Simulating a figure-environment

Question

Is it possible to place two figure environments evenly side-by-side at the same horizontal height with some text between them ?

In this question of mine, a partial solution has been provided to me, namely by provide a command that takes two pictures and places them evenly (across the horizontal) and allows for some text between them.

Here's the code of it, for those who don't want to follow the link (there's picture there too!):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\begin{document}
Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text
Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text
Text Text 

\begin{center}
\raisebox{\dimexpr-.5\height+.5\ht\strutbox}%
  {\includegraphics[width=1in,height=1in]{black_square}}%
\hspace{.5in}%
and%
\hspace{.5in}%
\raisebox{\dimexpr-.5\height+.5\ht\strutbox}%
  {\includegraphics[width=1in,height=1in]{black_square}}
\par\end{center}

Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text
Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text
Text Text 
\end{document}

What I would like to do is to add some text below each picture, like "Figure : ", as if two figure-environments were places side-by-side, so that the number of the figure is reference-able.

Answer 1

Try this

\documentclass[draft]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,caption}
\usepackage[latin]{babel}
\def\lorem{\raggedright Fusce adipiscing justo. Nullam in enim.
 Pellentesque felis orci. }
\begin{document}
\begingroup
\parindent0pt
\fboxsep1pt\fboxrule0.4pt
\hsize=3cm\footnotesize
\hfil\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill
 \includegraphics[width=\hsize]{./images/amato}
 \vfill
}} 
\hfil\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill\lorem\lorem\lorem\par\vfill}}%
\hfil\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill\includegraphics[width=\hsize]{./images/amato}\vfill}}\hfill
\endgroup
\captionof{figure}{Output to demonstrate the use of vboxes.}
\end{document}

You can automate this by measuring the height of the boxes and programming everything in a macro. This is a quick and dirty solution.

Adjust the centering using the \hfil or \hfill (see second example below)

\documentclass[draft]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,caption}
\usepackage[latin]{babel}
\def\lorem{\raggedright Fusce adipiscing justo. Nullam in enim.
 Pellentesque felis orci. }
\begin{document}
\begingroup
\parindent0pt
\fboxsep1pt\fboxrule0.4pt
\hsize=3cm\footnotesize
\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill
 \includegraphics[width=\hsize]{./images/amato}
 \vfill
}} 
\hfill\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill\lorem\lorem\lorem\par\vfill}}%
\hfill\fbox{\vbox to 5cm{\vfill\includegraphics[width=\hsize]{./images/amato}\vfill}}
\endgroup
\captionof{figure}{Output to demonstrate the use of vboxes.}

\lorem\lorem\lorem\lorem\lorem\lorem
\end{document}

Answer 2

Without any special package, you can use 1 figure float with 3 minipages. If you want simulate that are two different figures, simply add two captions inside the minipages of the images (see MWE). If you want the images numbered as subfigures, take a look to the subfig and subcaption packages.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{kantlipsum} % for dummy text
\begin{document}
\kant[1] %dummy text
\begin{figure}[htb]
\begin{minipage}{.25\linewidth}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{example-image-9x16}
\caption{One nice left figure.}
\end{minipage}\hfill%
\begin{minipage}{.35\linewidth}
\kant[2] 
\end{minipage}\hfill%
\begin{minipage}{.25\linewidth}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{example-image-9x16}
\caption{Another nice on the right.}
\end{minipage}
\end{figure}
\kant[3] % dummy text
\end{document}

Answer 3

You only need a single floating environment to manage the construction. Apart from that you can use almost anything to construct the inner parts. I've used tabularx to make a tabular that fits within the text block width:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum,tabularx,capt-of}
\usepackage[export]{adjustbox}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}
\newcolumntype{L}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X}
\newcolumntype{R}{>{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}X}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{figure}[htb]
  \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{
      @{\hspace{0pt}}% Space between left margin and left figure
      L% Alignment of left figure
      @{\hspace{\tabcolsep}}% Space between left figure and middle text
      C% Alignment of middle text
      @{\hspace{\tabcolsep}}% Space between middle text and right figure
      R% Alignment of middle text
      @{\hspace{0pt}}}% Space between right figure and right margin
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,valign=t]{example-image-9x16}
    \captionof{figure}{One nice left figure.}
    &
    \lipsum[2]
    &
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,valign=t]{example-image-9x16}
    \captionof{figure}{Another nice on the right.}
  \end{tabularx}
\end{figure}
\lipsum[3]
\end{document}

Adjustments can be made in terms of the alignment (vertically and/or horizontally) for each of the three cells. I've placed them in a column of type L, C and R, which currently is Left (\raggedright), Centre (\centering) and Right (\raggedleft) aligned.

Space between columns and margins can also be adjusted with the above setup (clearly indicated).