The CSS padding properties define the space between the element border and the element content.
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.
Value | Description |
---|---|
length | Defines a fixed padding (in pixels, pt, em, etc.) |
% | Defines a padding in % of the containing element |
In CSS, it is possible to specify different padding for different sides:
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":
The padding property can have from one to four values.
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.
Property | Description |
---|---|
padding | A shorthand property for setting all the padding properties in one declaration |
padding-bottom | Sets the bottom padding of an element |
padding-left | Sets the left padding of an element |
padding-right | Sets the right padding of an element |
padding-top | Sets the top padding of an element |