CSS Outline, Width, Color, Shorthand & Offset | CSS for Beginners - Class 6 PDF Download

Outline

An outline is a line that is drawn around elements, OUTSIDE the borders, to make the element "stand out".

CSS has the following outline properties:
(i) outline-style
(ii) outline-color
(iii) outline-width
(iv) outline-offset
(v) outline

Note: Outline differs from borders! Unlike border, the outline is drawn outside the element's border, and may overlap other content. Also, the outline is NOT a part of the element's dimensions; the element's total width and height is not affected by the width of the outline.

CSS Outline Style

• dotted - Defines a dotted outline
• dashed - Defines a dashed outline
• solid - Defines a solid outline
• double - Defines a double outline
• groove - Defines a 3D grooved outline
• ridge - Defines a 3D ridged outline
• inset - Defines a 3D inset outline
• outset - Defines a 3D outset outline
• none - Defines no outline
• hidden - Defines a hidden outline

The following example shows the different outline-style values:

Example
Demonstration of the different outline styles:

p.dotted {outline-style: dotted;}
p.dashed {outline-style: dashed;}
p.solid {outline-style: solid;}
p.double {outline-style: double;}
p.groove {outline-style: groove;}
p.ridge {outline-style: ridge;}
p.inset {outline-style: inset;}
p.outset {outline-style: outset;}

Result

Note: None of the other outline properties (which you will learn more about in the next chapters) will have ANY effect unless the outline-style property is set!

CSS Outline Width

• thin (typically 1px
• medium (typically 3px
• thick (typically 5px
• A specific size (in px, pt, cm, em, etc)

The following example shows some outlines with different widths:

Example

p.ex1 {

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: red;

  outline-width: thin;

}

p.ex2 {

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: red;

  outline-width: medium;

}

p.ex3 {

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: red;

  outline-width: thick;

}

p.ex4 {

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: red;

  outline-width: 4px;

}

CSS Outline Color

• The outline-color property is used to set the color of the outline.

The color can be set by:

• name - specify a color name, like "red
• HEX - specify a hex value, like "#ff0000"
• RGB - specify a RGB value, like "rgb(255,0,0)"
• HSL - specify a HSL value, like "hsl(0, 100%, 50%)"
• invert - performs a color inversion (which ensures that the outline is visible, regardless of color background)

The following example shows some different outlines with different colors. Also notice that these elements also have a thin black border inside the outline:

Example

p.ex1 {

  border: 2px solid black;

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: red;

}

p.ex2 {

  border: 2px solid black;

  outline-style: dotted;

  outline-color: blue;

}

p.ex3 {

  border: 2px solid black;

  outline-style: outset;

  outline-color: grey;

}

HEX Values

Example

p.ex1 {

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: #ff0000; /* red */

}

RGB Values

Example

p.ex1 {

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: rgb(255, 0, 0); /* red */

}

HSL Values

Example

p.ex1 {

  outline-style: solid;

  outline-color: hsl(0, 100%, 50%); /* red */

}

CSS Outline - Shorthand property

• outline-width
• outline-style (required)
• outline-color

The outline property is specified as one, two, or three values from the list above. The order of the values does not matter.
The following example shows some outlines specified with the shorthand outline property:

Example

p.ex1 {outline: dashed;}
p.ex2 {outline: dotted red;}
p.ex3 {outline: 5px solid yellow;}
p.ex4 {outline: thick ridge pink;}

CSS Outline Offset

The following example specifies an outline 15px outside the border edge:

Example

p {

  margin: 30px;

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline: 1px solid red;

  outline-offset: 15px;

}

The following example shows that the space between an element and its outline is transparent:

Example

p {

  margin: 30px;

  background: yellow;

  border: 1px solid black;

  outline: 1px solid red;

  outline-offset: 15px;

}

All CSS Outline Properties