What is causing the discrepancy in CSS line-height when text spans multiple lines?

Question

What is causing the discrepancy in CSS line-height when text spans multiple lines?

Can anyone explain why there is extra space above the first paragraph in this HTML and CSS code, but not the second or third? The line-height is consistent for all three paragraphs. How can I adjust it so that there is equal spacing around all three paragraphs?

I am encountering this issue on Chrome, not sure if it appears differently on other browsers.

.wrapper {
  width: 175px;
  border: 1px solid black;
  font-size: 20pt;
}

.wrapper p {
  margin: 0.5em 0 0 0;
  background-color: orange;
  line-height: 1.2;
  word-wrap: break-word;
}

.wrapper p span {
  display: inline-block;
}

<div class="wrapper">
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:0.5em"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">AAAAA &amp; AAAAA</span></span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:0.5em">BBBBB · BBBBB · BBBBB BBBBB BBBBB</span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:0.5em"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">CCCCCCCC &amp; CCCCCCCCCC</span></span></p>
  <p>This is a paragraph without any spans, it needs to look correct too.</p>
</div>

Could someone verify if this is a browser-specific issue by looking at the provided image of the problem?

edit: Inserted another p tag without any contained span tags. This paragraph also should be correctly formatted.

css

Answer 1

Answer №1

To solve the issue at hand, you should eliminate the font-size:0.5em from the span's style attribute in your html code and instead include it in the styling of .wrapper p in your css.

<div class="wrapper">
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">AAAAA &amp; AAAAA</span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span>BBBBB · BBBBB · BBBBB BBBBB BBBBB</span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">CCCCCCCC &amp; CCCCCCCCCC</span></p>
</div>
<!-- Also removed the extra spans in the first and third p's, as they would now serve no purpose. -->

.wrapper p {
  margin: 0.5em 0 0 0;
  background-color: orange;
  line-height: 1.2;
  word-wrap: break-word;
  font-size:0.5em; /* This is added */
}

https://i.sstatic.net/sDgsd.png

This explanation delves into the connection between the font-size in your span and the parent element's font-size.

The unit em is relative to the parent element's font-size. In this case, the parent of the span is the p element, which inherits the font-size of the .wrapper, set at 20pt. Consequently, the span's minimum height is set to 10pt, while the p's minimum height is 20pt.

Hence, the disparity arises because the span is half the size (0.5em) of the p element, leading to text wrapping within the span and filling up the remaining space in the parent p element, creating the observed gap.

Answer 2

To solve the issue at hand, you should eliminate the font-size:0.5em from the span's style attribute in your html code and instead include it in the styling of .wrapper p in your css.

<div class="wrapper">
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">AAAAA &amp; AAAAA</span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span>BBBBB · BBBBB · BBBBB BBBBB BBBBB</span></p>
  <p style="text-align:center"><span style="color:#00bcd4;">CCCCCCCC &amp; CCCCCCCCCC</span></p>
</div>
<!-- Also removed the extra spans in the first and third p's, as they would now serve no purpose. -->

.wrapper p {
  margin: 0.5em 0 0 0;
  background-color: orange;
  line-height: 1.2;
  word-wrap: break-word;
  font-size:0.5em; /* This is added */
}

https://i.sstatic.net/sDgsd.png

This explanation delves into the connection between the font-size in your span and the parent element's font-size.

The unit em is relative to the parent element's font-size. In this case, the parent of the span is the p element, which inherits the font-size of the .wrapper, set at 20pt. Consequently, the span's minimum height is set to 10pt, while the p's minimum height is 20pt.

Hence, the disparity arises because the span is half the size (0.5em) of the p element, leading to text wrapping within the span and filling up the remaining space in the parent p element, creating the observed gap.

Answer 3

Answer №2

^{For a quick solution without the need for a lengthy explanation, scroll to the end.}

When dealing with line height in CSS, there are three key considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, the line-height property applied to block elements determines the minimum height of the line box.

On a block container element consisting of inline-level elements, 'line-height' sets the minimum height of line boxes within the element ^source

In certain cases, such as yours, the minimum height may equate to 22pt = 1.2*20pt. Even when the p element is empty, this minimum height will still be present.

The second consideration involves understanding that an inline-block element occupies one line box, regardless of text wrapping inside it. Therefore, even if multiple line boxes exist within the element, each span element will take up just one line box from the parent p.

Inline-level boxes like replaced inline-level elements and inline-blocks are considered atomic inline-level boxes due to their behavior as a single opaque box within the formatting context ^source

The final aspect to consider is vertical alignment, typically set as baseline by default, which dictates how elements align within the line box.

To gain a better comprehension of these aspects, let's delve into what's occurring:

In the first scenario, an element with a small size relative to the line box's height is aligned at the baseline within the p element. The subsequent cases involve elements with similar font sizes but heights matching or exceeding the line box's height, resulting in varied alignments.

A visual representation can aid in understanding these concepts better. Notably, all three elements are aligned at the bottom (baseline), with slight variations observed in the latter two.

An additional demonstration showcasing the impact of vertical alignment follows:

By adjusting the line-height to cater to only one line of text, you ensure consistent alignment within the containers. This can be achieved either by setting a low line-height value, or specifying the desired font size explicitly.

Additional examples and detailed discussions on similar topics can be found here: Line height issue with inline-block elements

Answer 4

^{For a quick solution without the need for a lengthy explanation, scroll to the end.}

When dealing with line height in CSS, there are three key considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, the line-height property applied to block elements determines the minimum height of the line box.

On a block container element consisting of inline-level elements, 'line-height' sets the minimum height of line boxes within the element ^source

In certain cases, such as yours, the minimum height may equate to 22pt = 1.2*20pt. Even when the p element is empty, this minimum height will still be present.

The second consideration involves understanding that an inline-block element occupies one line box, regardless of text wrapping inside it. Therefore, even if multiple line boxes exist within the element, each span element will take up just one line box from the parent p.

Inline-level boxes like replaced inline-level elements and inline-blocks are considered atomic inline-level boxes due to their behavior as a single opaque box within the formatting context ^source

The final aspect to consider is vertical alignment, typically set as baseline by default, which dictates how elements align within the line box.

To gain a better comprehension of these aspects, let's delve into what's occurring:

In the first scenario, an element with a small size relative to the line box's height is aligned at the baseline within the p element. The subsequent cases involve elements with similar font sizes but heights matching or exceeding the line box's height, resulting in varied alignments.

A visual representation can aid in understanding these concepts better. Notably, all three elements are aligned at the bottom (baseline), with slight variations observed in the latter two.

An additional demonstration showcasing the impact of vertical alignment follows:

By adjusting the line-height to cater to only one line of text, you ensure consistent alignment within the containers. This can be achieved either by setting a low line-height value, or specifying the desired font size explicitly.

Additional examples and detailed discussions on similar topics can be found here: Line height issue with inline-block elements

Answer 5

Answer №3

By including the style display: inline-block within the <span> tag, you inadvertently changed its default behavior from inline to inline-block.

To correct this issue, simply update your code by removing:

.wrapper p span {
  display: inline-block;
}

and replacing it with:

.wrapper p span {
  display: inline;
}

This adjustment should resolve the problem at hand.

Answer 6

By including the style display: inline-block within the <span> tag, you inadvertently changed its default behavior from inline to inline-block.

To correct this issue, simply update your code by removing:

.wrapper p span {
  display: inline-block;
}

and replacing it with:

.wrapper p span {
  display: inline;
}

This adjustment should resolve the problem at hand.

What is causing the discrepancy in CSS line-height when text spans multiple lines?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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