Posted by Jim Moe on 05/07/06 21:09

Michael Laplante wrote:
> Of the various ways of stipulating font size -- px, em, ex, %, etc -- how do
> they all react to re-sizing? I.e. when the user re-sizes the fonts which
> method produces the most or least dramatic effect on the font? What "fomula"
> do browsers use to determine the change in text size applied when the user
> demands it?
>
No choice of unit has any more effect on scaling than any other.
The px and pt units are fixed sizes. IE is probably correct in not
changing the font size when the user changed it in the browser. Other
browsers do so anyway because deezyners frequently choose a font size so
small most people have trouble reading it.
The other units--%, em, ex--are relative to the user's chosen default
size (usually 16px). They are scaled appropriately. The "formula" is
simple: current-size * scale-factor. E.g.: 1.2em * 130% = 1.56em

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