Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide

Name

line-height — IE4 P/P | IE5 P/Y | NN4 P/P | Op3 Q/-

Synopsis

This influences the layout of line boxes. The difference between the value of line-height and the value of font-size is called leading, and half of the leading (otherwise known as half-leading) is applied above and below the content of an element or line of text. Negative values are not permitted. Using a number defines a scaling factor that is multiplied by the font-size, and the number itself is inherited, not the computed value. This allows for much more intelligent page layout, and is strongly preferred over other methods of setting line-height.

The drawback to using a number value is that IE3 will interpret it as a number of pixels. See Chapter 8 for a detailed discussion of line-height and line boxes.

Example

P {line-height: 18pt;}
H2 {line-height: 200%;}

Values

normal | <number> | <length> | <percentage>

Default

normal

Inherited

yes

Applies to

all elements

Percentage values relative to the font size of the element itself