The CSS reference

"padding" - css property (v. css 1)

  • The 'padding' property is a shorthand property for setting 'padding-top' , 'padding-right' , 'padding-bottom' and 'padding-left' at the same place in the style sheet.
  • If four values are specified they apply to top, right, bottom and left respectively.
  • If there is only one value, it applies to all sides.
  • If there are two or three, the missing values are taken from the opposite side.
  • Initial value: See individual properties
  • The property is not inherited
  • HTML usage: All elements except table-row-group, table-header-group, table-footer-group, table-row, table-column-group and table-column
  • Browsers that support the padding - property :
    Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Opera Google Chrome Apple Safari

How width, height, margin, border and padding properties relates to each other:


Possible padding values:

padding value Comments CSS
length With this you specify a positive value followed with a unit identifier (it cannot be negative as for the margin). 1
percentage With this you specify a value with a percentage. It refer to width of containing block. 1
inherit Will inherit the value from parent specification. This property value is new with CSS 2. 2

Possible unit identifier:

unit identifier Comments CSS
em The relative unit 'em' is relative to the font size of the element itself. 1
ex The relative unit 'ex' is relative to the font size of the element itself. 1
px Pixels, relative to the viewing device 1
in inches -> 1 inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. 1
cm centimeters. 1
mm millimeters. 1
pt points -> the points used by CSS2 are equal to 1/72th of an inch. 1
pc picas -> 1 pica is equal to 12 points. 1

Property "padding" example:

<!DOCTYPE HTML >
<html  >
  <head>
    <title>Test</title>
    <style type="text/css">
      .presentation {
        border-color: #aad5ff;
        border-style: solid;    }
      table.presentation {
        border-width: 0 0 1px 1px;
        width: 500px;   }
      th.presentation, td.presentation {
        border-width: 1px 1px 0 0;
        padding: 4px 4px 4px 4px;      }
      th.presentation { background-color: #D4FFAA;}
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <table class='presentation'  border='0'
           cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' >
      <tr>
        <th class='presentation' style="width: 22%">Values</th>
        <th class='presentation'>Comments</th>
        <th class='presentation'>CSS</th>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td class='presentation'>thin, medium or thick</td>
        <td class='presentation'>The width of the keyword
          values are UA dependent,
          but the following holds: <b>'thin' <= 'medium'
            <= 'thick'</b>. </td>
        <td class='presentation'>1</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td class='presentation'>length</td>
        <td class='presentation'>With this you specify a
          value with a <b>unit identifier</b>. </td>
        <td class='presentation'>1</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td class='presentation'>inherit</td>
        <td class='presentation'>Will inherit the value from
          parent specification. This property value is new
          with CSS 2.</td>
        <td class='presentation'>2</td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </body>
</html>

Javascript access:

// To SET values ([o] is the target object)
[o].style.padding="padding values"
// You can not retrieve values through this property
// To get values, look at each of the padding properties.
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