Blog : CSS Padding

CSS Padding

The CSS padding properties define the space between the element border and the element content.

Padding

The padding clears an area around the content (inside the border) of an element. The padding is affected by the background color of the element.

The top, right, bottom, and left padding can be changed independently using separate properties. A shorthand padding property can also be used, to change all paddings at once.

Possible Values

Value Description
length Defines a fixed padding (in pixels, pt, em, etc.)
% Defines a padding in % of the containing element

Padding - Individual sides

In CSS, it is possible to specify different padding for different sides:

Example

padding-top:25px;
padding-bottom:25px;
padding-right:50px;
padding-left:50px;


Padding - Shorthand property

To shorten the code, it is possible to specify all the padding properties in one property. This is called a shorthand property.

The shorthand property for all the padding properties is "padding":

Example

padding:25px 50px;

The padding property can have from one to four values.

  • padding:25px 50px 75px 100px;
    • top padding is 25px
    • right padding is 50px
    • bottom padding is 75px
    • left padding is 100px
  • padding:25px 50px 75px;
    • top padding is 25px
    • right and left paddings are 50px
    • bottom padding is 75px
  • padding:25px 50px;
    • top and bottom paddings are 25px
    • right and left paddings are 50px
  • padding:25px;
    • all four paddings are 25px

More Examples

All the padding properties in one declaration
This example demonstrates a shorthand property for setting all of the padding properties in one declaration, can have from one to four values.

Set the left padding
This example demonstrates how to set the left padding of a p element.

Set the right padding
This example demonstrates how to set the right padding of a p element.

Set the top padding
This example demonstrates how to set the top padding of a p element.

Set the bottom padding
This example demonstrates how to set the bottom padding of a p element.

All CSS Padding Properties

The number in the "CSS" column indicates in which CSS version the property is defined (CSS1 or CSS2).

Property Description Values CSS
padding A shorthand property for setting all the padding properties in one declaration padding-top
padding-right
padding-bottom
padding-left		 1
padding-bottom Sets the bottom padding of an element length
%		 1
padding-left Sets the left padding of an element length
%		 1
padding-right Sets the right padding of an element length
%		 1
padding-top Sets the top padding of an element length
%		 1