}
        Caption for image

        \includegraphics[scale=0.5]{myimage.png} 
    \end{center}
\end{minipage}

I'd like this image to be in a figure, with a caption. The following doesn't compile:

\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
    \begin{figure}
        \includegraphics[scale=0.5]{myimage.png}
        \caption{Caption for image}
        \label{fig:sample_figure}
    \end{figure}
\end{minipage}

I get the errors:

! LaTeX Error: Not in outer par mode.
! Undefined control sequence.

How can I fix this?

figure is a float, it must be outside any other environment (not counting document of course). Also check Keeping tables/figures close to where they are mentioned — Martin Scharrer, May 11 '12 at 06:12

score 111 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 02 '15 at 14:50

Figure is a floating environment and minipage is, unfortunately, not. Therefore, if you put a floating object inside a non-floating minipage, you will get an error. But the other way around is possible--you can put a minipage inside a figure environment:

\begin{figure}
\centering
\begin{minipage}[c]{\textwidth}
\centering
    \includegraphics[width=3.0in]{example-image-a}
    \caption{Caption for image}
    \label{fig:sample_figure}
\end{minipage}
\end{figure}

Another method is to avoid using figure entirely. This can be done with help of the caption package (with its captionof facility, so that you can have a caption for the figure):

.....in preamble
\usepackage{caption}

......in document body

\begin{minipage}[c]{\textwidth}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3.0in]{example-image-a}
\captionof{figure}{Caption for image}
\label{fig:sample_figure}
\end{minipage}

The total mwe will be:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mwe} % new package from Martin scharrer
\usepackage{caption}
\begin{document}

 \begin{figure}
 \centering
 \begin{minipage}[c]{\textwidth}
 \centering
        \includegraphics[width=3.0in]{example-image-a}
        \caption{Caption for image}
        \label{fig:sample_figure}
 \end{minipage}
 \end{figure}

 \noindent
\begin{minipage}[c]{\textwidth}
\centering
        \includegraphics[width=3.0in]{example-image-a}
        \captionof{figure}{Caption for image}
        \label{fig:sample_figure}
 \end{minipage}

\end{document}

The result will be:

enter image description here

Thanks for using it! Note that you can use the images without loading the package. Using graphicx here directly might actually be better. — Martin Scharrer, May 11 '12 at 06:11
@MartinScharrer: Well, I am new to mwe. Slowly I hope to get accustomed to it. Thanks for a great package and also for the short cuts for CTAN packages and texdoc.net. They are very useful. — , May 11 '12 at 06:17
This is probably what the OP actually wants... bit it is in fact possible to do what the OP asks for. See my answer. — cheshirekow, Jan 25 '13 at 17:48

cheshirekow · Answer 2 · 2013-01-25T17:47:26.853

58

You can put a figure inside a minipage if you use the "float" package. The following will put two figures side by side. If you caption them, the captions will be side by side.

\usepackage{float}

 ...

  \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
      \centering
      \begin{minipage}{0.45\linewidth}
          \begin{figure}[H]
              \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figures/dummy}
              \caption{This is the first figure}
          \end{figure}
      \end{minipage}
      \hspace{0.05\linewidth}
      \begin{minipage}{0.45\linewidth}
          \begin{figure}[H]
              \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figures/dummy}
              \caption{This is the second figure}
          \end{figure}
      \end{minipage}
  \end{minipage}

Two figures side by side using minipages

edited Jan 25 '13 at 17:47

answered Jan 25 '13 at 17:39

cheshirekow

818
6
7

1

This is great. It just needs to also align the captions when the images don't share their height – Thomas Ahle Sep 19 '13 at 18:37
1

@ThomasAhle, better use subfigure package for that purpose. – Ricardo Cruz Jan 26 '15 at 16:53
1

hmm .. this didn't work for me. – demented hedgehog Dec 18 '17 at 00:22
2

@dementedhedgehog Did you notice the subtle use of the parameter [H] following the environment declaration of the figures? – Jämes May 31 '18 at 23:32
I may have missed it... it was a while ago I can't go back and test. – demented hedgehog Jun 01 '18 at 01:00
1

For me the trick was to use the package pgf. I.e. \usepackage{pgf}. – Augustin Oct 10 '18 at 17:50
This makes me both figures in one continuous column. – Santiago I. Hurtado Nov 24 '20 at 23:04

score 15 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 11 '18 at 13:55

You could try this for 2 figures side by side:

\begin{figure}[htb]
    \begin{minipage}[t]{.45\textwidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{example-image-a}
        \subcaption{Image 1.}\label{fig:1}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[t]{.45\textwidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{example-image-b}
        \subcaption{Image 2.}\label{fig:2}
    \end{minipage}  
    \label{fig:1-2}
    \caption{Title.}
\end{figure}

Or this, for 3 figures side by side:

\begin{figure}[htb]
    \begin{minipage}[t]{.3\textwidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{images/1.png}
        \subcaption{Image 1.}\label{fig:1}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[t]{.3\textwidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{images/2.png}
        \subcaption{Image 2.}\label{fig:2}
    \end{minipage}
    \hfill
    \begin{minipage}[t]{.3\textwidth}
        \centering
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{images/rtk3.png}
        \subcaption{Image 3.}\label{fig:3}
    \end{minipage}  
    \label{fig:1-2-3}
    \caption{Title.}
\end{figure}

All minipages are aligned by the top of the figure once subcaptions could mess bottom alignment.

How to use figure inside a minipage?

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