Two-column figure with side caption using revtex

Question

How can one create a two-column figure with a side caption using revtex?

I've seen this in published articles but did not find any information how to achieve it.

Answer 1

I assume you are using revtex4-1. This is the code that I am using for when I want a figure on both columns. You might need to modify the scale parameter for your images.

\documentclass[12pt,reprint]{revtex4-1}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption, subcaption}

\begin{document}
\onecolumngrid

\begin{figure}[h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}[h]{0.45\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[scale=0.45]{filename1.png}
    \caption{subcaption1}
    \label{fig:1}
\end{subfigure}% 
~ 
\begin{subfigure}[h]{0.45\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[scale=0.45]{filename2.png}
    \caption{subcaption2}
    \label{fig:2}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{Some caption}
\label{fig:caption}
\end{figure}

\twocolumngrid
\end{document}

You might be tempted to use \usepackage[caption=false]{subfig} instead of caption and subcaption but then you will not be able to have, as far as I know, the main capture for your figure. I am sure there is a way around it I just couldn't find it.

The code when \usepackage[caption=false]{subfig} is used would look something like this:

\onecolumngrid
\begin{figure}
\centering
\subfloat[subcaption1]{\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig1.png}}
~
\subfloat[subcaption2]{\includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{fig2.png}}
\end{figure}
\twocolumngrid

EDIT

The caption can be moved to the side by using sidecap. Therefore, the code is modified by changing the figure to SCfigure and removing the [h] from the SCfigure. To achieve optimal side captions, the user has to adjust manually the figure boarders or use minipage to separate the figure and the caption.

\documentclass[12pt,reprint]{revtex4-1}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{sidecap}
\usepackage{caption, subcaption}

\begin{document}
\onecolumngrid

\begin{SCfigure}
\centering
\begin{subfigure}[h]{0.45\textwidth}
    \includegraphics[scale=0.45]{filename1.png}
    \caption{subcaption1}
    \label{fig:1}
\end{subfigure}% 
~ 
\begin{subfigure}[h]{0.45\textwidth}
    \includegraphics[scale=0.45]{filename2.png}
    \caption{subcaption2}
    \label{fig:2}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{some caption that is used as a means to test the side caption of this figure}\label{fig:caption}
\end{SCfigure}

\twocolumngrid
\end{document}