I want to place the column-spanned figure at the bottom of the page near to the text but using \begin{figure*}[b] goes the figure to the end of the document!! Why?
\begin{figure*}[b]
\centering
\includegraphics{fig.eps}
\caption{Something}
\label{f1}
\end{figure*}
figure*means float and then you are trying to force placement with[b]. Try using just{figure}[b]. – dustin Mar 12 '14 at 20:28figure*will span both columns in a twocolumn document, so I assume that is what mahmood has. Usingfigurewont help then, as that only uses one column. – Torbjørn T. Mar 12 '14 at 20:31figure*can only be placed at the top, by default. There is an FAQ about this: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=2colfloat – Torbjørn T. Mar 12 '14 at 20:32