A paper is prose pointing at numbered things: Figure 2, Table 1, Section 4, Equation (7). This lesson covers how the numbered things are made and how the pointing works.

Step 1 — Include a figure

Images need graphicx in the preamble, then a figure environment:

\usepackage{graphicx}   % preamble

\begin{figure}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{setup.png}
  \caption{The measurement setup.}
  \label{fig:setup}
\end{figure}
  • width=0.8\linewidth sizes the image relative to the column — far more robust than absolute sizes.
  • The \caption gives the figure its number; the \label must come after the caption.
  • LaTeX places figures where they fit best. Fighting that is a beginner trap — trust the float placement until the very final draft.

In Writano, figures you upload or build in Figure Studio appear in the project sidebar, and Insert writes this block for you — with the \label already in place.

Step 2 — Build a table

Tables use tabular inside a table float. The column spec — here lcc — gives one letter per column (left, center, right); & separates cells and \\ ends a row:

\begin{table}
  \centering
  \caption{Measured yields.}
  \label{tab:yields}
  \begin{tabular}{lcc}
    \hline
    Sample & Yield & Error \\
    \hline
    A      & 0.82  & 0.03  \\
    B      & 0.79  & 0.04  \\
    \hline
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Note the convention: table captions go above the table, figure captions below.

Step 3 — Point at everything

Every \label — on sections, figures, tables, equations — can be referenced from anywhere:

As shown in Figure~\ref{fig:setup}, the beam passes twice;
Table~\ref{tab:yields} lists the yields (cf.\ Section~\ref{sec:method}).

The ~ is a non-breaking space, keeping “Figure” and its number on one line. Renumber-proof references are the payoff for labelling as you go.

Step 4 — Cite the literature

Citations follow the same pattern with \cite{key}, where the keys live in a .bib file. In Writano the cite flow does this for you — pick a source from your Reference Library and the command and the .bib entry are written together, so a citation never points at a missing entry. The full story is in the Citations & bibliography guide.

Tip: Adopt a label convention on day one — fig:, tab:, sec:, eq: prefixes — and autocomplete becomes your table of contents.