TEXT FORMATTING

This text is styled with some of the text formatting properties. The heading uses the text-align, text-transform, and color properties. The paragraph is indented, aligned, and the space between characters is specified.

Text Color

The color property is used to set the color of the text.
With CSS, a color is most often specified by:
  • a HEX value - like "#ff0000"
  • an RGB value - like "rgb(255,0,0)"
  • a color name - like "red"
Look at CSS Color Values for a complete list of possible color values.
The default color for a page is defined in the body selector.

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
body {color:red;}
h1 {color:#00ff00;}
p.ex {color:rgb(0,0,255);}
</style>
</head>

<body>
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<p>This is an ordinary paragraph. Notice that this text is red. The default text-color for a page is defined in the body selector.</p>
<p class="ex">This is a paragraph with class="ex". This text is blue.</p>
</body>
</html>

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Result:

This is heading 1

This is an ordinary paragraph. Notice that this text is red. The default text-color for a page is defined in the body selector.
This is a paragraph with class="ex". This text is blue.


Remark For compliant CSS: If you define the color property, you must also define the background-color property.

Text Alignment

The text-align property is used to set the horizontal alignment of a text.
Text can be centered, or aligned to the left or right, or justified.
When text-align is set to "justify", each line is stretched so that every line has equal width, and the left and right margins are straight (like in magazines and newspapers).

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
h1 {text-align:center;}
p.date {text-align:right;}
p.main {text-align:justify;}
</style>
</head>

<body>
<h1>CSS text-align Example</h1>
<p class="date">May, 2009</p>
<p class="main">In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 
'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'</p>
<p><b>Note:</b> Resize the browser window to see how the value "justify" works.</p>
</body>

</html>

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Result:

CSS text-align Example

May, 2009
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'
Note: Resize the browser window to see how the value "justify" works


Text Decoration

The text-decoration property is used to set or remove decorations from text.
The text-decoration property is mostly used to remove underlines from links for design purposes:

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a {text-decoration:none;}
</style>
</head>

<body>
<p>Link to: <a href="http://www.amaderit.com.com">Amader IT</a></p>
</body>

</html>

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Result:
Link to: Amader IT

It can also be used to decorate text:

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
h1 {text-decoration:overline;}
h2 {text-decoration:line-through;}
h3 {text-decoration:underline;}
h4 {text-decoration:blink;}
</style>
</head>

<body>
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<h3>This is heading 3</h3>
<h4>This is heading 4</h4>
<p><b>Note:</b> The "blink" value is not supported in IE, Chrome, or Safari.</p>
</body>

</html>

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Result:

This is heading 1

This is heading 2

This is heading 3

This is heading 4

Note: The "blink" value is not supported in IE, Chrome, or Safari.


Remark It is not recommended to underline text that is not a link, as this often confuses users.

Text Transformation

The text-transform property is used to specify uppercase and lowercase letters in a text.
It can be used to turn everything into uppercase or lowercase letters, or capitalize the first letter of each word.

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p.uppercase {text-transform:uppercase;}
p.lowercase {text-transform:lowercase;}
p.capitalize {text-transform:capitalize;}
</style>
</head>

<body>
<p class="uppercase">This is some text.</p>
<p class="lowercase">This is some text.</p>
<p class="capitalize">This is some text.</p>
</body>
</html>

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Result:

THIS IS SOME TEXT.
this is some text.
This Is Some Text.


Text Indentation

The text-indentation property is used to specify the indentation of the first line of a text.

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p {text-indent:50px;}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<p>In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'</p>

</body>
</html>

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Result:
                  In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'

More Examples

Specify the space between characters
This example demonstrates how to increase or decrease the space between characters.
Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
h1 {letter-spacing:2px;}
h2 {letter-spacing:-3px;}
</style>
</head>


<body>
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
</body>
</html>

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Result:

This is heading 1

This is heading 2

Specify the space between lines
This example demonstrates how to specify the space between the lines in a paragraph.

Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p.small {line-height:70%;}
p.big {line-height:200%;}
</style>
</head>


<body>
<p>
This is a paragraph with a standard line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a standard line-height.<br />
The default line height in most browsers is about 110% to 120%.<br />
</p>


<p class="small">
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.<br />
</p>


<p class="big">
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.<br />
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.<br />
</p>


</body>
</html>

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Result:
This is a paragraph with a standard line-height.
This is a paragraph with a standard line-height.
The default line height in most browsers is about 110% to 120%.
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.
This is a paragraph with a smaller line-height.
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.
This is a paragraph with a bigger line-height.

Set the text direction of an element
This example demonstrates how to change the text direction of an element.
Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
div.ex1 {direction:rtl;}
</style>
</head>
<body>


<div>Some text. Default writing direction.</div>
<div class="ex1">Some text. Right-to-left direction.</div>


</body>
</html>

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Result:
Some text. Default writing direction.
Some text. Right-to-left direction

Increase the white space between words
This example demonstrates how to increase the white space between words in a paragraph.
Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p

word-spacing:30px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>


<p>
This is some text. This is some text.
</p>


</body>
</html>

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Result:
This is some text. This is some text.

Disable text wrapping inside an element
This example demonstrates how to disable text wrapping inside an element.
Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p
{
white-space:nowrap;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>


<p>
This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
This is some text. This is some text. This is some text.
</p>


</body>
</html>

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Vertical alignment of an image
This example demonstrates how to set the vertical align of an image in a text.
Example

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
img.top {vertical-align:text-top;}
img.bottom {vertical-align:text-bottom;}
</style>
</head>


<body>
<p>An <img src="your_image.gif" alt=" your_image " width="270" height="50" /> image with a default alignment.</p> 
<p>An <img class="top" src=" your_image .gif" alt=" your_image " width="270" height="50" /> image with a text-top alignment.</p> 
<p>An <img class="bottom" src=" your_image .gif" alt=" your_image " width="270" height="50" /> image with a text-bottom alignment.</p>
</body>
</html>

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All CSS Text Properties

PropertyDescription
colorSets the color of text
directionSpecifies the text direction/writing direction
letter-spacingIncreases or decreases the space between characters in a text
line-heightSets the line height
text-alignSpecifies the horizontal alignment of text
text-decorationSpecifies the decoration added to text
text-indentSpecifies the indentation of the first line in a text-block
text-shadowSpecifies the shadow effect added to text
text-transformControls the capitalization of text
unicode-bidi
vertical-alignSets the vertical alignment of an element
white-spaceSpecifies how white-space inside an element is handled
word-spacingIncreases or decreases the space between words in a text

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