Margins in CSS

          CSS Margins

The CSS margin properties are  used to reserve the space around elements, outsides of its  specified  borders.

In CSS, we  have full control over the margins. There are properties for setting the margin for each side of an element (top, right, bottom, and left).

To understand more about margins let us understand the CSS Box model first

The CSS Box Model

CSS arranges the  objects (elements) in  CSS Box Model for design and layout. The CSS box model is actually  a box that wraps around HTML elements, and it consists of: margins, borders, padding, and the  content. The box model allows us to place a border around elements and allocate space elements in relation to other elements.The image below explains the box model:

 Let us understand the different parts:

Margin - Clears an area around the border. The margin does not have a background color, it is completely transparent

Border - A border that goes around the padding and content. The border is affected by the background color of the box

Padding - Clears an area around the content. The padding is affected by the background color of the box

Content - The content of the box, where text and images appear

In order to set the width and height of an element correctly in all browsers.

Margin on Individual Sides

CSS has properties for specifying the margin for each side of an element:

• margin-top
• margin-right
• margin-bottom
• margin-left

All the margin properties can have the following values:

• auto - the browser calculates the margin
• length - specifies a margin in px, pt, cm, etc.
• % - specifies a margin in % of the width of the containing element
• inherit - specifies that the margin should be inherited from the parent element

Note: Negative values are allowed.

Set different margins for all four sides of a element:

p {
  margin-top: 100px;
  margin-bottom: 100px;
  margin-right: 150px;
  margin-left: 80px;
}

Margin - Shorthand Property

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

• margin-top
• margin-right
• margin-bottom
• margin-left

If the margin property has four values:

• margin: 25px 50px 75px 100px;
• top margin is 25px
• right margin is 50px
• bottom margin is 75px
• left margin is 100px

Use the margin shorthand property with four values:

p {
  margin: 25px 50px 75px 100px;
}

If the margin property has three values:

• margin: 25px 50px 75px;
• top margin is 25px
• right and left margins are 50px
• bottom margin is 75px

Use the margin shorthand property with three values: 

p {
  margin: 25px 50px 75px;
}

If the margin property has two values:

• margin: 25px 50px;
• top and bottom margins are 25px
• right and left margins are 50px

Use the margin shorthand property with two values: 

p {
  margin: 25px 50px;
}

If the margin property has one value:

• margin: 25px;
• all four margins are 25px

Use the margin shorthand property with one value: 

p {
  margin: 25px;
}

The auto Value

You can set the margin property to auto to horizontally center the element within its container.

The element will then take up the specified width, and the remaining space will be split equally between the left and right margins.

Use margin: auto:

div {
  width: 300px;
  margin: auto;
  border: 1px solid red;
}

The inherit Value

To set the left margin of the

element be inherited from the parent element (

):

Use of the inherit value:

div {
  border: 1px solid red;
  margin-left: 100px;
}

p.ex1 {
  margin-left: inherit;
}

Margin Collapse

Top and bottom margins of elements are sometimes collapsed into a single margin that is equal to the largest of the two margins.

This does not happen on left and right margins! Only top and bottom margins!

Demonstration of margin collapse:

h1 {
  margin: 0 0 50px 0;
}

h2 {
  margin: 20px 0 0 0;
}

In the example above, the h1 element has a bottom margin of 50px and the h2 element has a top margin set to 20px.

Common sense would seem to suggest that the vertical margin between the h1 and the h2 would be a total of 70px (50px + 20px). But due to margin collapse, the actual margin ends up being 50px.

An Example of Margins using CSS

Margins in CSS