UK TeX FAQ -- question label centre-flt

### Why is my table/figure/… not centred?

You want a float whose contents are centred, but LaTeX ignores your `center` environment. Most likely, you have written:

>     \begin{center}
>       \begin{figure}
>         ...
>       \end{figure}
>     \end{center}

In this case, LaTeX has “taken the `figure` away”, and will typeset it at some location it fancies (it does the same with `table`s) the only thing we can say (for sure) about the location is that it won’t be inside that `center` environment. As a result, the `center` environment is left with nothing to do … except to make a mess of your vertical spacing.

The solution is the same as that outlined in the same answer, noting that all control of an `figure` or `table` needs to be inside the environment. So the example’s code should be converted to

>     \begin{figure}
>       \centering
>       ...
>     \end{figure}

(or something similar for a `table`).

This answer was added: 2013-11-19

This question on the Web: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=centre-flt