TeX -- should figures be floating?

[aviks]

In the current TeX export, images are processed as \figure elements, which are, by default, floating. ie, they can be placed anywhere in the document.

However, I can see no way to actually refer to the figure from the text. When using normal TeX, one can use cross references to do that, but I'm not sure that is possible via markdown.

So maybe the figures should NOT float? That may be the best option, given markdown authoring? This can be achieved by using the float package adding [H] to the figures. Thoughts?

[mortenpi]

It is a fair point. I guess the main concern would be that the document layout will not be optimal if they're not allowed to float and you can end up with a lot of white space. But this could be a necessary evil. Do you know how other similar systems, e.g. Sphinx, handle this?

[aviks]

document layout will not be optimal

Sure, of course. But document with many images is currently completely unreadable. The images can be anywhere, and with no way to refer to them within the text, they're pretty much lost.