How to add a note under a figure or table?

[ravivmg]

Description

I like to have notes under my figures and tables describing what is in them. Typically with Latex, I can achieve this with the \caption*{} command. For example:

\begin{figure}
\centering
\caption{Title for the Figure}
\includegraphics{...}
\caption*{The above figure shows...}
\end{figure}

How can I achieve the same thing with Quarto?
Thank you!

[mcanouil]

\caption* is not to add "notes". It's a command to add a caption without labels.

See one way to do it:

Quarto document

HTML

--- title: 'Saga' format: html --- ## A figure ::: {#fig-myfig style="text-align:center;"}  Saga\ _This is a nice picture of my black Labrador Retriever named Saga.\ He is 2 years old and loves to play fetch._ ::: ## A table | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | |:--------:|:--------:|:--------:| | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 4 | 5 | 6 | | 7 | 8 | 9 | : A table\ _This is a nice table with some numbers in it._ {#tbl-mytable}

The PDF output:

[eyayaw]

You can place the note inside the code cell, but it will occupy space similar to any other subplot.

```{r}
#| output: asis"
cat(r"(\textit{A very looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon note}
)")
```

[baarthur]

I have a related issue: Under Brazilian formatting (ABNT), we should include the caption at the top and the source and notes at the bottom (even if the source is yourself), regardless of whether it is a figure or a table. Is there any workaround for this situation?

I have tried the following approach, but it doesn't work well because of the floating image problem.

::: {#fig-reprex1 style="text-align:center;"}

![](reprex.jpeg){height=2.5in}

Figure caption.\
**Source**: Figure source
:::

Placeholder text

```{r}
#| label: fig-reprex2
#| fig-cap: Figure caption

include_graphics("reprex.jpeg")
```
**Source**: Figure source

Result:

[mcanouil]

Watch for:

• Epic: Crossref Overhaul #4944
• RefTargets: Float #6620

[danielvartan]

Same here.

I'm trying to develop an ABNT Quarto format, but I'm having a lot of issues....

@baarthur if you care to help, I'm creating the Quarto format at this repository: https://github.com/danielvartan/tesesusp.

[baarthur]

Looks good, @danielvartan! I'll DM you. I'm also developing an ABNT template; currently I have one for regular stuff (https://github.com/baarthur/abnquarto/, suggestions are welcome) and this weekend I made some progress in the Thesis/Dissertation format.

[eyayaw]

Sorry, a small follow-up: Is there a way to have the figure caption on top of the figure and the figure note below the figure?

I believe that keeping captions on top for tables and at the bottom for figures is a good practice.

[mcanouil]

This is opinionated and mostly depends on the size of the table.

[mcanouil]

Note that the major work from #4944 was merged into main (pre-release).
This gives a lot of flexibility for figures and tables, if you don't mind few bugs that appeared with this that are currently worked on, you might want to develop your format with the pre-release version and the new floating cross-reference system.
For now documentation is limited but the following should get you started: https://quarto.org/docs/prerelease/1.4/crossref.html

@danielvartan

[MarcoPortmann]

I would like to create graphics with a note below the graphic "Source: @author.year." . I am in the process of writing a comprehensive publication for which Quarto and R would be very suitable. However, unless I can comply with scientific citation rules, I cannot use Quarto despite its great potential. Will it be possible to add notes/references to graphs in the foreseeable future? The most elegant solution would be a parmater like #| fig-note or #| fig-source.

[cscheid]

I would like to create graphics with a note below the graphic "Source: @author.year."

Why can't you do it in previous versions of quarto? You don't have access to yaml parameters, but you can use plain Markdown content after the code cell.

[MarcoPortmann]

I'm sorry if I misunderstood anything as a beginner: The closest I can get is to put this

#| fig-cap: "Test"
mtcars %>% 
  ggplot(aes(x = mpg, y = wt)) +
  geom_point() +
  labs(caption = "Source: Author (year).")

or this

#| fig-cap: "Test"
magick::image_ggplot(magickimage_read(filename)),
interpolate = FALSE) +
  labs( = "Source: Author (year).")

in a code chunk. But then I have to enter the sources manually for each figure.

If I understand you correctly, you are proposing the following:

```{r}
#| fig-cap: "Test"
mtcars %>% 
  ggplot(aes(x = mpg, y = wt)) +
  geom_point() 
```
Source: @author.year.

However, since the code chunk floats freely, the source will not necessarily be placed below the code cell.

[mcanouil]

@MarcoPortmann Providing a small reproducible example and context would have helped.

See an example below using 1.4 pre-release.

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: pdf
---

{{< lipsum 1-3 >}}

::: {#fig-example}

```{r}
#| echo: false
plot(1)
```

This is a figure caption.  
**Source:** This is a figure source.

:::

{{< lipsum 1-3 >}}

[cscheid]

Or even something like

#| fig-cap: "Test.\n\nSource: Author (year)."
mtcars %>% 
  ggplot(aes(x = mpg, y = wt)) +
  geom_point()

in LaTeX? (I haven't tested this, but the general gist should be clear.)

[mcanouil]

@cscheid Weirdly, multilines caption causes Quarto to not render at all the markdown.

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: html
keep-md: true
---
```{r}
#| echo: false
#| fig-label: fig-example
#| fig-cap: |
#|   Test.
#| 
#|   Source: Author (year).
plot(1)
```

Produces:

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: html
keep-md: true
---


::: {.cell fig-label='fig-example'}
::: {.cell-output-display}
![Test.

Source: Author (year).](index_files/figure-html/unnamed-chunk-1-1.png){width=672}
:::
:::

[baarthur]

I'm sorry if I misunderstood anything as a beginner: The closest I can get is to put this

#| fig-cap: "Test"
mtcars %>% 
  ggplot(aes(x = mpg, y = wt)) +
  geom_point() +
  labs(caption = "Source: Author (year).")

or this

#| fig-cap: "Test"
magick::image_ggplot(magickimage_read(filename)),
interpolate = FALSE) +
  labs( = "Source: Author (year).")

in a code chunk. But then I have to enter the sources manually for each figure.

If I understand you correctly, you are proposing the following:

```{r}
#| fig-cap: "Test"
mtcars %>% 
  ggplot(aes(x = mpg, y = wt)) +
  geom_point() 

Source: @author.year.

However, since the code chunk floats freely, the source will not necessarily be placed below the code cell.

Precisely, that's the point I tried to make here: #6103 (reply in thread)

[baarthur]

@MarcoPortmann Providing a small reproducible example and context would have helped.

See an example below using 1.4 pre-release.

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: pdf
---

{{< lipsum 1-3 >}}

::: {#fig-example}

```{r}
#| echo: false
plot(1)

This is a figure caption.
Source: This is a figure source.

:::

{{< lipsum 1-3 >}}

<img alt="image" width="718" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8896044/275617867-ea34e2de-bb21-4ad9-a555-61e1d2502a21.png">

@mcanouil I think his issue is the same as mine and @danielvartan 's : how to have legend on top and source (and other notes fwiw) on bottom?

[mcanouil]

@ravivmg Maybe, or maybe not. Without giving context, example, etc. any guess is as good as any other.

[mcanouil]

Note that If you want custom things in LaTeX, you can do so:

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: pdf
---

```{=latex}
\begin{figure}
  \caption{My figure caption}
  \centering
  \includegraphics{figure.pdf}
  \caption*{Source: My source}
\end{figure}
```

[cscheid]

In 1.4, you can do this instead:

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: pdf
fig-cap-location: top
---

::: {#fig-1}

```{r}
#| echo: false
plot(1:10)
```

Source: My source

My figure caption.

:::

See @fig-1.

The reason this works is that, semantically, the last paragraph of a div with fig-* identifier is its caption, and everything else before that is the figure content. But the placement of the caption is controlled by fig-cap-location.

[mcanouil]

Oh, I tried the other way around^^

[mcanouil]

I am marking the 1.4 solution as the new answer.

[MarcoPortmann]

Thank you so much @mcanouil and @cscheid for your replies and your time. Excellent, this works just the way I need it. Next time I will attach a full reproducible example.

[turbanisch]

Just out of curiosity: what does the LaTeX output look like using the Quarto 1.4 solution? Is the text "Source: My Source" just plain text inside the figure environment or is it marked up as a figure note so that it can be targeted and controlled with the caption/floatrow package? Anyhow, looking forward to having this implemented! :)

[baarthur]

Note that If you want custom things in LaTeX, you can do so:

---
title: "Reproducible Quarto Document"
format: pdf
---

```{=latex}
\begin{figure}
  \caption{My figure caption}
  \centering
  \includegraphics{figure.pdf}
  \caption*{Source: My source}
\end{figure}

<img alt="image" width="526" src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8896044/275623871-df0b75d1-3052-45d4-b6df-f31e01e8cee6.png">

Yes, that's the solution I'm using right now. It is not ideal for my use, though, as one of the main reasons I use Quarto instead of e.g. Overleaf is to reproduce graphics on the run (and besides I have more familiarity with Rmd than LaTeX). Maybe is there a way to include R code inside the figure environment? I tried and it didn't work, but I'm no LaTeX expert.

[cscheid]

See #6103 (reply in thread)

[mcanouil]

See #6103 (reply in thread)

PS: @ravivmg could you try to reply in the thread or in one thread as it is really starting to get messy.

[baarthur]

many thanks @cscheid @mcanouil ! It worked great.

My suggestion: could you introduce this in the Quarto manual?

[mcanouil]

This is the pre-release version and is still being worked on.
It will be advertised and properly documented in due time.

[cscheid]

The documentation for this prerelease feature is here. It'll be in the main page when 1.4 releases. 

[danielvartan]

That's great, @cscheid! Thank you for this feature!

Is there a way to insert the bottom caption inside the \caption macro when rendering LaTeX or PDF formats? As of today, the source caption (bottom caption) is added as normal text inside a \centering command, which makes it very hard to change its formatting.

Example:

Pre-render (qmd)

::: {#fig-mpg}
::: {.figure-content}
```{r}
#| label: fig-mpg
#| fig-height: 4
#| fig-width: 6

# library(datasets)
# library(ggExtra)
# library(ggplot2)

p <- ggplot2::ggplot(
  datasets::mtcars, ggplot2::aes(x=wt, y=mpg, color=cyl, size=cyl)
  ) +
  ggplot2::geom_point() +
  ggplot2::theme(legend.position="none")

ggExtra::ggMarginal(
  p, type="histogram", 
  fill = "slateblue", 
  xparams = list(bins=10)
  )
```
:::

Source: Data extracted from the 1974 Motor Trend magazine and published by `@henderson1981`. Visualization by `@holtz`, available at [The R Graph Gallery](https://r-graph-gallery.com/277-marginal-histogram-for-ggplot2.html).

Relation between _weight (1000lbs)_ ($\text{wt}$) and _miles per galon_ ($\text{mpg}$) for combustion engine vehicles
:::

Post-render (LaTeX)

\begin{figure}[H]

\caption{\label{fig-mpg}Relation between \emph{weight (1000lbs)}
(\(\text{wt}\)) and \emph{miles per galon} (\(\text{mpg}\)) of for
combustion engine vehicles}

\centering{

\includegraphics{index_files/figure-pdf/unnamed-chunk-6-1.png}

Source: Data extracted from the 1974 Motor Trend magazine and published
by \textcite{henderson1981}. Visualization by \textcite{holtz},
available at
\href{https://r-graph-gallery.com/277-marginal-histogram-for-ggplot2.html}{The
R Graph Gallery}.

}

\end{figure}

PDF output

Source: {abnt}: Quarto format for ABNT theses and dissertations.

---

(Side question. How can I disable the subcaptions? This "(a)" above the chart keeps showing up)

[turbanisch]

If I may chime in here as well: I think it is great that the new version of Quarto lets us inject figure notes wrapped in a custom LaTeX command. I do second @danielvartan's wish to have it converted automatically into a default field though, just because in many parts of academic writing, figure notes are as essential to a figure as the figure caption/title (see yihui/knitr#2022 for an illustration). For example, it is not just some obscure Brazilian Formatting convention as mentioned above but also essentially all of economics. Of course it is up to the Quarto developers to judge whether this is a common enough demand – and personally, I'm more than happy to use the workaround described above if this convenience feature doesn't make it.

[mcanouil]

The issue is not about this being a reasonable feature request or not.
Here, the discussion is exclusively around LaTeX which as shown several times is already possible using raw LaTeX or the latex-environment extension approach.

Quarto is not only about LaTeX. When something is implemented, the main goal is to implement it for the major formats which are HTML, Word, Typst, and of course LaTeX.

Also why Christophe asked to make a formal feature request describing what would be the expected output for LaTeX and possibly other formats, etc.

Currently the new cross-reference system is as follow:

::: {#fig-1}

::: {.figure-content}
This is the figure content.
:::

This is a caption.

:::

This has a side effect used here, i.e., the last piece of text is the caption, the first element is the "float" and what remains in between is plain text.

::: {#fig-1}

::: {.figure-content}
This is the figure content.
:::

This is plain text.

This is a caption.

:::

Quarto's goal is not to make it everything about using markdown (not even possible), i.e., raw blocks.

Meaning you can do the following which is fully compatible with using \renewcommand or whatever in the header or template partials.

::: {#fig-1}

::: {.figure-content}
This is the figure content.
:::

`\legend{This is plain text turned as LaTeX legend.}`{=latex}

This is a caption.

:::

Note also that \legend is not at all a standard LaTeX command which make it unsuited for Quarto as Quarto uses Pandoc template as much as possible.
So if I define the macro for \legend.

---
title: "Quarto Playground"
format: pdf
include-in-header:
  - text: |
      \newcommand{\legend}[1]{\textcolor{red}{\textbf{\textit{#1}}}}
---

::: {#fig-1}

::: {.figure-content}
This is the figure content.
:::

`\legend{This is plain text turned as LaTeX caption.}`{=latex}

This is a caption.

:::

Or alternatively without using the side effect:

---
title: "Quarto Playground"
format: pdf
include-in-header:
  - text: |
      \newcommand{\legend}[1]{\textcolor{red}{\textbf{\textit{#1}}}}
---

::: {#fig-1}
![](https://placehold.co/[email protected])

This is a caption.  
`\legend{This is plain text turned as LaTeX caption.}`{=latex}
:::

[cderv]

@turbanisch thanks for chiming in ! I do agree that figure note is important and don't think it is an obscure convention.

I am just saying this is not yet a supported feature by Quarto (adding note on figures), and not supported by Pandoc either. So before discussing here the LaTeX convention, this needs to be a proper Feature Request that will then require some design to see how this could be done as part of Quarto, or as a possible Quarto extension maybe.

Currently, Pandoc's Markdown has no convention for Figure Notes, and we are already tweaking heavily the figure convention by allowing the above syntax. If figures notes are added, we need to think about how.

But this is indeed a good feature request that could complement what has been done in 1.4.

[cderv]

I opened a new issue with this feature request:

• Allow styled figure notes using the new 1.4 crossref figure syntax  #7514

Thanks for your input.

_It is also possible that a Lua filter can help target the specific before last paragraph to render it a certain way as a figure Notes. Good Lua exercice! (related to #645 (comment)) _

[danielvartan]

Thank you for all your effort and attention @cderv !

[simonreif]

In case this is still an issue for some, I made a small filter for the LaTeX use case here https://github.com/simonreif/notes-block.

[eyayaw]

That is neat. I had to resort to using regex: https://github.com/eyayaw/housing-supply-elasticity-in-germany/blob/main/tidy_figure_notes.py.

[mcanouil]

@simonreif Feel free to submit your extension to:

• https://quarto.org/docs/extensions/
• https://m.canouil.dev/quarto-extensions/about.html

[simonreif]

Thanks! This is part of a larger project (https://github.com/simonreif/zewwwwEcon) which I want to restructure to be a quarto extension soon :)