diff --git a/collects/scriblib/figure.css b/collects/scriblib/figure.css
index 5978f66b..1b28242b 100644
--- a/collects/scriblib/figure.css
+++ b/collects/scriblib/figure.css
@@ -1,9 +1,20 @@
 
+.Centertext {
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
 .Centerfigure, .CenterfigureMulti, .centerfigureMultiWide, .Herefigure {
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+.Leftfigure, .LeftfigureMulti, .leftfigureMultiWide {
+  text-align: left;
+}
+
+.Figure {
   margin: 1em 0 1em 0;
   width: 100%;
   border: 1px solid #1818FF;
-  text-align: center;
 }
 
 .CenterfigureMultiWide {
diff --git a/collects/scriblib/figure.rkt b/collects/scriblib/figure.rkt
index 589bf75f..a30dd1c4 100644
--- a/collects/scriblib/figure.rkt
+++ b/collects/scriblib/figure.rkt
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@
          figure-here
          Figure-target 
          Figure-ref
-         figure-ref)
+         figure-ref
+         (rename-out [leftfigure-style left]
+                     [leftfiguremulti-style leftfiguremulti]
+                     [leftfiguremultiwide-style leftfiguremultiwide]))
 
 (define figure-style-extras
   (let ([abs (lambda (s)
@@ -23,32 +26,43 @@
     (list (make-css-addition (abs "figure.css"))
           (make-tex-addition (abs "figure.tex")))))
 
-(define centerfigure-style (make-style "Centerfigure" figure-style-extras))
 (define herefigure-style  (make-style "Herefigure" figure-style-extras))
 (define figureinside-style (make-style "FigureInside" figure-style-extras))
 (define legend-style (make-style "Legend" figure-style-extras))
+
+(define centertext-style (make-style "Centertext" figure-style-extras))
+(define figure-style (make-style "Figure" figure-style-extras))
+
+(define centerfigure-style (make-style "Centerfigure" figure-style-extras))
 (define centerfiguremulti-style (make-style "CenterfigureMulti" figure-style-extras))
 (define centerfiguremultiwide-style (make-style "CenterfigureMultiWide" figure-style-extras))
 
-(define (figure tag caption . content)
-  (apply figure-helper centerfigure-style tag caption content))
+(define leftfigure-style (make-style "Leftfigure" figure-style-extras))
+(define leftfiguremulti-style (make-style "LeftfigureMulti" figure-style-extras))
+(define leftfiguremultiwide-style (make-style "LeftfigureMultiWide" figure-style-extras))
+
+(define (figure tag caption #:style [style centerfigure-style] . content)
+  (apply figure-helper style tag caption content))
 (define (figure-here tag caption . content)
   (apply figure-helper herefigure-style tag caption content))
 (define (figure-helper style tag caption . content)
-  (make-nested-flow
-   style
+  (make-nested-flow 
+   figure-style 
    (list
     (make-nested-flow
-     figureinside-style
-     (append
-      (decode-flow content)
-      (list
-       (make-paragraph
-        plain
-        (list
-         (make-element legend-style
-                       (list (Figure-target tag) ": " 
-                             caption))))))))))
+     style
+     (list
+      (make-nested-flow
+       figureinside-style
+       (append
+        (decode-flow content)
+        (list)))))
+    (make-paragraph 
+     centertext-style 
+     (list
+      (make-element legend-style
+                    (list (Figure-target tag) ": " 
+                          caption)))))))
 
 (define (*figure style tag caption content)
   (make-nested-flow
@@ -66,10 +80,10 @@
                        (list (Figure-target tag) ": " 
                              caption))))))))))
 
-(define (figure* tag caption . content)
-  (*figure centerfiguremulti-style tag caption content))
-(define (figure** tag caption . content)
-  (*figure centerfiguremultiwide-style tag caption content))
+(define (figure* tag caption #:style [style centerfiguremulti-style] . content)
+  (*figure style tag caption content))
+(define (figure** tag caption #:style [style centerfiguremultiwide-style] . content)
+  (*figure style tag caption content))
 
 (define figures (new-counter "figure"))
 (define (Figure-target tag)
diff --git a/collects/scriblib/figure.tex b/collects/scriblib/figure.tex
index 737ca3e7..17feceaa 100644
--- a/collects/scriblib/figure.tex
+++ b/collects/scriblib/figure.tex
@@ -14,3 +14,7 @@
 \newenvironment{Centerfigure}{\begin{figure}[t!p]\centering}{\end{figure}}
 \newenvironment{Herefigure}{\begin{figure}[ht!p]\centering}{\end{figure}}
 \newenvironment{FigureInside}{\begin{list}{}{\leftmargin=0pt\topsep=0pt\parsep=\FigOrigskip\partopsep=0pt}\item}{\end{list}}
+
+\newenvironment{LeftfigureMulti}{\begin{figure*}[t!p]}{\end{figure*}}
+\newenvironment{LeftfigureMultiWide}{\begin{leftfigureMulti}}{\end{leftfigureMulti}}
+\newenvironment{Leftfigure}{\begin{figure}[t!p]}{\end{figure}}
diff --git a/collects/scriblib/scribblings/figure.scrbl b/collects/scriblib/scribblings/figure.scrbl
index 9f8d936e..bea7b62a 100644
--- a/collects/scriblib/scribblings/figure.scrbl
+++ b/collects/scriblib/scribblings/figure.scrbl
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
 @defmodule[scriblib/figure]
 
 @deftogether[(
-@defproc[(figure [tag string?] [caption content?] [pre-flow pre-flow?] ...) block?]
-@defproc[(figure* [tag string?] [caption content?] [pre-flow pre-flow?] ...) block?]
-@defproc[(figure** [tag string?] [caption content?] [pre-flow pre-flow?] ...)
+@defproc[(figure [tag string?] [caption content?] [#:style style style?] [p pre-flow?] ...) block?]
+@defproc[(figure* [tag string?] [caption content?] [#:style style style?] [p pre-flow?] ...) block?]
+@defproc[(figure** [tag string?] [caption content?] [#:style style style?] [p pre-flow?] ...)
 block?]
 @defproc[(figure-here [tag string?] [caption content?] [pre-flow pre-flow?] ...) block?]
 )]{
@@ -30,8 +30,16 @@ generate a figure that spans columns.
 For Latex output, @racket[figure-here] generates a figure to be included at
 the position in the output text where the @racket[figure-here] occurs
 in the source text. For HTML output, all @racket[figure] variants
-place the figure where the use appears in the source text.}
+place the figure where the use appears in the source text.
 
+By default @racket[style] is set so that the content of the figure is centered. 
+For a figure that demands left-aligned text, use @racket[left]. 
+
+}
+
+@defthing[left style?]{
+Implements a style for left-aligned figures.
+}
 
 @defproc[(figure-ref [tag string?]) element?]{