Points To Pixels Converter

Points To Pixels Formula

In CSS absolute length units, one inch is defined as 96 CSS pixels and one point is one seventy-second of an inch. The result is that one point equals 1.333333 CSS pixels. A 12 pt size therefore converts to 16 px. A 10.5 pt size converts to 14 px. This is why many style guides pair print point sizes with slightly larger CSS pixel numbers.

The device pixel ratio field is separate because CSS pixels and physical display pixels are not the same thing. A 16 px CSS text size may be painted by 32 device pixels on a 2x display. That does not mean the CSS value should be doubled. The CSS value is what layout code receives; the browser and device handle physical rendering.

Conversion Steps For Designers And Developers

Points To Pixels Table

Related Size Checks

Typography Notes After Conversion

Point size and pixel size describe a box, not the exact visual height of every letter. Two fonts set at 16 px can look different because x-height, ascenders, descenders, cap height and weight differ. A print brand guide may say 12 pt, but a website may need 16 px, 17 px or a different line height to look balanced with the chosen web font. Treat the conversion as a starting value, then check real text in the layout.

Line height also needs a separate decision. A 16 px font size with 24 px line height is not the same as converting 12 pt to 16 px and stopping. Paragraph width, language, text density and reader age can all change the best line-height choice. For buttons and labels, check that text fits without clipping when the user has a larger browser text setting. For icons with labels, align the label to the icon grid after conversion rather than forcing a print number into a tight box.

When a PDF, print advert or slide deck is being rebuilt in HTML/CSS, convert all type sizes first, then inspect hierarchy. Body copy, captions, headings and footnotes should keep their relative order. If a print heading converts to a fractional CSS value, keep the decimal when precision matters, or round to the nearest design token if the project uses fixed size steps.

Hand-Off Notes For Specifications

When sending a specification to another person, include the converted value and the basis. A note such as 12 pt equals 16 CSS px on the 96 px per inch CSS basis is much safer than writing only 16 px. It tells the next person why the value was chosen and prevents a 72 px per inch assumption from creeping into the file.