I forgot about $\vcenter$ (I hardly ever need math mode, so...) The following works for the framed boxes, and the text is well positioned also, but is there a better/more efficient way to center the text between frames? Best Idris ============================================= \setupoutput[pdftex]% \setuppagenumbering[state=stop] \starttext\showstruts \setupfloats[location=middle] \placefigure [here][tab:enclosure]{4 Stages.} { \midaligned{ \framed [width=12\baselineskip,height=12\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{Stage 1}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=9\baselineskip,height=9\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{Stage 2}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=6\baselineskip,height=6\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{Stage 3}} $\vcenter% {\framed[width=3\baselineskip,height=3\baselineskip,strut=yes] {\midaligned{\raise.25ex\hbox{Stage 4}}} }$ \midaligned{\null}}% }$ \midaligned{\null}}% }$ \midaligned{\null}} } } \stoptext ============================================ ===============original message============= Dear gang, I need a way to overlay four framed boxes so that each inner box is exactly in the center of its respective outer box. So far I have the following, but careful inspection will show that the boxes are not precisely centered with respect to each other. I could go on by trial and error but I'm sure there is a direct way to do this. The text should also be precisely centered between frames. Thank you in advance! Idris ============================ Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523