Command/placefloat

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Last modified: 2026-02-07

Summary

The command \placefloat is the basis for all float placement commands like \placefigure, \placetable etc.

Settings

\placefloat[...][...,...][...,...]{...}{...}
[...] singular
[...,...] split always left right inner outer backspace cutspace inleft inright inmargin leftmargin rightmargin leftedge rightedge innermargin outermargin inneredge outeredge text opposite reset height depth [+-]line halfline grid high low fit 90 180 270 nonumber none local here force margin [+-]hang hanging tall both middle offset top bottom auto page leftpage rightpage somewhere effective header footer tblr lrtb tbrl rltb fxtb btlr lrbt btrl rlbt fxbt fixd
[...,...] reference
{...} text
{...} content

Option Explanation
name of the float class, e.g. figure, table
optional positioning key. There are a great many positioning keys defined, and they can be combined (although not all combinations make sense). New in 2024-06: paragraph, to be combined with left/right to avoid problems with other mechanisms that affect the paragraph shape, like initials. (hangindent vs. parshape)
split If a table is too long for the page, and split has been specified, then the table will be split over as many pages as are required.

See the command \setupfloatsplitting for options specific to the split.

You can’t combine split with other options (like here, top, page), it alone is like here. If you need page, surround the placement with \startpostponing … \stoppostponing.
always with bottom: ensure bottom placement, don’t allow top placement
left To the left of the text (sidefloat)
right To the right of the text (sidefloat)
inner like left/right (sidefloat)
outer like left/right (sidefloat)
backspace ?
cutspace ?
inleft In left margin (marginfloat)
inright In right margin (marginfloat)
inmargin In the margin (left or right)
leftmargin In left margin (marginfloat)
rightmargin In right margin (marginfloat)
leftedge In left edge area (edgefloat)
rightedge In right edge area (edgefloat)
innermargin In inner margin (marginfloat)
outermargin In outer margin (marginfloat)
inneredge In inner edge area (edgefloat)
outeredge In outer edge area (edgefloat)
text In main text area
opposite On the opposite page of a spread (pagefloat)
reset with sidefloats: caption is overwritten by following text (overlay)
height Align sidefloat with font height (uppercase or ascenders), above the baseline, rather than aligning the top with a baseline. (= sidealign=height)
depth Align sidefloat with font depth (descenders), below the baseline. (= sidealign=depth)
[+-]line +n*line: shifts content n baselines further down, leaves blank space (consider "hang" instead to have following text fill the space above the content).

-n*line: shifts content n baselines further up, under the text line: (= sidealign=line), shift one baseline further up

Both of these done without affecting hanging indentation for left or right.
halfline Moves content up roughly 1/2 line, unless "height" is used, in which case content is moved down roughly 1/2 line; (= sidealign=halfline)
grid ?
high top align pagefloats, move sidefloats higher
low bottom align pagefloats. For sidefloats, this can remove extra space between the bottom of the float and the following text.
fit with sidefloats: no distance between float and text
90 pagefloats: rotation of float and caption
180 pagefloats: rotation of float and caption (works with other floats, but alignment is unreliable)
270 pagefloats: rotation of float and caption
nonumber suppress the float number
none suppress the caption, including the "FLOAT 1" label.
local ?
here preferably here
force force placement here (don’t combine with "here")
margin in the margin (marginfloat)
[+-]hang move sidefloats vertically; like "[+-]line", but positive line values leave space above, while hang doesn’t. negative values move the float over the text.
hanging ? apparently the same as 0*hang
tall ?
both ?
middle ?
offset ?
top At the top of the page
bottom At the bottom of the page (unreliable, can become top, consider "always")
auto ?
page On a new (empty) page (pagefloat)
leftpage On an empty left page (pagefloat)
rightpage On an empty right page (pagefloat)
somewhere Used as a location prefix with \placenamedfloat. See that command page for example usage
effective ?
header Use header space (combine with "high"). Pagefloats: switch header lines off.
footer Use footer space (combine with "low"). Pagefloats: switch footer lines off.
tblr Precedence in page columns: top, bottom, left, right
lrtb Precedence in page columns: left, right, top, bottom
tbrl Precedence in page columns: top, bottom, right, left
rltb Precedence in page columns: right, left, top, bottom
fxtb Precedence in page columns: top bottom (?)
btlr Precedence in page columns
lrbt Precedence in page columns
btrl Precedence in page columns
rlbt Precedence in page columns
fxbt Precedence in page columns: bottom top (?)
fixd Precedence in page columns: force here (?)
optional reference label
caption content
{...} float content

Description

Examples

Demonstration of "low" option. 

  • 
% Jim Diamond 2026-02-07

\setuppapersize[A5,landscape]
\setupbodyfont[12pt]

\starttext

\type{\placefigure[left,none]{}{\externalfigure[cow][width=2.7cm]}}
\blank
\placefigure[left,none]{}{\externalfigure[cow][width=2.7cm]}
\input thuan
\blank

\type{\placefigure[left,low,none]{}{\externalfigure[cow][width=2.7cm]}}
\blank
\placefigure[left,low,none]{}{\externalfigure[cow][width=2.7cm]}
\input thuan

\stoptext

Notes

See also

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