line-height

Property

line-height

Values

normal, <number>, <length>, <percentage>

Initial

normal

Inherited

yes

The property sets the distance between two adjacent lines' baselines.

When a numerical value is specified, the line height is given by the font size of the current element multiplied with the numerical value. This differs from a percentage value in the way it inherits: when a numerical value is specified, child elements will inherit the factor itself, not the resultant value (as is the case with percentage and other units).

Negative values are not allowed.

The three rules in the example below have the same resultant line height:

      DIV { line-height: 1.2; font-size: 10pt }     /* number */
      DIV { line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 10pt }   /* length */
      DIV { line-height: 120%; font-size: 10pt }    /* percentage */

A value of 'normal' sets the 'line-height' to a reasonable value for the element's font. It is suggested that UAs set the 'normal' value to be a number in the range of 1.0 to 1.2.