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Introduction
vertical-align defines the vertical alignment for the content of a table cell or for an inline element against the rest of the inline flow.
vertical-align can take a % or length value, or it can take one of the following 8 keywords:
-
baseline
: The default. Baseline of the element aligned to the baseline of the parent. -
bottom
: Bottom of the element aligned to the complete bottom of the line. -
middle
: Middle of the element aligned to half the x-height of the parent. The x-height is the height of the text without the character ascenders or descenders. -
sub
: Baseline of the element aligned to the subscript baseline of the parent. -
super
: Baseline of the element aligned to the superscript baseline of the parent. -
text-bottom
: Bottom of the element aligned to the bottom of the text. -
text-top
: Top of the element aligned to the top of the text. -
top
: Top of the element aligned to the top of the line.
If a length value is provided, the element is aligned at the specified length above the baseline of the parent.
If a % value is provided, the element is aligned at the specified % above the baseline of the parent, with the % being a reference to the line-height.
Hereβs an example using vertical-align:
.avatar {
vertical-align: middle;
}
Examples
It can be hard to visualize the effects of the different keyword values for vertical-align, so here are examples with an inline seashell emoji (π) placed with different values:
vertical-align: baseline
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: bottom
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: middle
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: sub
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: super
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: text-bottom
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: text-top
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.
vertical-align: top
Sammy sells seashells π by the seashore.