CSS Padding Tutorial
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CSS Padding property is used to create a space surrounding the content of element and located in the element border like the following illustration:
You can provide 4 values for CSS padding:
/* Syntax: */ padding: padding-top padding-right padding-bottom padding-left; /* Example: */ padding: 5px 20px 30px 40px;
Instead of providing 4 values for CSS padding you can use 4 properties: CSS padding-top, padding-right, padding-bottom, padding-left.
padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 30px; padding-right: 40px;
If you provide 2 values for CSS padding, the first value is assigned to padding-top & padding-bottom, and the second value is assigned to padding-right & padding-left.
If you provide 3 values for CSS padding, the first value is assigned to padding-top, the second value is assigned to padding-right & padding-left, and the third value is assigned to padding-bottom.
CSS padding accepts specific values in px, pt, cm, ... or percent ( % ).
/* Apply to all four sides */ padding: 1em; /* vertical | horizontal */ padding: 5% 10%; /* top | horizontal | bottom */ padding: 1em 2em 2em; /* top | right | bottom | left */ padding: 5px 1em 0 2em; /* Global values */ padding: inherit; padding: initial; padding: unset;
The presence of CSS padding makes an element larger than itself without establishing CSS padding.
Please see the following example:
padding-and-width-height.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>CSS Padding</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
</head>
<body>
<h3>CSS Padding</h3>
<div style="width:200px; height:50px; border: 1px solid blue;">
width:200px; height:80px;
</div>
<br/>
<div style="width:200px; height:50px; padding: 20px; border: 1px solid red;">
width:200px; height:80px; padding: 20px;
</div>
</body>
</html>
The actual size of the element you see is calculated by the following formula:
realWidth = contentWidth + cssBorderWidthLeft + cssBorderWidthRight + cssPaddingLeft + cssPaddingRight realHeight = contentHeight + cssBorderWidthTop + cssBorderWidthBottom + cssPaddingTop + cssPaddingBottom
In case, by default contentWidth = cssWidth and contentHeight = cssHeight.
// By Default: contentWidth = cssWidth contentHeight = cssHeight
Using CSS box-sizing:border-box will not increase element size when you use CSS padding.
CSS padding accepts percentage value (%). This value is percentage compared to the width of Containing Block. Of which, the Containing Block is the nearest ancestor block-level element that contains the current element.
padding-percent-example.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>CSS Padding</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
<script>
function changeParentSize() {
var blockDiv = document.getElementById("blockDiv");
// offsetWidth = cssWidth + padding + border
var offsetWidth = blockDiv.offsetWidth;
if(offsetWidth > 300) {
offsetWidth = 200;
}
blockDiv.style.width = (offsetWidth+1) + "px";
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<h3>CSS Padding Percentage</h3>
<div id="blockDiv" style="width:200px; height: 150px; border: 1px solid blue">
I am a div (Block-Level Element)
<span style="background-color: yellow;">
I am a span (Inline Element)
<div id= "redDiv" style="width:100px; padding:10%; border:1px solid red;">
width:100px; padding:10%;
</div>
</span>
</div>
<br/>
<button onClick="changeParentSize()">Change size of 'blockDiv'</button>
</body>
</html>
- TODO Link!
