Padding, Borders, Outlines, and Margins in CSS

The ability to apply margins, borders, and padding to any web page element is one of the things that sets CSS so far above traditional markup. With this practical guide, you will not only learn how to use these properties to lay out your document, but also how to change and control the appearance of any element on the page.

Short and sweet, this short book is an excerpt from the upcoming fourth edition of CSS: The Definitive Guide. When you purchase either the print or the ebook edition of Padding, Borders, Outlines, and Margins in CSS, you’ll receive a discount on the entire Definitive Guide once it’s released. Why wait? Learn how to bring life to your web pages now.

• Understand the CSS box model, including the way different properties relate to one another
• Use tricks for defining padding values, including inline element padding
• Explore border width, style, and color, plus the use of border images
• Learn how to use outlines: presentational elements that won’t affect layout
• Dive into the use of margins, including the way top and bottom margins collapse

Eric A. Meyer is the author of the critically acclaimed online tutorial Introduction to HTML, as well as some other semi-popular Web pages. He is a member of the CSS&FP Working Group and the author of Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide.