On 2010/10/20 17:04 (GMT-0700) Corona Rivera composed: > Would someone please explain why EM is usually used for the width property > instead of Pixels?
> I'm inclined to use pixels since that's the monitor's unit of measurement but > Adobe and most CSS examples I see use the M. - How come? A device px isn't necessarily the same thing as a CSS px. As a practical matter the difference isn't yet well supported by technology. Device px density covers a rather wide range today, and widening, compared to yesteryear, while a CSS px is defined in the spec without regard to device density. Of course, this correlation, or lack thereof, is of no material import in em-sized designs. Sizing in em allows browsers to do what they were designed to do, while px sizing allows web stylists to operate under the illusion that they have the same control over result as print stylists. Sizing in em allows a design's components to retain the stylist's intended proportions across a broad range of user environments, while px locks them singularly to the designer's environment and the environments of a random subset of user environments that happen to coincide with that of the stylist. One of the advantages of the web over print media is that web content can be automatically sized to the comfort and convenience of the web browser user. Sizing in px totally disregards what may be comfortable or convenient for the web browser user, operating as if the comfort and convenience of the visitor was of zero import whatsoever. Web browsers over the years have developed optional features to defend against px sizing, but they cannot do as good a job, or do it automatically, as can a browser encountering 100% user-default-based em sizing. This subject, is arguably entirely theoretical, which, if true, would be outside the scope of practical application of CSS that this list is supposed to be limited to, and likely why you'll probably see a limited number of responses. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [cs...@lists.css-discuss.org] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
