CSS Maximum Font Size

In front-end development, we often need to style text content, and font size is a very important attribute. In CSS, we use the font-size property to set the font size of text. However, sometimes we may need to limit the maximum font size to prevent it from becoming too large and affecting the page layout. This article will explain how to set the maximum font size using CSS.

Why do we need to limit the maximum font size?

When designing a website, we often set the font size based on the page’s layout and design style. Typically, we use different font sizes for different elements to emphasize key points or improve readability. However, in certain scenarios, such as responsive design or mobile web pages, we want the font size to automatically adjust to the screen size or layout, but we don’t want the font size to be too large, which would affect the overall aesthetics of the page.

Therefore, it is particularly important to limit the maximum font size of text. By setting a maximum font size, we can ensure that text doesn’t exceed the desired range, thus maintaining the overall balance and aesthetics of the page.

Using the `max-font-size` Property

In CSS, there’s no direct max-font-size property to limit the maximum font size. However, we can achieve this effect through a few tricks.

A common method is to combine vw (the viewport width unit) with the calc() function to dynamically calculate the maximum font size. For example, the following code example fixes the font size to 40px when the viewport width is greater than 800px, and otherwise dynamically adjusts the font size based on a percentage of the viewport width.

h1 {
font-size: calc(4vw + 20px); /* Initial font size, dynamically calculated based on the viewport width */
max-font-size: 40px; /* Sets the maximum font size to 40px */
}

In the example above, calc(4vw + 20px) sets the initial font size, where 4vw represents 4% of the viewport width, and 20px represents the base font size. max-font-size: 40px; limits the maximum font size to 40px. This way, even on larger screens, the font size won’t exceed 40px.

Example

Below, we’ll use a simple example to demonstrate how to use CSS to set the maximum font size for text.

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang="en"> 
<head> 
<meta charset="UTF-8"> 
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> 
<title>Max Font Size Example</title> 
<style> 
h1 { 
font-size: calc(4vw + 20px); 
max-font-size: 40px; 
text-align: center; 
margin-top: 50px; 
} 
</style> 
</head> 
<body> 
<h1>This is an example title with dynamically adjusted font size</h1> 
</body> 
</html>

In the above example, we set an h1 tag with a font size that dynamically adjusts based on the viewport width, but never exceeds 40px. When viewing the page on different device sizes, you’ll notice that the title’s font size changes with the viewport size, but always stays below 40px.

Summary

In web design, it’s essential to limit the maximum font size of text. By setting a reasonable maximum font size, you can ensure that text doesn’t become too large and disrupt the page layout and aesthetics. In this article, we’ve introduced how to use CSS to implement a maximum font size for text and provided a simple example to demonstrate the effect.