SysTutorials

Installing the Caption LaTeX Package on Fedora

· Q A · updated April 12, 2026

The caption LaTeX package provides customizable captions for floats (figures, tables, and other environments). It offers much more control than LaTeX’s default caption formatting.

Install on Fedora

The caption package is included in the texlive collection:

# Install the full texlive collection (includes caption)
sudo dnf install texlive-collection-latexrecommended

# Or install just the caption package
sudo dnf install texlive-caption

Verify the installation:

kpsewhich caption.sty

If it returns a path like /usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/caption/caption.sty, the package is installed.

Basic Usage

Load the package in your document preamble:

\usepackage{caption}

Customize caption appearance:

\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup{
    font=small,
    labelfont=bf,
    format=plain,
    labelsep=period,
    justification=centering
}

Common Caption Styles

Bold label with period separator:

\captionsetup{labelfont=bf, labelsep=period}
% Produces: "Figure 1. Description text"

Small caps label:

\captionsetup{labelfont=sc, labelsep=quad}
% Produces: "FIGURE 1    Description text"

Sans-serif captions:

\captionsetup{font={sf, small}, labelfont=bf}

Per-Environment Settings

Configure captions differently for figures and tables:

\captionsetup[figure]{font=small, labelfont=bf}
\captionsetup[table]{font=small, labelfont=it, position=above}

Caption Position

By convention, figure captions go below and table captions go above:

\begin{figure}
    \includegraphics{image.pdf}
    \caption{Description of the figure}
    \label{fig:example}
\end{figure}

\begin{table}
    \caption{Description of the table}
    \label{tab:example}
    \begin{tabular}{cc}
        A & B \\
        1 & 2
    \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Subcaptions

Combine with the subcaption package for subfigures:

\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{subcaption}

\begin{figure}
    \begin{subfigure}{0.5\textwidth}
        \includegraphics{image1.pdf}
        \caption{First subfigure}
        \label{fig:sub1}
    \end{subfigure}
    \begin{subfigure}{0.5\textwidth}
        \includegraphics{image2.pdf}
        \caption{Second subfigure}
        \label{fig:sub2}
    \end{subfigure}
    \caption{Overall figure caption}
    \label{fig:main}
\end{figure}

Caption Width and Formatting

% Set caption width narrower than text
\captionsetup{width=0.8\textwidth}

% Single-line captions centered, multi-line justified
\captionsetup{justification=centering, singlelinecheck=off}

% Skip space between caption and float
\captionsetup{skip=10pt}

Compatibility with Other Packages

The caption package works well with:

Load hyperref last in your preamble to ensure proper link generation:

\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{subcaption}
\usepackage{hyperref}  % Load last

Quick Reference

Custom Caption Labels

Rename the default label text:

\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup[figure]{name=Fig.}
\captionsetup[table]{name=Tab.}

% Produces: "Fig. 1. Description" instead of "Figure 1. Description"

For more complex label customization, use the titlesec or caption label format options:

\DeclareCaptionLabelFormat{r-paren}{#1 (#2)}
\captionsetup{labelformat=r-paren}
% Produces: "Figure (1) Description"

List of Figures and Tables

The caption package improves the entries in lists of figures and tables:

\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup{listformat= simple}  % Or: subsimple, parens, etc.

% In your document
\listoffigures
\listoftables

Manually Installing LaTeX Packages

If a LaTeX package isn’t available through dnf, install it manually:

# Create local texmf tree
mkdir -p ~/texmf/tex/latex/caption

# Download from CTAN
curl -L https://ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/caption.tar.gz | tar xz -C ~/texmf/tex/latex/

# Update filename database
texhash ~/texmf

LaTeX automatically searches ~/texmf/ for packages, so manually installed packages coexist with system packages without conflicts.

Troubleshooting Caption Issues

“Package caption Error: Continued float outside float.”:

This error occurs when using \ContinuedFloat outside a figure or table environment. Ensure it’s inside the correct float:

\begin{figure}
    \includegraphics{part2.pdf}
    \caption{Example (cont.)}
    \ContinuedFloat  % Must be inside figure environment
\end{figure}

Caption numbering is wrong:

Reset the counter or check for conflicts with other packages that modify counters:

\setcounter{figure}{0}
\setcounter{table}{0}

Caption not appearing in list of figures:

Make sure you’ve run LaTeX twice — the first run collects caption data, the second generates the list. Also verify that \caption is inside the float environment, not outside it.

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