CSS graphic

Web Reference

CSS Reference

Style

Values

Example

Notes

Type Properties

color

Basic colors (red, blue) or Hexadecimal

{color: #12AD4F;}

 

font-family

Any standard font typeface(s). Separate multiple fonts with commas.

{font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;}

Fonts must be on the users computer to work. Common fonts include Helvetica, Arial, Times, Verdana, Georgia, Trebuchet, Tahoma, Lucida, Palatino, Courier and Comic Sans.

font-size

Pixels (px), "ems" (em), picas (), inches (in), centimeters (cm), and...

{font-size: 12px;}

or

{font-size: .8em;}

"ems" are recommend for accessibility compliance.

font-style

"italic", "oblique" or "normal"

{font-style: italic;}

In most cases, oblique acts as a "forced" pseudo-italics.

font-weight

"bold", "bolder", "lighter", "normal", or a number from 100–900 (900 being boldest).

{font-weight: bold;}

Not all browsers recognize the number scale, or even "bolder" or "lighter". Stick with "bold".

font-variant

"small-caps" or "normal"

{font-variant: small-caps;}

Small caps are applied to lowercase letters. If you type a word in caps and apply this style there will be no effect. Not all browsers will display small caps.

line-height

Any standard measurement (see "font-size" above).

{line-height: 18px;}

Same thing as "leading": the space between horizontal lines of text.

text-decoration

"underline", "overline", "line-through", "blink", and "none"

{text-decoration: underline overline;}

Multiple decorations can be used—separate with a space.

Don't use blink.

text-transform

"capitalize", "uppercase", "lowercase", "none".

{text-transform: uppercase;}

"Capitalize" capitalizes the first letter in each word. "Uppercase" effects all of the letters.

Backgrounds

background-color

Basic colors (red, blue) or Hexadecimal

{background-color: #000000;}

 

background-image

"url(file name)"

{background-image: url(ducky.jpg);}

{background-image: url(images/birds/ducky.jpg);}

 

background-repeat

"repeat", "repeat-x", "repeat-y", or "no-repeat"

{background-repeat: repeat-x;}

"x" is horizontal, "y" is vertical, "repeat" tiles the image.

background-attachment

"fixed" or "scroll"

background-attachment: fixed;

A fixed background will not move when the page scrolls; obviously if you choose "scroll" the background will move with the page as you scroll (backgrounds scroll by default).

background-position

"left", "center" or "right" for horizontal; "top", "middle", or "bottom" for vertical, or a set of numeric values.

{background-position: top right}

or

{background-position: 0px 23px;}

When using numbers, the first number is distance from the top of the page, the second is distance from the left edge.

"Block Level" Properties

letter-spacing

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{letter-spacing: 3px;}

Same thing as "tracking."

word-spacing

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{word-spacing: 10px;}

The space between words.

vertical-align

"baseline", "sub", "super", "top", "text-top", "middle", "bottom", "text-bottom" or a value.

{vertical-align: top;}

 

text-align

"left", "center", "right", or "justify"

{text-align: right;}

 

text-indent

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{text-indent: 12px;}

Indents the first line of a paragraph.

"Box" Properties

width

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{width:300px;}

 

When applied to the <body> tag, width fixes the width of the entire page. Elements on the page will wrap.

height

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{height:300px;}

It's usually not necessary (or recommended) to set heights for elements.

Float

"left," "right," or "none."

{float:left;}

 

Clear

"left," "right," "both" or "none."

{clear:left;}

 

margin (or)

margin-top,

margin-right,

margin-bottom,

margin-left

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{margin:0;}

or

{margin-top:0; margin-right:12px; margin-bottom:6px; margin-left:18px;}

Or to save typing, you could write:

{margin: 0 12px 6px 18px;}

padding (or)

padding-top,

padding-right,

padding-bottom,

padding-left

Any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

{padding:0;}

or

{padding-top:0; padding-right:12px; padding-bottom:6px; padding-left:18px;}

Or to save typing, you could write:

{padding: 0 12px 6px 18px;}

Borders

border-style (or)

border-top-style,

border-right- style, etc.

"solid", "dotted", "dashed", "double", "groove", "inset", "outset", "ridge", "none".

{border-style: solid;

or

{border-top-style:solid; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: solid; boder-left-style: none;

Borders must have a specified border-style in order to be visible.

border-width (or)

border-top-width,

border-right- width, etc.

"thin", "medium", "thick" or any measurement. Pixels (px) and "ems" (em) are best.

 

border-width: 4px;

or

border-top-width:2px; border-right-width: 4px; border-bottom-width: 9px; boder-left-width: 7px;

 

border-color (or)

border-top-color,

border-right- color, etc.

Basic colors (red, blue) or Hexadecimal

border-color: red;}

or

border-top-color: #FF0000; border-right-color: #00FF00; border-bottom-color: #0000FF; border-left-color: #000000;}