Hello, Following the example in the Columns manual, the following works with TeXLive 2011 but not with the current context suite beta (25 nov 2011): \definecolumnset[body][n=2] \definecolumnsethsize{body}{1}{1}\One \definecolumnsethsize{body}{1}{2}\Two \starttext \startcolumnset[body] \dorecurse{5}{\input tufte\par} \startbuffer \placefigure[btlr]{A placeholder figure.}{\externalfigure[widefigure][width=\Two]} \stopbuffer \dorecurse{5}{\input tufte\par} \getbuffer \stopcolumnset \stoptext Using the current beta, the figure only cleanly spans one column -- vertical space for the graphic and caption is reserved in one column; in the other column, text flows on beneath the graphic, which is superimposed. Using TeXLive 2011, the wide figure spans both columns correctly. Thanks, PPN -- Peter Park Nelson peter.park.nelson@gmail.com