About the REM to Point Converter
When a web application starts generating documents, the type scale has to be restated in points. Invoice templates, certificate layouts, headless browser PDF exports and anything sent to a commercial printer all describe text that way. This converter takes the rem tokens you already ship and prints the point equivalents.
With the default 16 pixel root, one rem is 16 pixels and therefore 12 points, so the whole scale multiplies by 12. A 1.5rem heading is 18pt, a 0.75rem caption is 9pt and a 3rem display size is 36pt. Change the root value in the base field if the project uses a different one and every row updates.
Worth remembering: a PDF page has a fixed physical size, so the point value you choose is the size that actually appears on paper. Screen sizes that felt right can look heavy in print, and body text around 10 to 11 points is usually more comfortable than a straight translation of a 16 pixel web body. Also check that your print stylesheet is what the PDF pipeline uses, since headless renderers apply print media queries by default. The reverse conversion is on Point to REM.
How to use
- Paste the rem values from your design tokens, one per line.
- Confirm Base font size matches the project root.
- Copy the point values into the print stylesheet or PDF template.
- Proof one printed page before rolling the scale out.
Common questions
- What is 1rem in points?
- 12pt with a 16 pixel root font size.
- Why does my PDF text look larger than the screen version?
- A PDF point is a fixed physical size while a screen pixel is not, so the same scale often reads heavier on paper.
- Do headless browsers use my print stylesheet?
- Yes, PDF rendering applies print media queries by default, so put the point sizes there.
- What body size should I use in print?
- Around 10 to 11 points suits most documents, which is a little smaller than a direct conversion of 16 pixel web body text.