Hi Hans, It seems that in the latest ConTeXt beta a bug shows up when using \startcombination, or something has changed recently that I have overlooked. The following example typesets correctly in mkii, and used to produce a correct output with mkiv. However, now, with ConTeXt version 2016.05.17 19:20, the typesetting stops with an error message saying: [………] Missing { inserted <inserted text> { <to be read again> \cr \pack_combinations_pickup_package_pair_c ->\cr \pack_combinations_flush_capt... l.20 \stopcombination} [………] Here is the example: %%% begin bug-combination.tex \setupcolors[state=start] \useMPlibrary[dum] \starttext This is our first picture. \placefigure[none]{}{\externalfigure[dummy][width=6cm]} \blank This is a combination of 3 figures on two lines \placefigure[none]{} { \midaligned{ \startcombination[1*2] {\startcombination[2*1] {\externalfigure[dummy][width=6cm]}{} {\externalfigure[dummy][width=6cm]}{} \stopcombination} {\externalfigure[dummy][width=6cm]}{} \stopcombination} } \stoptext %%% end bug-combination.tex Thanks for your attention and best regards: OK