Multicol and a floating box at the top of page, with text wrapping around it

Question

I'm writing an article for a magazine. I'm trying to insert a (floating) 2-column box at the upper right corner of a 3-column document, with the text wrapping around it nicely andn the columns being aligned. I'm making the box using the tikz package so I can have a box with rounded edges and a background color. I was trying to do the wrapping using wrapfig (and I've tried some minipage stuff as well), but I can't get it to work.

This is some code that explains what I'm trying to do, and how I've been trying to do it:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{multicol}

\definecolor{col}{rgb}{0.6,0.6,0.9}
\setlength{\columnsep}{0.5cm}
\newcommand{\floatingBox}[3]
{
 \noindent
 \begin{wrapfigure}{#1}{#2}
 \begin{tikzpicture}
 \node[rounded corners=5pt, fill=col, text width=\linewidth]{#3};
 \end{tikzpicture}
 \end{wrapfigure}
}

\begin{document}
\begin{multicols}{3}
\large
Some random rambling to fill a page.

Aardvark AB aback abacus abaft abalone abandon abandoned abandonment abase
abasement abash abashed abate abatement abattoir abbess abbey abbot 
abbreviate abbreviation ABC abdicate abdication abdomen abdominal abduct 
abduction abeam abed aberrant aberration abet abeyance abhor abhorrence 
abhorrent abide abiding ability abject abjure ablaze able able-bodied ABM 
abnegation abnormal abnormality aboard abode abolish abolition abolitionist 
A-bomb abominable abominate abomination aboriginal aborigine abort abortion 
abortionist abortive abound about about-face above aboveboard abracadabra 
abrade Abraham abrasion abrasive abreast abridge abridgment abroad abrogate 
abrogation abrupt abscess abscond absence absent absentee absenteeism 
absent-minded absinthe absolute absolute zero absolution absolutism absolve 
absorb absorbency absorbent absorbing absorption abstain abstemious 
abstention abstinence abstinent abstract abstracted abstraction abstruse 
absurd absurdity abundance abundant abuse abusive abut abutment abysmal 
abyss AC acacia academia academic academician academy a cappella accede 
accelerate acceleration accelerator accent accentuate accentuation accept 
acceptability acceptable acceptance access accessibility accessible 
accession.


\floatingBox{tr}{2\columnwidth + 1\columnsep}{
\begin{multicols}{2}
A box that spans 2 columns and should be floating on top of the page with 
the text wrapping around it.  It's aligned to the right, so it would be 
exactly above 2 entire columns, with one column to its left.
\end{multicols}
}


Accessory accident accidental accident-prone acclaim acclamation acclimate 
acclimation acclimatization acclimatize accolade accommodate accommodating 
accommodation accompaniment accompanist accompany accomplice accomplish 
accomplished accomplishment accord accordance accordingly according to 
accordion accost account accountability accountable accountant accounting 
accouterments accredit accreditation accrue accumulate accumulation 
accumulative accuracy accurate accursed accusation accusative accusatory 
accuse accused accusingly accustom accustomed ace acerbic acerbity 
acetaminophen acetate acetic acid acetone acetylene ache achievable achieve 
achievement.

\end{multicols}
\end{document}

Answer 1

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1241508/latex-multicol-figure

I had a similar problem. The minipage was about the best idea I have heard.

It can also be done with wrapfig, but it takes a lot of adjusting, but it is possible:

Using wrapfig to span multiple columns

Wrapfig can't automatically make matching cutouts in adjacent columns
because it doesn't know which text will land in just the right place
in the column next-door.  It certainly can't handle floating in such
situations!  

Here are some methods for doing such layout "by hand".  They are
practical for one or a few such figures where you can tweak the
layout for the final copy.  It is too painful to do this for long 
or frequently-revised documents.  If you do have multiple fiddling, 
fix the first one in each chapter (or after any forced page break), 
rerun, then fix the second, etc.

(These examples use calc.sty to evaluate overhangs in place.)

Cutouts in Matching Columns

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Y
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                    ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Initially, write the document without the wrapfigure, and locate the
desired natural linebreak at "X".  (This first step is used for all
methods described here.)  Then change to

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[.5\width+.5\columnsep]{6cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....

and run LaTeX again. This will print the figure overlapping the right
column, but no matter. Use this run to locate position "Y" in the text.
For the final run, switch to: 

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[.5\width+.5\columnsep]{6cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....
...~~~~~~~Y
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{l}[.5\width+.5\columnsep]{6cm}
\vfill
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~~~~~~~~


Taking a whole column plus a cutout

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Y
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Locate "X" first, without any figure, as above, then write the 
document like:

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[\columnwidth+\columnsep]{9cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....

and ignore the overprinting of the right column.  Then, after locating
"Y" in the text, switch to:

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[\columnwidth+\columnsep]{9cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....
...~~~~~~~Y\vspace{6\baselinskip}
~~~~~~~~~~~
for the final layout 


a whole column preceding a cutout

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Y
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
                             ~~~~~~~~~  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After locating "X", write the draft document like:

~~~~~~~~X\vspace{6\baselinskip}
~~~~....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~

run LaTeX to locate "Y", and then switch to:

~~~~~~~~X\vspace{6\baselinskip}
~~~~....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Y
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{l}[\columnwidth+\columnsep]{9cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~~~~~~

Spanning (parts of) three columns

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Y  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Z
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This uses a combination of the above.  First locate X, then use

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[.5\width+.5\columnwidth+\columnsep]{12cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....

Locate Y from this, and change to

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[.5\width+.5\columnwidth+\columnsep]{12cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....
~~~~~~~~~~~~Y\vspace{6\baselineskip}
~~~~~~~....

which allows you to locate Z, to end up with 

~~~~~~~~X
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{r}[.5\width+.5\columnwidth+\columnsep]{12cm}
...
\end{wrapfigure}
~~~~....
~~~~~~~~~~~~Y\vspace{6\baselineskip}
~~~~~~~....
~~~~~~~~~~~~Z
\begin{wrapfigure}[6]{l}[.5\width+.5\columnwidth+\columnsep]{12cm}
\vfill
\end{wrapfigure}




(Of course, to do matching cut-outs properly requires typesetting
the text to a grid.)

That is from the wrapfig documentation. Good luck.

Answer 2

It is my experience that such layout (figure spanning more than one, but not all of the columns on the page) is difficult to obtain with latex.

The best solution that I'm aware of is the flowfram package. The package lets you define the page layout (where should certain boxes be placed) before writing the contents of the document.

A small code example is given below. It is a restructuring of the poster example that comes with the flowfram package.

\documentclass[a4wide]{article}

\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{helvet}
\usepackage{flowfram}

\setlength{\columnsep}{0.3cm}

% Base the page layout on 3 column with static header.
\NcolumnStop{3}{1 cm}
% give the static frame a label to make it easier to keep track of
\setstaticframe{\value{maxstatic}}{label={title},backcolor=[cmyk]{0.64,0,0.95,0.40},textcolor=white}

% On the first page, replace last two columns with
% 2 columns and a static above
\setflowframe{2,3}{pages={>1}}

\computeflowframearea{2,3}
\twocolumnStopinarea[1]{0.3\ffareaheight}{\ffareawidth}{\ffareaheight}{\ffareax}{\ffareay}
\setstaticframe{\value{maxstatic}}{label={info},backcolor=[cmyk]{0.26,0,0.76,0},clear}

\setallflowframes{backcolor=[cmyk]{0.15,0,0.69,0}}

\raggedright
\setlength{\parindent}{15pt}

\begin{document}
\begin{staticcontents*}{title}
\begin{center}
\bfseries\Large Creating stuff in \LaTeX\par
\end{center}
\end{staticcontents*}

\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{staticcontents*}{info}
\begin{staticfigure}

The {flowfram} package is designed to enable you to create
frames in a document such that the 
contents of the {document} environment flow from one 
frame to the next in the order that they were defined.  
This is useful for creating posters
or magazines or any other form of document that does not 
conform to the standard one or two column layout.

\vfill

\caption{The commands used to define the frames for this document g.}
\protect\label{fig:thisdoc}
\end{staticfigure}
\end{staticcontents*}

This is a modified version of the manual for the {flowfram} 
package.  It is intended to illustrated what can be done. See the 
full manual (ffuserguide.pdf) for
a comprehensive description, as this may now be out of date. 
The commands used to define the frames for
this document are shown in Figure~\ref{fig:thisdoc}.
If the columns are very narrow, it may be better to
use {raggedright}, otherwise \TeX\ may have a
problem working out the line breaks.

\section{Introduction}

The {flowfram} package is designed to enable you to create
frames in a document such that the 
contents of the {document} environment flow from one 
frame to the next in the order that they were defined.  
This is useful for creating posters
or magazines or any other form of document that does not 
conform to the standard one or two column layout.

\section{Setting up Frames}

The {flowfram} package provides three types of frame:
{flow frames}, {static 
frames} and {dynamic frames}.

\subsection{Flow Frames}

The flow frame is the principle type of frame.
The text of the {document} environment will flow from 
one frame to the next in order of definition. Each 
flow frame has an associated width, height, 
position on the page, and optionally a border.

It is recommended that all the flow frames in a document
have the same width, otherwise problems may occur
when a paragraph spans to flow frames of unequal
widths. This is because \TeX's output routine does not
register the change in {hsize} until it reaches
a paragraph break. If it is absolutely necessary for 
flow frames to have unequal widths, judicious use of
{framebreak} is required.


\end{document}