two column float with same page using multicols

Question

I have using multicol package and not able to fit the figure float in the same Page. My MWE is:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{graphics,lipsum,multicol}
\makeatletter
\setlength{\columnseprule}{1pt}
\newenvironment{Figure}
  {\begin{figure*}[b]\par\medskip\noindent\minipage{\textwidth}}
  {\endminipage\par\end{figure*}\medskip}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\chapter{Chapter Title Here}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum[1-1]
\begin{Figure}
\centering
{\includegraphics{16627ans_171}}
\end{Figure}
and...

\end{multicols}
\end{document}

I'm expecting the output as per below:

enter image description here

@Christian: I had added float package and still not got the output. Any ideas? — Balaji, Feb 16 '15 at 10:44
I wrote: 'Drop' the float nature of the figure, not \usepackage{float} ;-) — , Feb 16 '15 at 11:11
two possibilities: How can I place a double-wide figure float (ie, figure*) on the bottom on the first page of a two-column document and How to put a full-width table at the top or bottom of the same two-column page as the reference text? — barbara beeton, Feb 16 '15 at 14:51

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 16 '15 at 11:45

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{caption}
\setlength{\columnseprule}{1pt}
%\makeatletter
%\newenvironment{Figure}
%  {\begin{figure*}[b]\par\medskip\noindent\minipage{\textwidth}}
%  {\endminipage\par\end{figure*}\medskip}
%\makeatother
\begin{document}
\chapter{Chapter Title Here}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum[1-1]
\end{multicols}%

\begin{center}
\includegraphics{16627ans_171}
%\captionof{figure}{Some Caption} % if needed
\end{center}
and... \lipsum
\end{document}

enter image description here

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 22 '17 at 05:20

Normally when using multicols you can't add a float the same page. Simply will not happen.

However, there is a slight workaround on the page you start the multicols. Add the float before starting the multicols. To whit:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{graphics,lipsum,multicol}
\makeatletter
\setlength{\columnseprule}{1pt}
\newenvironment{Figure}
  {\begin{figure*}[b]\par\medskip\noindent\minipage{\textwidth}}
  {\endminipage\par\end{figure*}\medskip}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\chapter{Chapter Title Here}
\begin{Figure}
\centering
{\includegraphics{16627ans_171}}
\end{Figure}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum[1-1]
and...

\end{multicols}
\end{document}

Will put the float at the bottom of the current page, because it was created outside the multicols. It is not a general-case solution, but it does work in this (rather narrow) case.

two column float with same page using multicols

2 Answers2