Bdtyktl

I have read the manual, so no trolling here. I REALLY don't understand the use of clearpage. Especially, its difference with newpage. A common explanation is that it "flushes" all pending floats from the stack.

What does it even mean? Can anybody explain it in simpler terms?

1) newpage could mean "start a new page" or "start the second column" (only two column documents, of course) while clearpage always start a new page.

2) newpage only break the page (or column) at that point, but clearpage mean, as you said, also flush out (i.e., print) all pending floats from the stack before to start the newpage. That mean "do not wait anymore to print the damn figures and tables that I coded before this point". Mainly this have sense before to start a new section, to prevent jumping of some images or tables of one section to the text of the next section (but have not sense in a chapter, because the clearpage is already added automatically).

Therefore, in a simple long text at one column, you could see the same effect with both commands (just only a new page) but in a document with two columns and/or floats, probably you will see substantial changes.

In the next example, if you change to a document of two columns, the first newpage will produce a first page with two columns, two paragraphs and three images, but if it is changed by clearpage, you will have only one column with one paragraph and no images.

Undo all the changes. You will see that there are also four images after the last line of text, but after change the second newpage by clearpage all the images will be printed before of that line. More clear now the difference?

documentclass{article} 

%documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

usepackage{lipsum}

usepackage{graphicx}

begin{document}

defmyfloat{begin{figure}[htp]includegraphics[scale=.1]{example-image}end{figure}}

lipsum[1]

newpage % same as clearpage?  compare it in twocolumn mode !!

%clearpage

lipsum[2]



myfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloatmyfloat



newpage % last line in 2nd page, four floats go AFTER the last line. 

%clearpage % last line in 3th page , all floats printed before.  



This is the last line.



end{document}