Organize Multi-figure Layout in LaTeX System

Oct. 03, 2023

\subfloat and \includegraphics control sequence

In LaTeX system, the multi-figure layout could be organised by \includegraphics and \subfloat control sequence. The \includegraphics is from graphicx macro package, and \subfloat is from subfig package.

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\subfloat[Data series A.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\label{fig-a}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series B.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series C.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series D.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series E.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series F.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series G.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[Data series H.]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

This is Fig. \ref{fig}, and this is subfigure Fig. \ref{fig-a}.

\end{document}

image-20231003195205834

(1) The title of sub-figure is specified in the \subfloat option, if don’t want to make a title for it, just leave a space in \subfloat[], like:

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\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}}

(2) The control sequence \hfill could fill the horizontal spacing between the sub-figures; on the other hand, they could arrange sub-figures automatically as well. If we delete them, these sub-figures will be ALWAYS placed in a row, although the last few sub-figures couldn’t be displayed in the page normally:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.25}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}
	\label{fig-a}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

This is Fig. \ref{fig}, and this is subfigure Fig. \ref{fig-a}.

\end{document}

image-20231003204857145

(3) If want to show the sub-figures in multiple rows, we just need to add control sequence \\ (or leave a new line with nothing) after where to split, like making a new row from the 5th sub-figure:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.25}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\label{fig-a}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}}\\
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}}
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

This is Fig. \ref{fig}, and this is subfigure Fig. \ref{fig-a}.

\end{document}

image-20231003205433919

(4) If want to change the cross reference style of sub-figure, we could make an extra setting by \DeclareSubrefFormat and \captionsetup control sequence in preamble area, like:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,float,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}
\DeclareSubrefFormat{myparens}{#1-(#2)}
\captionsetup[subfloat]{subrefformat=myparens}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\label{fig-a}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

This is Fig. \ref{fig}, and this is subfigure Fig. \subref*{fig-a}.

\end{document}

image-20230927201859291

It should be noted that here, we should use \subref* to refer the label of sub-figure, and do not forget the * mark [1].

(5) Multiple figures could be put into one \subfloat environment to share a sub-figure title:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\label{fig-a}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}
	}\\
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}}\hfill
	\subfloat[]{\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}}\hfill
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

This is Fig. \ref{fig}, and this is subfigure Fig. \ref{fig-a}.

\end{document}

image-20231003215214330

It can be seen from this example that the \fill doesn’t work in \subfloat environment.


minipage environment

Using minipage environment is another way to organise figures, and I think this is a better approach as it is convenient for sub-figures to share a label horizontally or vertically:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}\\
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}\hfill
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

image-20231003220508298

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.8}
	\centering
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\\
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}\\
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}\\
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}
	\subfloat[]{
		\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
		\centering
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}\\
		\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-8.pdf}
		\end{minipage}
	}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

image-20231003221109667

Note well here that the minipage environment must be include in \subfloat as well, otherwise the sub-figure won’t appear:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}
	\end{minipage}\\
	\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-5.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-6.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-7.pdf}
	\end{minipage}
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

image-20231003220042444

Actually, in the previous part, the reason why we put \includegraphics in \subfloat is the same, if we just use \includegraphics control sequence:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,subfig}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{a4paper}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
	\def\CE{0.20}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-1.pdf}\label{fig-a}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-2.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-3.pdf}\hfill
	\includegraphics[height=\CE\textwidth, width=\CE\textwidth]{pic-4.pdf}\hfill
	\caption{This is caption.}
	\label{fig}
\end{figure}

\end{document}

image-20231003223254443


References

[1] The Subfig Package v1.3, last revised 2025/06/28.