How Does Padding Actually Work for Inline Elements in CSS?

Padding for Inline Elements: An Exploration

The concept of padding for inline elements has often led to confusion, especially regarding their interaction with margin properties. In this article, we will delve into the specificities of inline element padding and address common misconceptions.

Inline Element Padding: A Misconception

While some sources may claim that inline elements have complete padding properties, this is not entirely accurate. While inline elements can indeed have padding, they lack the ability to apply vertical (top and bottom) margins. The CSS specification explicitly states that these properties have "no effect" on non-replaced inline elements.

Inheritance and the Non-Effects of Margin

However, "no effect" does not imply that the properties do not exist. They are simply ignored when directly applied to inline elements. Nonetheless, they do play a role in inheritance. As demonstrated in the following example, margins can be inherited and applied to block elements when used as children:

p { border: 1px solid red; }
i { vertical-align: top; }
span { margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; }
b { display: inline-block; }
.two { margin: inherit; }

<p><i>Hello</i> <span>World <b class="one">my good friend</b></span></p>
<p><i>Hello</i> <span>World <b class="two">my good friend</b></span></p>

The Mystery of Vertical Padding

Another common misconception is that inline elements cannot accept vertical padding. While it is true that padding-top and padding-bottom may seem ineffective for text content, they do affect surrounding elements. In your example, the padding around the "hello" text is not visible because it pushes the text up and down, but the text itself remains within the original line.

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