Viewport units (VW and VH) are a convenient way to create responsive designs in CSS, allowing you to express sizes as a fraction of the size of the viewport. However, their usage can go beyond basic responsive design, and when used correctly, they can help you create dynamic and flexible designs.
In this article, we'll go over some advanced usage of VW and VH in CSS, so let's get started!
Scaling font-sizes One of the most common use cases for viewport units is scaling font sizes. By using VW, you can set a font size that is a percentage of the viewport width, and with VH, you can set a font size that is a percentage of the viewport height. This makes it easy to create dynamic font sizes that adjust to the size of the viewport. For example, if you want your text to always be 10% of the viewport width, you can use the following CSS: h1 { font-size: 10vw; }
Creating dynamic margins and padding VW and VH can also be used to create dynamic margins and padding. By setting size in viewport units, you can ensure that your margins and padding will always be a certain percentage of the viewport, regardless of the screen size. For example, if you want your margins to always be 5% of the viewport width, you can use the following CSS: .container { margin: 2.5vw; }
Creating full-screen elements You can also use viewport units to create full-screen elements, such as backgrounds and headers. By setting the height or width of an element to 100vh or 100vw, you can ensure that the element will always fill the entire viewport. For example, if you want a header to always take up the full height of the viewport, you can use the following CSS: header { height: 100vh; }
Combining viewport units with media queries
Finally, you can combine viewport units with media queries to create truly dynamic designs. By using media queries, you can adjust the styles of your elements based on the size of the viewport, and by using viewport units, you can ensure that the styles are always expressed as a percentage of the viewport.
For example, if you want your text to be 10% of the viewport width on small screens and 20% on large screens, you can use the following CSS:
h1 {
font-size: 10vw;
}
@media (min-width: 768px) {
h1 {
font-size: 20vw;
}
}
Conclusion
VW and VH are powerful tools for creating responsive designs in CSS. By using viewport units, you can create dynamic and flexible designs that adjust to the size of the viewport. Whether you're scaling font sizes, creating dynamic margins and padding, creating full-screen elements, or combining viewport units with media queries, viewport units are a must-have tool in your CSS toolkit.
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