About the PX to Point Converter
Points come from typography and printing, where 72 points make an inch. CSS defines a point as exactly 1.3333 pixels because it also fixes the reference resolution at 96 pixels per inch. That fixed relationship means px and pt convert with a constant, with no font size involved anywhere.
You need this most often when writing a print stylesheet, since print output is specified in points while screen work is specified in pixels. A 16px body becomes 12pt, a 24px heading becomes 18pt and a 9px caption becomes 6.75pt. The values are exact multiples of three quarters, so anything divisible by four lands on a whole point.
Do not confuse the CSS point with a physical point on paper at a real printer resolution. CSS works from its own 96dpi reference, so a 12pt rule prints at 12 points whatever the device, while a 12px rule does not measure 12 physical dots on a high density screen. To move in the opposite direction, open Point to PX.
How to use
- Paste the pixel sizes, one per line.
- Read the point equivalents.
- Use them inside a
@media printblock. - Copy the table if you are documenting a type scale.
Common questions
- What is 16px in points?
- 12pt. The ratio is exactly three quarters.
- Why is a CSS point not a real printer point?
- CSS uses a fixed 96 pixels per inch reference so units stay consistent across devices, instead of measuring the physical hardware.
- Should print stylesheets use pt?
- Points and other absolute units are the usual choice inside print media queries, while screen styles stay in rem or px.
- Does the root font size matter here?
- No. The px to pt ratio is fixed and does not depend on any font size.