Hans, Willi, et al, I was thinking there are pros and cons to each solution, Hans' and Willi's. So I tried: Here are some simple examples of adding fractions already having common denominators. %output=pdf \input math-ext \starttext \placeformula[-] \startformula \startalign[m=2,distance=5em] \frac5{21}-\frac3{21}&=\frac{5-3}{21} & \frac{2}{x+2}-\frac{x-3}{x+2}&=\frac{2-(x-3)}{x+2}\\ &=\frac2{21} & &=\frac{2-x+3}{x+2}\\ &&&=\frac{5-x}{x+2} \stopalign \stopformula \startbuffer[1] \framed[frame=on,width=fit] {\startformula \eqalign{ \frac{5}{21}-\frac{3}{21} &=\frac{5-3}{21}\cr &=\frac{2}{21}} \stopformula} \stopbuffer \startbuffer[2] \framed[frame=on,width=fit] {\startformula \eqalign{ \frac2{x+2}-\frac{x-3}{x+2} &=\frac{2-(x-3)}{x+2}\cr &=\frac{2-x+3}{x+2}\cr &=\frac{5-x}{x+2}} \stopformula} \stopbuffer \startbuffer \startcombination[2*1] {\externalfigure[1][width=0.45\textwidth,type=buffer]}{} {\externalfigure[2][width=0.45\textwidth,type=buffer]}{} \stopcombination \stopbuffer \placefigure [][-] {none} {\getbuffer} \stoptext As you can see, Hans' solution works perfectly, but note the very ugly source code for that section. Willi's source is cleaner, much easier to read (especially at a later date when I will have to revisit for revisions), but it doesn't work (the output is scaled of course). Any suggestions as to how I can fix Willi's approach so it doesn't scale?