CSS Margins
Margins are used to create
space around elements, outside of any defined borders.
This
element has a margin of 70px.
CSS Margins
The CSS margin properties are used to create space around elements, outside
of any defined borders.
With CSS, you have full
control over the margins. There are properties for setting the margin for each
side of an element (top, right, bottom, and left).
Margin - Individual Sides
CSS has properties for
specifying the margin for each side of an element:
- margin-top
- margin-right
- margin-bottom
- margin-left
All the margin properties
can have the following values:
- auto
- the browser calculates the margin
- length -
specifies a margin in px, pt, cm, etc.
- % -
specifies a margin in % of the width of the containing element
- inherit
- specifies that the margin should be inherited from the parent element
Tip: Negative
values are allowed.
Example
Set
different margins for all four sides of a <p> element:
p {
margin-top: 100px;
margin-bottom: 100px;
margin-right: 150px;
margin-left: 80px;
}
Margin - Shorthand Property
To shorten the code, it is
possible to specify all the margin properties in one property.
The margin property is a shorthand property for the following
individual margin properties:
- margin-top
- margin-right
- margin-bottom
- margin-left
So, here is how it works:
If the margin property has four values:
- margin:
25px 50px 75px 100px;
- top
margin is 25px
- right
margin is 50px
- bottom
margin is 75px
- left
margin is 100px
Example
Use the
margin shorthand property with four values:
p {
margin: 25px 50px 75px 100px;
}
If the margin property has three values:
- margin:
25px 50px 75px;
- top
margin is 25px
- right
and left margins are 50px
- bottom
margin is 75px
Example
Use the
margin shorthand property with three values:
p {
margin: 25px 50px 75px;
}
If the margin property has two values:
- margin:
25px 50px;
- top
and bottom margins are 25px
- right
and left margins are 50px
Example
Use the
margin shorthand property with two values:
p {
margin: 25px 50px;
}
If the margin property has one value:
- margin:
25px;
- all
four margins are 25px
Example
Use the
margin shorthand property with one value:
p {
margin: 25px;
}
The auto Value
You can set the margin property
to auto to horizontally
center the element within its container.
The element will then take
up the specified width, and the remaining space will be split equally between
the left and right margins.
Example
Use
margin: auto:
div {
width: 300px;
margin: auto;
border: 1px solid red;
}
The inherit Value
This example lets the left
margin of the <p class="ex1"> element be inherited from the
parent element (<div>):
Example
Use of
the inherit value:
div {
border: 1px solid red;
margin-left: 100px;
}
p.ex1 {
margin-left: inherit;
}
All CSS Margin Properties
|
Property |
Description |
|
margin |
A shorthand property for
setting all the margin properties in one declaration |
|
margin-bottom |
Sets the bottom margin of
an element |
|
margin-left |
Sets the left margin of
an element |
|
margin-right |
Sets the right margin of
an element |
|
margin-top |
Sets the top margin of an
element |
CSS Margin
Collapse
Sometimes two margins
collapse into a single margin.
Margin Collapse
Top and bottom margins of
elements are sometimes collapsed into a single margin that is equal to the
largest of the two margins.
This does not happen on
left and right margins! Only top and bottom margins!
Look at the following
example:
Example
Demonstration
of margin collapse:
h1 {
margin: 0 0 50px 0;
}
h2 {
margin: 20px 0 0 0;
}
In the example above, the
<h1> element has a bottom margin of 50px and the <h2> element has a
top margin set to 20px.
Common sense would seem to
suggest that the vertical margin between the <h1> and the <h2>
would be a total of 70px (50px + 20px). But due to margin collapse, the actual
margin ends up being 50px.
All CSS Margin Properties
|
Property |
Description |
|
margin |
A shorthand property for
setting all the margin properties in one declaration |
|
margin-bottom |
Sets the bottom margin of
an element |
|
margin-left |
Sets the left margin of
an element |
|
margin-right |
Sets the right margin of
an element |
|
margin-top |
Sets the top margin of an
element |
