In Chapter 6, we briefly discussed the values that could be used with different CSS properties. In this appendix, we’ll look at values for lengths, fonts, URLs, and colors in more detail.
Lengths (width or height) can be set using a variety of units, but there are two basic types of length values:
| Relative lengths: Length is calculated by the browser relative to another specific value. |
| Absolute lengths: Lengths remain constant regardless of context but may vary depending on the computer’s OS. For example, Macs have a slightly smaller value for point sizes than Windows. |
Although you have several unit types to choose from, most Web designs are created using pixels or ems (or a combination of the two). Pixels have the advantage of being easy to understand and apply to screen-based layouts, but ems, a relative rather than absolute measurement, allow for more fluid control that can be gracefully scaled on most browsers.
Generally, I use pixels for all non-typographic lengths and ems for all font and text-based lengths.
Font family names are derived from the name of the font. Entering the entire name as it appears in your operating system. Font names are not case-sensitive (it doesn’t matter whether you use upper or lowercase letters), but font names with spaces must be placed in quotes:
“times new roman”
The table on the next few pages shows a list of fonts that are likely to be installed on both Macs and Windows computers.
For a complete list of Web-safe fonts that are likely to be installed on Mac or Windows computers, visit:
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the unique address of an item on the Web. It could be an HTML document, external CSS file, image, JavaScript file, Flash file, a sound file, or any resource that can be accessed by the Web browser. There are two types of URLs:
| Absolute: Gives the full address (path) of the resource, starting with http://. For example: http://www.speaking-in-styles.com/story/images/rabbit.png displays the file called rabbit.png. |
| Relative: A partial path to the resource, relative to the file that is trying to use it. For example: ../images/rabbit.png says to go up one directory level (../) into the images folder and load the file called rabbit.png. |
Colors in CSS are specified either by values specifying the mixture of red, green, and blue used to create the color, or with a specific color keyword. Keywords are simply shorthand for specific color values.
Opacity is set as a property or can be included as part of the RGB Alpha color format, which includes a decimal value between 0 (transparent) and 1 (opaque). However, this is not currently supported by all browser. Include both the RGB and RGBA to cover all browsers:
color: rgb(255,0,0);color: rgba(255,0,0,.5);
Format | Name | What It Is | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
#RRGGBB | Hex | Red, green, and blue hexadecimal value of a color (00-99,AA-FF) | #CC33FF or #C3F |
rgb(R#,G#,B#) | RGB Numeric | Red, green and blue numeric values of color (0-255) | rgb(204,51,255) |
rgb(R%,G%,B%) | RGB Percentage | Red, green, and blue percentages | rgb(81%,18%,100%) |
rgba(R,G,B,A)[1] | RGB Alpha | Red, green, and blue numeric values of color (numeric or percentage) and alpha value (0-1) | rgb(204,51,255,.5) |
<name> | Keyword | A keyword name for the color | purple |
[1] FF3+, GC1+, and Sa4+ only | |||
Keyword | Hex | RGB Numeric | |
|---|---|---|---|
aliceblue | #F0F8FF | 240,248,255 | |
antiquewhite | #FAEBD7 | 250,235,215 | |
aqua | #00FFFF | 0,255,255 | |
aquamarine | #7FFFD4 | 127,255,212 | |
azure | #F0FFFF | 240,255,255 | |
beige | #F5F5DC | 245,245,220 | |
bisque | #FFE4C4 | 255,228,196 | |
black | #000000 | 0,0,0 | |
blanchedalmond | #FFEBCD | 255,235,205 | |
blue | #0000FF | 0,0,255 | |
blueviolet | #8A2BE2 | 138,43,226 | |
brown | #A52A2A | 165,42,42 | |
burlywood | #DEB887 | 222,184,135 | |
cadetblue | #5F9EA0 | 95,158,160 | |
chartreuse | #7FFF00 | 127,255,0 | |
chocolate | #D2691E | 210,105,30 | |
coral | #FF7F50 | 255,127,80 | |
cornflowerblue | #6495ED | 100,149,237 | |
cornsilk | #FFF8DC | 255,248,220 | |
crimson | #DC143C | 220,20,60 | |
cyan | #00FFFF | 0,255,255 | |
darkblue | #00008B | 0,0,139 | |
darkcyan | #008B8B | 0,139,139 | |
darkgoldenrod | #B8860B | 184,134,11 | |
darkgray | #A9A9A9 | 169,169,169 | |
darkgreen | #006400 | 0,100,0 | |
darkgrey | #A9A9A9 | 169,169,169 | |
darkkhaki | #BDB76B | 189,183,107 | |
darkmagenta | #8B008B | 139,0,139 | |
darkolivegreen | #556B2F | 85,107,47 | |
darkorange | #FF8C00 | 255,140,0 | |
darkorchid | #9932CC | 153,50,204 | |
darkred | #8B0000 | 139,0,0 | |
darksalmon | #E9967A | 233,150,122 | |
darkseagreen | #8FBC8F | 143,188,143 | |
darkslateblue | #483D8B | 72,61,139 | |
darkslategray | #2F4F4F | 47,79,79 | |
darkturquoise | #00CED1 | 0,206,209 | |
darkviolet | #9400D3 | 148,0,211 | |
deeppink | #FF1493 | 255,20,147 | |
deepskyblue | #00BFFF | 0,191,255 | |
dimgray | #696969 | 105,105,105 | |
dimgrey | #696969 | 105,105,105 | |
dodgerblue | #1E90FF | 30,144,255 | |
firebrick | #B22222 | 178,34,34 | |
floralwhite | #FFFAF0 | 255,250,240 | |
forestgreen | #228B22 | 34,139,34 | |
fuchsia | #FF00FF | 255,0,255 | |
gainsboro | #DCDCDC | 220,220,220 | |
ghostwhite | #F8F8FF | 248,248,255 | |
gold | #FFD700 | 255,215,0 | |
goldenrod | #DAA520 | 218,165,32 | |
gray | #808080 | 128,128,128 | |
green | #008000 | 0,128,0 | |
greenyellow | #ADFF2F | 173,255,47 | |
grey | #808080 | 128,128,128 | |
honeydew | #F0FFF0 | 240,255,240 | |
hotpink | #FF69B4 | 255,105,180 | |
indianred | #CD5C5C | 205,92,92 | |
indigo | #4B0082 | 75,0,130 | |
ivory | #FFFFF0 | 255,255,240 | |
khaki | #F0E68C | 240,230,140 | |
lavender | #E6E6FA | 230,230,250 | |
lavenderblush | #FFF0F5 | 255,240,245 | |
lawngreen | #7CFC00 | 124,252,0 | |
lemonchiffon | #FFFACD | 255,250,205 | |
lightblue | #ADD8E6 | 173,216,230 | |
lightcoral | #F08080 | 240,128,128 | |
lightcyan | #E0FFFF | 224,255,255 | |
lightgoldenrodyellow | #FAFAD2 | 250,250,210 | |
lightgray | #D3D3D3 | 211,211,211 | |
lightgreen | #90EE90 | 144,238,144 | |
lightgrey | #D3D3D3 | 211,211,211 | |
lightpink | #FFB6C1 | 255,182,193 | |
lightsalmon | #FFA07A | 255,160,122 | |
lightseagreen | #20B2AA | 32,178,170 | |
lightskyblue | #87CEFA | 135,206,250 | |
lightslategray | #778899 | 119,136,153 | |
lightslategrey | #778899 | 119,136,153 | |
lightsteelblue | #B0C4DE | 176,196,222 | |
lightyellow | #FFFFE0 | 255,255,224 | |
lime | #00FF00 | 0,255,0 | |
limegreen | #32CD32 | 50,205,50 | |
linen | #FAF0E6 | 250,240,230 | |
magenta | #FF00FF | 255,0,255 | |
maroon | #800000 | 128,0,0 | |
mediumaquamarine | #66CDAA | 102,205,170 | |
mediumblue | #0000CD | 0,0,205 | |
mediumorchid | #BA55D3 | 186,85,211 | |
mediumpurple | #9370DB | 147,112,219 | |
mediumseagreen | #3CB371 | 60,179,113 | |
mediumslateblue | #7B68EE | 123,104,238 | |
mediumspringgreen | #00FA9A | 0,250,154 | |
mediumturquoise | #48D1CC | 72,209,204 | |
mediumvioletred | #C71585 | 199,21,133 | |
midnightblue | #191970 | 25,25,112 | |
mintcream | #F5FFFA | 245,255,250 | |
mistyrose | #FFE4E1 | 255,228,225 | |
moccasin | #FFE4B5 | 255,228,181 | |
navajowhite | #FFDEAD | 255,222,173 | |
navy | #000080 | 0,0,128 | |
oldlace | #FDF5E6 | 253,245,230 | |
olive | #808000 | 128,128,0 | |
olivedrab | #6B8E23 | 107,142,35 | |
orange | #FFA500 | 255,165,0 | |
orangered | #FF4500 | 255,69,0 | |
orchid | #DA70D6 | 218,112,214 | |
palegoldenrod | #EEE8AA | 238,232,170 | |
palegreen | #98FB98 | 152,251,152 | |
paleturquoise | #AFEEEE | 175,238,238 | |
palevioletred | #DB7093 | 219,112,147 | |
papayawhip | #FFEFD5 | 255,239,213 | |
peachpuff | #FFDAB9 | 255,218,185 | |
peru | #CD853F | 205,133,63 | |
pink | #FFC0CB | 255,192,203 | |
plum | #DDA0DD | 221,160,221 | |
powderblue | #B0E0E6 | 176,224,230 | |
purple | #800080 | 128,0,128 | |
red | #FF0000 | 255,0,0 | |
rosybrown | #BC8F8F | 188,143,143 | |
royalblue | #4169E1 | 65,105,225 | |
saddlebrown | #8B4513 | 139,69,19 | |
salmon | #FA8072 | 250,128,114 | |
sandybrown | #F4A460 | 244,164,96 | |
seagreen | #2E8B57 | 46,139,87 | |
seashell | #FFF5EE | 255,245,238 | |
sienna | #A0522D | 160,82,45 | |
silver | #C0C0C0 | 192,192,192 | |
skyblue | #87CEEB | 135,206,235 | |
slateblue | #6A5ACD | 106,90,205 | |
slategray | #708090 | 112,128,144 | |
slategrey | #708090 | 112,128,144 | |
snow | #FFFAFA | 255,250,250 | |
springgreen | #00FF7F | 0,255,127 | |
steelblue | #4682B4 | 70,130,180 | |
tan | #D2B48C | 210,180,140 | |
teal | #008080 | 0,128,128 | |
thistle | #D8BFD8 | 216,191,216 | |
tomato | #FF6347 | 255,99,71 | |
turquoise | #40E0D0 | 64,224,208 | |
violet | #EE82EE | 238,130,238 | |
wheat | #F5DEB3 | 245,222,179 | |
white | #FFFFFF | 255,255,255 | |
whitesmoke | #F5F5F5 | 245,245,245 | |
yellow | #FFFF00 | 255,255,0 | |
yellowgreen | #9ACD32 | 154,205,50 |