Half way through developing a content management system a client asked us a question:
Can we select the text sizes in points? Like 18pt for the title and 11pt for the body? We use Microsoft Word and that uses pt’s.
Why? Why do you need to do that? You already have 3 measurement options, Em’s, Percentages and Pixels.
My reply was going to be something like:
If you buy a Diesel car, you wouldn’t fill up with Petrol just because you’re “Used to using Petrol”
But then thinking about it, is there an easy way to do this. Initially Google brought up nothing to help us convert Pixels, EM’s and Percentages to Points, then we stumbled across Reed Design in London. They showed a very useful table giving approximate conversions as a direct result of their experiments.
Here’s a chart that converts points to pixels (and ems and %). It’s an approximation, which will depend on font, browser and OS, but it’s a good starting point.
| Points | Pixels | Ems | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6pt | 8px | 0.5em | 50% |
| 7pt | 9px | 0.55em | 55% |
| 7.5pt | 10px | 0.625em | 62.5% |
| 8pt | 11px | 0.7em | 70% |
| 9pt | 12px | 0.75em | 75% |
| 10pt | 13px | 0.8em | 80% |
| 10.5pt | 14px | 0.875em | 87.5% |
| 11pt | 15px | 0.95em | 95% |
| 12pt | 16px | 1em | 100% |
| 13pt | 17px | 1.05em | 105% |
| 13.5pt | 18px | 1.125em | 112.5% |
| 14pt | 19px | 1.2em | 120% |
| 14.5pt | 20px | 1.25em | 125% |
| 15pt | 21px | 1.3em | 130% |
| 16pt | 22px | 1.4em | 140% |
| 17pt | 23px | 1.45em | 145% |
| 18pt | 24px | 1.5em | 150% |
| 20pt | 26px | 1.6em | 160% |
| 22pt | 29px | 1.8em | 180% |
| 24pt | 32px | 2em | 200% |
| 26pt | 35px | 2.2em | 220% |
| 27pt | 36px | 2.25em | 225% |
| 28pt | 37px | 2.3em | 230% |
| 29pt | 38px | 2.35em | 235% |
| 30pt | 40px | 2.45em | 245% |
| 32pt | 42px | 2.55em | 255% |
| 34pt | 45px | 2.75em | 275% |
| 36pt | 48px | 3em | 300% |
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