Borders in CSS

CSS Borders

 

CSS Border Properties

The CSS border properties allow us to specify the style, width, and color of an element's border.

CSS Border Style

The border-style property specifies what kind of border to display.

The following values are allowed:

• dotted - Defines a dotted border
• dashed - Defines a dashed border
• solid - Defines a solid border
• double - Defines a double border
• groove - Defines a 3D grooved border. The effect depends on the border-color value
• ridge - Defines a 3D ridged border. The effect depends on the border-color value
• inset - Defines a 3D inset border. The effect depends on the border-color value
• outset - Defines a 3D outset border. The effect depends on the border-color value
• none - Defines no border
• hidden - Defines a hidden border

The border-style property can have from one to four values (for the top border, right border, bottom border, and the left border).

Example

Demonstration of the different border styles:

p.dotted {border-style: dotted;}p.dashed {border-style: dashed;}p.solid {border-style: solid;}p.double {border-style: double;}p.groove {border-style: groove;}p.ridge {border-style: ridge;}p.inset {border-style: inset;}p.outset {border-style: outset;}p.none {border-style: none;}p.hidden {border-style: hidden;}p.mix {border-style: dotted dashed solid double;}

Note: None of the OTHER CSS border properties have ANY effect unless the border-style property is set!

 

CSS Border Width

The border-width property specifies the width of the four borders.

The width can be set as a specific size (in px, pt, cm, em, etc) or by using one of the three pre-defined values: thin, medium, or thick:

Example

Demonstration of the different border widths:

p.one {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: 5px;
}

p.two {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: medium;
}

p.three {
  border-style: dotted;
  border-width: 2px;
}

p.four {
  border-style: dotted;
  border-width: thick;
}

Specific Side Widths

The border-width property can have from one to four values (for the top border, right border, bottom border, and the left border):

Example

p.one {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: 5px 20px; /* 5px top and bottom, 20px on the sides */
}

p.two {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: 20px 5px; /* 20px top and bottom, 5px on the sides */
}

p.three {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: 25px 10px 4px 35px; /* 25px top, 10px right, 4px bottom and 35px left
}

CSS Border Color

The border-color property is used to set the color of the four borders.

The color can be set by:

• name - specify a color name, like "red"
• HEX - specify a HEX value, like "#ff0000"
• RGB - specify a RGB value, like "rgb(255,0,0)"
• HSL - specify a HSL value, like "hsl(0, 100%, 50%)"
• transparent

Note: If border-color is not set, it inherits the color of the element.

Example

Demonstration of the different border colors:

p.one {
  border-style: solid;
  border-color: red;
}

p.two {
  border-style: solid;
  border-color: green;
}

p.three {
  border-style: dotted;
  border-color: blue;
}

CSS Border Color

The border-color property is used to set the color of the four borders.

The color can be set by:

• name - specify a color name, like "red"
• HEX - specify a HEX value, like "#ff0000"
• RGB - specify a RGB value, like "rgb(255,0,0)"
• HSL - specify a HSL value, like "hsl(0, 100%, 50%)"
• transparent

Note: If border-color is not set, it inherits the color of the element.

Example

Demonstration of the different border colors:

p.one {
  border-style: solid;
  border-color: red;
}

p.two {
  border-style: solid;
  border-color: green;
}

p.three {
  border-style: dotted;
  border-color: blue;
}

CSS Shorthand Border Property

To shorten the code, it is also possible to specify all the individual border properties in one property.

The border property is a shorthand property for the following individual border properties:

• border-width
• border-style (required)
• border-color

Example

p {
  border: 5px solid red;
}

You can also specify all the individual border properties for just one side:

p {
  border-left: 6px solid red;
  background-color: lightgrey;
}

p {
  border-bottom: 6px solid red;
  background-color: lightgrey;
}

CSS Rounded Borders

The border-radius property is used to add rounded borders to an element:

p {
  border: 2px solid red;
  border-radius: 5px;
}