Hello LuaTeX experts, I am facing a classic LaTeX float placement problem in a *twocolumn* document, and I am wondering if LuaTeX offers a potential solution where traditional methods seem to fail. The goal is to have a single-column *figure[t]* and a double-column *figure*[b]* (using the *stfloats *package) appear together on the same page, immediately following their definition. The issue is that LaTeX's behavior is inconsistent. When the floats are defined early in the document (e.g., on Page 1), they are split: the *figure[t] *lands on Page 2, but the *figure*[b]* is delayed until Page 3. However, an identical pair defined later (e.g., on Page 3) correctly land together on Page 4. My requirement is for a completely automated solution. I cannot rely on manually re-ordering the floats in the source to make the output routine happy. My question for this group is: *Could this synchronization problem be solved using LuaTeX?* For example, is it feasible to use a Lua callback (perhaps *build_page_insert_filter*, or something influencing the output routine) to: 1. Inspect both the single-column and double-column pending float lists? 2. Detect when a *[t]* float is being placed at the top of a page *and* a *[b]* double-column float is pending? 3. If this condition is met, can Lua somehow *force* or *encourage* the output routine to reserve space for and place *both* floats on the *same* page, synchronizing them before the page is shipped out? I understand this is a complex part of the TeX engine, but this seems like a timing and look-ahead problem that Lua might be uniquely suited to solve. Below is the MWE that demonstrates the problem. *MWE:* \documentclass[twocolumn]{article}\usepackage{lipsum}\usepackage{stfloats}\usepackage{graphicx,color}\setlength\marginparwidth{4pc}\setlength\marginparsep{1pc}\begin{document} Para One: ... Para Two: ... Para Three: ... Para Four: ... Para Five: ... \marginpar{{\color{red}\textbf{Fig 1\&2 placed here}}} \begin{figure}[t]\fbox{\vbox to 10pc{\hbox to .98\columnwidth{}}}\caption{single col figure}\end{figure}\begin{figure*}[b]\fbox{\vbox to 10pc{\hbox to \textwidth{}}}\caption{single col figure}\end{figure*} Para Six: ... Para Seven: ... Para Eight: ... Para Nine: ... Para Ten: ... Para 1-One: ... Para 1-Two: ... Para 1-Three: ... Para 1-Four: ... \marginpar{{\color{red}\textbf{Fig 3\&4 placed here}}} \begin{figure}[t]\fbox{\vbox to 10pc{\hbox to .98\columnwidth{}}}\caption{single col figure}\end{figure}\begin{figure*}[b]\fbox{\vbox to 10pc{\hbox to \textwidth{}}}\caption{single col figure}\end{figure*} Para 1-Five: ... Para 1-Six: ... Para 1-Seven: ... Para 1-Eight: ... Para 1-Nine: ... Para 1-Ten: ... \end{document} *Present Output:* Figures 1 & 2 are separated. Figure 1 is on Page 2, while Figure 2 is pushed to Page 3. [image: Figures 1 & 2] https://i.sstatic.net/3Kq084Zl.png [image: Figures 3 & 4] https://i.sstatic.net/xFbrkgdi.png *Link: https://i.sstatic.net/xFbrkgdi.png https://i.sstatic.net/xFbrkgdi.png* *Required Output:* Figures 1 & 2 should both appear on Page 2, just like Figures 3 & 4 do on Page 4. [image: Required Output] https://i.sstatic.net/jKr8RYFd.png *Link: https://i.sstatic.net/jKr8RYFd.png https://i.sstatic.net/jKr8RYFd.png* Thanks & Regards Kumaresh P Kumaresh P Engineering Lead P: +91 44 4596 4800 https://tnqtech.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/tnqtech/

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