Most modern browsers set the default font to something equivalent to IE default/medium font size: 16pt or 16px @96dpi.... it's kind of a field leveler and fonts sizes are more likely to be similar cross platform, and cross browser.

Setting a smaller % size on the body means, as a designer, you can bring the overall font size for a page down to something a little more usable for most people and most visual designs, and then go on to use relative sizing elsewhere in your CSS with a little more certainty of how that is going to be rendered in various browsers.

76% is a figure that is used quite often, however the resulting font size is not a whole number, and IMO 75% is a better calculation.

FONT SIZE CALCULATIONS

16 * 75% => 1em = 12px
16 * 68.75% => 1em = 11px
16 * 62.5% => 1em = 10px


I personally use 62.5% on the body so I know that everything works on a nice round number that is equivalent to 10px and then ramp up the font size for my main content to 1.2em (= 12px).


HTH


./tdw






On 2004-11-18 3:42 AM, David Laakso wrote:
Jeroen Visser [ vizi ] wrote:

Javier wrote:

I'm trying to develope a site with proportional font size.

I've seen people that apply a font small in body and then use em's in all
other settings. I've seen people that apply a 65% font-size in body, others
a 100%, etc.. and then use em's in other settings but others use
percentage...


Now I'm really confused...



Hi Javier,

All the trouble of font-size in a nutshell:

<http://www.thenoodleincident.com/tutorials/typography/>

I myself set a base size on the body element (most of the time 76% like Owen Briggs) and then use em's to set up the rest of the typography.

Jeroen

Hmm, 76% on the body element, thats 24% smaller than my default? Kinda tough on us older folks.

David
http://www.dlaakso.com/

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