Columns

A row of two or three columns, each holding its own blocks: text beside a figure, two figures side by side, a definition next to an example.

Making columns

Insert a Columns block. It starts with two columns, each with an empty paragraph.

• Type in a column like anywhere else: Enter adds a paragraph in the same column.
• Insert a block from the left column while the caret is in a column and it lands in that column.
• Drag blocks into a column, out of it, or from one column to the other. An empty column shows Add a block.

Layout

Select the row itself — click its edge, or the gap between two columns — to see its options in the right column.

The proportions are the same on screen and in the PDF.

Reducing the number of columns deletes the last column and everything in it. Move its blocks first.

What a column can hold

Headings, paragraphs, lists, quotes, equations, theorems, figures, tables and code — everything except another row of columns.

Numbering is unaffected: a figure or an equation in a column takes its number in reading order, column by column from left to right.

What changes inside a column

• Figures and tables do not float. They are printed exactly where they are, and their Placement setting has no effect.
• A chapter becomes a section. A chapter starts a new page, which a column cannot do. The heading turns back into a chapter when you move it out.
• Text is narrower, so long words, wide formulas and wide tables are more likely to run past the edge of the column. Check the PDF.

What it cannot do

• No columns inside columns.
• No more than three columns, and no custom widths beyond the presets.
• Text does not flow from one column to the next. Each column holds what you put in it. For a whole document set in two columns, there is no option yet.
• A row is not split across pages. A row taller than what is left of the page moves to the next page, and a row taller than a page overflows. Keep rows short.
• Columns are aligned at the top. There is no vertical centring.
• Columns cannot be placed inside a theorem.
• A paragraph cannot be turned into columns with the / menu: insert the block from the left column.

What it prints

Each column is a minipage:

\noindent
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.5952\linewidth}
Text beside the figure.
\end{minipage}\hfill%
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.3648\linewidth}
…
\end{minipage}