subcaptionlite Package

LaTeX: Subfigures and subtables without the caption package

The subcaption package needs the caption package, which redefines \@makecaption of the class. Thus it cannot be used with a class that has its own design of captions.

The subcaptionlite package provides the subfigure and subtable environments, \subcaption, \subcaptionbox and \subref with the same syntax as subcaption, without touching \@makecaption of the class:

1. Subfigures and subtables are numbered (a), (b), ... within each figure or table, and \ref gives e.g. 4.2(a) (\Cref of cleveref: "Figure 4.2(a)", "Table 4.2(a)"); \subref gives only (a). With hyperref, each subfigure and subtable has its own anchor.
2. The number of the float is right whether its \caption comes after the subcaptions (the first subcaption steps the counter in advance, as the subcaption package does) or before them.
3. \captionsetup is accepted and ignored, so that the settings for the caption package can be left in the document.

• Supported formats/engines: pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, LuaLaTeX (with or without LuaTeX-ja), pLaTeX, upLaTeX (+ dvipdfmx)

Files

Requirements

• LaTeX2ε 2020-10-01 or later, etoolbox
• Tested with TeX Live 2026 (LaTeX2ε 2026-06-01, hyperref 7.01s)

Installation

Copy subcaptionlite.sty to your local TeX tree: $TEXMF/tex/latex/subcaptionlite/

Usage

\usepackage{subcaptionlite}

\begin{figure}
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}{.45\linewidth}
    \centering\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{a}
    \caption{The first}\label{fig:a}   % \caption means \subcaption here
  \end{subfigure}\hfill
  \subcaptionbox{The second\label{fig:b}}[.45\linewidth]{%
    \includegraphics[width=.8\linewidth]{b}}
  \caption{Two subfigures}\label{fig:ab}
\end{figure}
Figure~\ref{fig:ab} has two parts, \subref{fig:a} and \subref{fig:b}.

\begin{table}
  \centering
  \caption{Two subtables}\label{tab:ab}
  \begin{subtable}[t]{.45\linewidth}
    \centering
    \caption{The first}\label{tab:a}
    \begin{tabular}{ll} ... \end{tabular}
  \end{subtable}\hfill
  \subcaptionbox{The second\label{tab:b}}{\begin{tabular}{ll} ... \end{tabular}}
\end{table}

• \begin{subfigure}[<pos>]{<width>}, \begin{subtable}[<pos>]{<width>}: a minipage (<pos>: b by default, as in subcaption; give t to align subtables with their captions above), inside which \caption and \caption* mean \subcaption and \subcaption*.
• \subcaption{<text>}, \subcaption*{<text>}: a numbered/unnumbered subcaption, e.g. in a minipage. It is numbered with the counter of the float it is in: subfigure in a figure, subtable in a table.
• \subcaptionbox{<caption>}[<width>]{<contents>}: <contents> centered in a minipage of <width> (default: the natural width of <contents>; with <width>, \linewidth in <contents> is <width>), followed by \subcaption{<caption>}. The minipage keeps <width> even if <contents> is wider.
• \subref{<label>}, \subref*{<label>}: only the label of the subfigure/subtable, e.g. (a) (\subref*: without a link with hyperref). After a numbered subcaption, \label{<label>} also writes the label sub@<label>, as the subcaption package does.

Customization

Redefine these macros in the class or in a local style (\makeatletter is needed in the preamble):

The labels are \thesubfigure and \thesubtable (default: (\alph{subfigure}), (\alph{subtable})).

Errors and limitations

• \subcaption (and \subcaptionbox) outside a float, or in a float other than figure and table (e.g. one defined by newfloat), is an error; the subcaption is typeset without a number.
• Subcaptions are for figures and tables only.
• subcaptionlite cannot be used together with the caption or subcaption package.

Testing

make test compiles every test (but test-errors) twice with pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, LuaLaTeX, pLaTeX and upLaTeX (+ dvipdfmx), and checks the log:

• SCL-RESULT OK: every label (\@currentlabel), reference, counter, width and anchor checked in the test is as expected (see test-common.tex), and \@makecaption of the class is unchanged.
• No error and no LaTeX/package/class warning.
• test-hyperref: no warning on a duplicate or missing destination in the log or in the output of the engine and (x)dvipdfmx.
• test-errors: the expected error message.

test-common.tex holds the helpers shared by the tests.

Repository

• https://github.com/munepi/subcaptionlite
• Bug reports: https://github.com/munepi/subcaptionlite/issues

License

This package is licensed under the conditions of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3c of this license or any later version.

Copyright (c) 2026 Munehiro Yamamoto