Creating two columns in beamer

Question

I have searched the stackexchange for a resolution of this problem, but I am still getting an error message when I put in the following (for now neglecting other things in my document, such as documentclass, begin{document}, etc.):

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{explanation}
\begin{columns}
\begin{column}{width=0.5\textwidth}
   some text here
\end{column}
\begin{column}
    \begin{center}
     \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{image1.jpg}      
     \end{center}
\end{column}
\end{columns}
\end{frame}

When compiled, I get the error: Missing number, treated as zero. I should appreciate any help.

Welcome to TeX.SX! Please help us to help you and add a minimal working example (MWE) that illustrates your problem. It will be much easier for us to reproduce your situation and find out what the issue is when we see compilable code, starting with \documentclass{...} and ending with \end{document}. — , Feb 15 '15 at 16:02
You don't need to use width=, you just enter the width directly. — tparker, Dec 04 '17 at 06:04

score 199 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 01 '20 at 17:10

199

You forgot to give the mandatory width to the second column, and you included an unnecessary width= in the width for the first column.

\documentclass[demo]{beamer}
\begin{document}
  \begin{frame}
\frametitle{explanation}
\begin{columns}
\begin{column}{0.5\textwidth}
   some text here some text here some text here some text here some text here
\end{column}
\begin{column}{0.5\textwidth}  %%<--- here
    \begin{center}
     \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{image1.jpg}
     \end{center}
\end{column}
\end{columns}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

enter image description here

edited Oct 01 '20 at 17:10

Patrick Sanan

286

answered Feb 15 '15 at 16:00

1

am I the only one for whom the columns are not aligned horizontally? – luchonacho Jan 17 '20 at 17:00
In Overleaf I had to set an explicit width for both columns – thomaskeefe Nov 16 '21 at 00:15

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 25 '17 at 05:36

Also note that the graphics need not be scaled down as much in the second column. The column becomes a minipage, so \textwidth is already adjusted to its width.

\documentclass[demo]{beamer}
\begin{document}
  \begin{frame}
\frametitle{explanation}
\begin{columns}
\begin{column}{0.5\textwidth}
   some text here some text here some text here some text here some text here
\end{column}
\begin{column}{0.5\textwidth}  
    \begin{center}
     %%%%% this is a minipage, so \textwidth is already adjusted to the size of the column
     \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{image1.jpg}
     \end{center}
\end{column}
\end{columns}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

score 12 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 16 '20 at 16:31

The "columns" feature of Beamer (other answers above) lets you customize the layout and the breaking point.

However if you want to let the text flow or you don't care about the exact layout, many times the good old multicol package does the job well with less noise. Paragraph divisions and \columnbreak can help deciding what is on the left and side or the right hand side in the two-column case.

\usepackage{multicol}
...
\begin{frame}{Frame Title}
    \begin{multicols}{2} % two columns
        Left Hand side text
    \includegraphics[width=4cm]{RHS_image}
\end{multicols}

\end{frame}

Creating two columns in beamer

3 Answers3

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