initial-letter

Summary

The initial-letter CSS property specifies styling for dropped, raised, and sunken initial letters.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
initial-letter: normal;

/* Numeric values */
initial-letter: 1.5;     /* Initial letter occupies 1.5 lines */
initial-letter: 3.0;    /* Initial letter occupies 3 lines */
initial-letter: 3.0 2;  /* Initial letter occupies 3 lines and sinks 2 lines */

/* Global values */
initial-letter: inherit;
initial-letter: initial;
initial-letter: unset;

Values

normal

No special initial-letter effect. Text behaves as normal.

<number>

This first argument defines the size of the initial letter, in terms of how many lines it occupies. Negative values are not allowed.

<integer>

This optional second argument argument defines the number of lines the initial letter should sink. Values must be greater than zero. If omitted, it duplicates the first argument, floored to the nearest positive whole number.

Formal syntax

normal | [ <number> <integer>? ]

Example

CSS content

.normal {
  initial-letter: normal;
}
.onefive {
  initial-letter: 1.5;
}
.three {
  initial-letter: 3.0;
}

HTML content

<p class="normal">Initial letter is normal</p>
<p class="onefive">Initial letter occupies 1.5 lines</p>
<p class="three">Initial letter occupies 3 lines</p>

Output

Specifications

Browser compatibility