Tables & Figures

How to Reference Figures and Tables in LaTeX

Cross-references automatically update when figure/table numbers change. Use \label and \ref.

Add a Label

Add \label{} right after \caption{}:

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
\includegraphics{results.png}
\caption{Our experimental results}
\label{fig:results}
\end{figure}

Reference the Figure

Use \ref{label} to reference it:

As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:results}, our method outperforms...
See Table~\ref{tab:comparison} for details.

Reference Page Number

Use \pageref{} for page numbers:

The results (Figure~\ref{fig:results} on page~\pageref{fig:results})...

Naming Conventions

Use consistent prefixes for labels:

% Figures
\label{fig:architecture}
\label{fig:results}

% Tables
\label{tab:comparison}
\label{tab:params}

% Equations
\label{eq:loss}
\label{eq:gradient}

% Sections
\label{sec:intro}
\label{sec:methods}

💡 Tips

•Use ~ (non-breaking space) before \ref to prevent line breaks
•Compile twice—references need two passes to resolve
•Use cleveref package for automatic "Figure", "Table" prefixes

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