Command/placefloat

\placefloat

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

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
  
  

• 

See also

• strc-flt.mkvi
• Document layout and layers/Floating objects
• \definefloat
• \setupfloat
• \startplacefloat
• \setupfloatsplitting
• page-cst.lua Lua functions that control the four-letter placement codes in page columns

Help from ConTeXt-Mailinglist/Forum

All issues with:

• \placefloat on the mailing list (all results)
• \placefloat on the mailing list (subject only)
• \placefloat on stack exchange
• \placefloat in ConTeXt's source