Specifying fonts in Web pages

5.2.6 'font-size'

Value: <absolute-size> | <relative-size> | <length> | <percentage>
Initial: medium
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: yes
Percentage values: relative to parent element's font size
Microsoft^® Internet Explorer 3.0 support: partial.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 support: yes.

<absolute-size>: An <absolute-size> keyword is an index to a table of font sizes computed and kept by the UA. Possible values are: [ xx-small | x-small | small | medium | large | x-large | xx-large ]. On a computer screen a scaling factor of 1.5 is suggested between adjacent indexes; if the 'medium' font is 10pt, the 'large' font could be 15pt. Different media may need different scaling factors. Also, the UA should take the quality and availability of fonts into account when computing the table. The table may be different from one font family to another.
<relative-size>: A <relative-size> keyword is interpreted relative to the table of font sizes and the font size of the parent element. Possible values are: [ larger | smaller ]. For example, if the parent element has a font size of 'medium', a value of 'larger' will make the font size of the current element be 'large'. If the parent element's size is not close to a table entry, the UA is free to interpolate between table entries or round off to the closest one. The UA may have to extrapolate table values if the numerical value goes beyond the keywords.

Length and percentage values should not take the font size table into account when calculating the font size of the element.

Negative values are not allowed.

On all other properties, 'em' and 'ex' length values refer to the font size of the current element. On the 'font-size' property, these length units refer to the font size of the parent element.

Note that an application may reinterpret an explicit size, depending on the context. E.g., inside a VR scene a font may get a different size because of perspective distortion.

Examples:

P { font-size: 12pt; }
BLOCKQUOTE { font-size: larger }
EM { font-size: 150% }
EM { font-size: 1.5em }

If the suggested scaling factor of 1.5 is used, the last three declarations are identical.

Dark blue text is taken from Cascading Style Sheets, level 1. W3C Recommendation 17 December 1996 - http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TR/REC-CSS1

this text [ext link] signifies an external link, please read our disclaimer.

this page was last updated 30 June 1997
© 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
comments to the MST group: how to contact us



	Microsoft Typography \| Typography on the Web \| Specifying fonts... \| 5.2.6 'font-size'

		5.2.6 'font-size' Value: <absolute-size> \| <relative-size> \| <length> \| <percentage> Initial: medium Applies to: all elements Inherited: yes Percentage values: relative to parent element's font size Microsoft^® Internet Explorer 3.0 support: partial. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 support: yes. <absolute-size> An <absolute-size> keyword is an index to a table of font sizes computed and kept by the UA. Possible values are: [ xx-small \| x-small \| small \| medium \| large \| x-large \| xx-large ]. On a computer screen a scaling factor of 1.5 is suggested between adjacent indexes; if the 'medium' font is 10pt, the 'large' font could be 15pt. Different media may need different scaling factors. Also, the UA should take the quality and availability of fonts into account when computing the table. The table may be different from one font family to another. <relative-size> A <relative-size> keyword is interpreted relative to the table of font sizes and the font size of the parent element. Possible values are: [ larger \| smaller ]. For example, if the parent element has a font size of 'medium', a value of 'larger' will make the font size of the current element be 'large'. If the parent element's size is not close to a table entry, the UA is free to interpolate between table entries or round off to the closest one. The UA may have to extrapolate table values if the numerical value goes beyond the keywords. Length and percentage values should not take the font size table into account when calculating the font size of the element. Negative values are not allowed. On all other properties, 'em' and 'ex' length values refer to the font size of the current element. On the 'font-size' property, these length units refer to the font size of the parent element. Note that an application may reinterpret an explicit size, depending on the context. E.g., inside a VR scene a font may get a different size because of perspective distortion. Examples: P { font-size: 12pt; } BLOCKQUOTE { font-size: larger } EM { font-size: 150% } EM { font-size: 1.5em } If the suggested scaling factor of 1.5 is used, the last three declarations are identical. Dark blue text is taken from Cascading Style Sheets, level 1. W3C Recommendation 17 December 1996 - http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TR/REC-CSS1 this text [ext link] signifies an external link, please read our disclaimer. this page was last updated 30 June 1997 © 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of use. comments to the MST group: how to contact us


	Microsoft Typography \| Typography on the Web \| Specifying fonts... \| 5.2.6 'font-size'