[OS X TeX] Float Placement

[Richard J Benish]

I have a float (a pdf figure) that takes up about two thirds of the 
height of a two column page. When I place it in the desired column, 
however, text above and below the float disappears, leaving a lot of 
unwanted blank space.

In the "LaTeX Companion" I see that commands such as \intextsep may 
correct the problem, but I don't find any specific examples, so it's 
not clear exactly what to enter and where. The commands that result 
in the behavior described above are as follows:


\begin{figure}[htbp]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.48\textwidth]{RelSimGPS-Box-1-May-16-08.pdf}
\label{default}
\end{center}
\end{figure}


Any suggestions as to exactly how to use the \intextsep command or 
others to fix this problem?

Muchas Gracias.

Richard Benish