LaTeX: Figures - Figure Alignment

Document 1

Figure Alignment

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Formulation Guide

Apply horizontal centering inside float: \centering
Avoid \begin{center} inside floats to eliminate extra vertical gaps
Use [h] (here) specifier for immediate context placement

In LaTeX, using \centering inside a figure environment is preferred over \begin{center}...\end{center} because \centering does not introduce unwanted additional vertical whitespace before and after the image.

Document 2

Figure Alignment

.tex

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\section{Nonlinear Pendulum: Flush Left Alignment}

For a simple pendulum of length $l$ undergoing arbitrary angular excursions $\theta(t)$, the governing equation of motion is nonlinear:
\begin{equation}
    \ddot{\theta} + \frac{g}{l}\sin\theta = 0
\end{equation}

When documenting figures alongside marginal notes or side annotations, left-aligned placement is achieved using \texttt{\textbackslash raggedright}:

\begin{figure}[htbp]
    \raggedright
    \includegraphics[width=0.55\textwidth]{pendulum.png}
    \caption{Flush-left trajectory diagram depicting the coordinate configuration.}
    \label{fig:left_pendulum}
\end{figure}

For small oscillation amplitudes ($\theta \ll 1$), $\sin\theta \approx \theta$, giving the period $T_0 = 2\pi\sqrt{l/g}$. For large amplitudes $\theta_0$, the exact elliptic period is:
\begin{equation}
    T = 4\sqrt{\frac{l}{g}} \int_0^{\pi/2} \frac{d\phi}{\sqrt{1 - \sin^2(\theta_0/2)\sin^2\phi}}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

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Formulation Guide

Align figure flush left: \raggedright
Align figure flush right: \raggedleft
Formulate large-angle nonlinear pendulum equation and complete elliptic integral of the first kind

By declaring \raggedright or \raggedleft inside the figure block, authors can override default alignment behavior and position graphics flush with the left or right margin as required by journal layout templates.

LaTeX 8.2 Figure Alignment

Figure Alignment

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Formulation Guide

Figure Alignment

Rendered Output Preview

Formulation Guide