CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3

W3C Working Draft,

This version:
https://www.w3.org/TR/2017/WD-css-align-3-20170720/
Latest published version:
https://www.w3.org/TR/css-align-3/
Editor's Draft:
https://drafts.csswg.org/css-align/
Previous Versions:
Test Suite:
http://test.csswg.org/suites/css-align-3_dev/nightly-unstable/
Issue Tracking:
Inline In Spec
GitHub Issues
Editors:
Elika J. Etemad / fantasai (Invited Expert)
Tab Atkins Jr. (Google)

Abstract

This module contains the features of CSS relating to the alignment of boxes within their containers in the various CSS box layout models: block layout, table layout, flex layout, and grid layout. (The alignment of text and inline-level content is defined in [CSS-TEXT-3] and [CSS-INLINE-3].)

CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc.

Status of this document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.

Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

GitHub Issues are preferred for discussion of this specification. When filing an issue, please put the text “css-align” in the title, preferably like this: “[css-align] …summary of comment…”. All issues and comments are archived, and there is also a historical archive.

This document was produced by the CSS Working Group (part of the Style Activity).

This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

This document is governed by the 1 March 2017 W3C Process Document.

The following features are at-risk, and may be dropped during the CR period:

“At-risk” is a W3C Process term-of-art, and does not necessarily imply that the feature is in danger of being dropped or delayed. It means that the WG believes the feature may have difficulty being interoperably implemented in a timely manner, and marking it as such allows the WG to drop the feature if necessary when transitioning to the Proposed Rec stage, without having to publish a new Candidate Rec without the feature first.

1. Introduction

This section is not normative.

CSS Levels 1 and 2 allowed for the alignment of text via text-align and the alignment of blocks by balancing auto margins. However, except in table cells, vertical alignment was not possible. As CSS adds further capabilities, the ability to align boxes in various dimensions becomes more critical. This module attempts to create a cohesive and common box alignment model to share among all of CSS.

Note: The alignment of text and inline-level content is defined in [CSS-TEXT-3] and [CSS-INLINE-3].

Note: This specification is not intended to change any of the behavior defined in CSS2.1 when the properties defined here are set to their initial values. If implementors or anyone else notices a discrepency, please report this to the CSSWG as an error.

1.1. Module interactions

This module adds some new alignment capabilities to the block layout model described in [CSS2] chapters 9 and 10 and defines the interaction of these properties with the alignment of table cell content using vertical-align, as defined in [CSS2] chapter 17.

The interaction of these properties with Grid Layout [CSS-GRID-1] and Flexible Box Layout [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] is defined in their respective modules. The property definitions here supersede those in [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] (which have a smaller, earlier subset of permissible values).

No properties in this module apply to the ::first-line or ::first-letter pseudo-elements.

1.2. Values

This specification follows the CSS property definition conventions from [CSS2]. Value types not defined in this specification are defined in CSS Values & Units [CSS-VALUES-3]. Other CSS modules may expand the definitions of these value types.

In addition to the property-specific values listed in their definitions, all properties defined in this specification also accept the CSS-wide keywords keywords as their property value. For readability they have not been repeated explicitly.

1.3. Partial Implementations

Since it is expected that support for the features in this module will be deployed in stages corresponding to the various layout models affected, it is hereby clarified that the rules for partial implementations that require treating as invalid any unsupported feature apply to any alignment keyword which is not supported across all layout modules to which it applies for layout models in which the implementation supports the property in general.

For example, if an implementation supports align-self in [CSS-GRID-1] and [CSS-FLEXBOX-1], then it must treat start as invalid unless it is supported in both grid and flex containers. However if that same implementation does not support align-self for block-level elements at all, then a lack of implementation of align-self: start does not trigger this requirement to treat it as invalid.

2. Overview of Alignment Properties

The box alignment properties in CSS are a set of 6 properties that control alignment of boxes within other boxes. They can be described along two axises:

Note: This specification uses the terms “justify” and “align” to distinguish between alignment in the main/inline and cross/block dimensions, respectively. The choice is somewhat arbitrary, but having the two terms allows for a consistent naming scheme that works across all of CSS’s layout models (including CSS Flexbox 1 §2 Flex Layout Box Model and Terminology)

The following table summarizes the box alignment properties and the display types they can apply to.

Common Axis Aligns Applies to
justify-content main/inline content within element (effectively adjusts padding) block containers, flex containers, and grid containers
align-content cross/block
justify-self inline element within parent (effectively adjusts margins) block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items
align-self cross/block absolutely-positioned boxes, flex items, and grid items
justify-items inline items inside box (controls child items’ justify-self: auto) block containers and grid containers
align-items cross/block flex containers and grid containers

Note: The *-items properties don’t affect the element itself. When set on a container, they specify the interpretation of any *-self: auto used on children of the container element.

3. Alignment Terminology

Since this module defines alignment properties for all layout modes in CSS, some abstract terminology is introduced:

alignment subject
The alignment subject is the thing or things being aligned by the property. For justify-self and align-self, the alignment subject is the margin box of the box the property is set on, and assumes the writing mode of that box. For justify-content and align-content, the alignment subject is defined by the layout mode and refers to some aspect of its contents; it also assumes the writing mode of the box the property is set on.
alignment container
The alignment container is the rectangle that the alignment subject is aligned within. This is defined by the layout mode, but is usually the alignment subject’s containing block, and assumes the writing mode of the box establishing the containing block.
fallback alignment
Some alignments can only be fulfilled in certain situations or are limited in how much space they can consume; for example, space-between can only operate when there is more than one alignment subject, and baseline alignment, once fulfilled, might not be enough to absorb all the excess space. In these cases a fallback alignment takes effect (as defined below) to fully consume the excess space.

4. Alignment Keywords

All of the alignment properties use a common set of keyword values, which are defined in this section. Keywords fall into three categories:

positional alignment
These keywords define alignment as an absolute position within the alignment container.
baseline alignment
These keywords define alignment as a relationship among the baselines of multiple alignment subjects within an alignment context.
distributed alignment
These keywords define alignment as a distribution of space among alignment subjects.

4.1. Positional Alignment: the center, start, end, self-start, self-end, flex-start, flex-end, left, and right keywords

The positional alignment keywords specify a position for an alignment subject with respect to its alignment container.

Values have the following meanings:

center (self, content)
Centers the alignment subject within its alignment container.
start (self, content)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the alignment container’s start edge in the appropriate axis.
end (self, content)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the alignment container’s end edge in the appropriate axis.
self-start (self)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the alignment subject’s start side in the appropriate axis.
self-end (self)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the alignment subject’s end side in the appropriate axis.
flex-start (self, content)
Only used in flex layout. [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the flex container’s main-start or cross-start side, as appropriate.

When used outside of a flex formatting context, this value behaves as start. That is, on boxes that are not flex items (or pretending to be flex items, such as when determining the static position of an absolutely-positioned box that is a child of a flex container), this value behaves as start when used in the self-alignment properties, and on boxes that are not flex containers, this value behaves as start when used in the content-distribution properties.

flex-end (self, content)
Only used in flex layout. Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the edge of the alignment container corresponding to the flex container’s main-end or cross-end side, as appropriate.

When used outside of a flex formatting context, this value behaves as end. That is, on boxes that are not flex items (or pretending to be flex items, such as when determining the static position of an absolutely-positioned box that is a child of a flex container), this value behaves as end when used in the self-alignment properties, and on boxes that are not flex containers, this value behaves as end when used in the content-distribution properties.

left (self, content)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the alignment container’s line-left or physical left edge, whichever is in the appropriate axis. If the property’s axis is not parallel with either left↔right axis, this value behaves as start.
right (self, content)
Aligns the alignment subject to be flush with the alignment container’s line-right or physical right edge, whichever is in the appropriate axis. If the property’s axis is not parallel with either left↔right axis, this value behaves as start.

Two grammar terms are used to denote this collection of values:

<self-position>
This set is used by justify-self and align-self to align the box within its alignment container, and also by justify-items and align-items (to specify default values for justify-self and align-self).
<self-position> = center | start | end | self-start | self-end |
        flex-start | flex-end;
<content-position>
This set is used by justify-content and align-content to align the box’s contents within itself.
<content-position> = center | start | end | flex-start | flex-end;

Add example images.

Make it easier to understand the dual-axis nature of "start" and "end" wrt orthogonal flows.

4.2. Baseline Alignment: the baseline keyword and first/last modifiers

See CSS Writing Modes 3 §4.1 Introduction to Baselines.

Baseline alignment is a form of positional alignment that aligns multiple alignment subjects within a shared alignment context (such as cells within a row)) by matching up their alignment baselines. If the position of the alignment subjects within a baseline-sharing group is not fully constrained by baseline alignment (i.e., they could be shifted within their respective alignment containers while maintaining baseline-alignment), they are fallback-aligned insofar as possible while preserving their baseline alignment.

The baseline alignment keywords are represented with the <baseline-position> grammar term:

<baseline-position> = [ first | last ]? baseline

The first and last values give a box a baseline alignment preference: either “first” or “last”, respectively, defaulting to “first”.

Values have the following meanings:

baseline
Computes to first baseline, defined below.
first baseline
Specifies participation in first-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box’s first baseline set with the corresponding baseline of its baseline-sharing group. See §8.3 Aligning Boxes by Baseline for more details.

The fallback alignment for first baseline is start.

last baseline
Specifies participation in last-baseline alignment: aligns the alignment baseline of the box’s last baseline set with the corresponding baseline of its baseline-sharing group.̣ See §8.3 Aligning Boxes by Baseline for more details.

The fallback alignment for last baseline is end.

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When specified for align-content, these values trigger baseline content-alignment, shifting the content of the box within its content box, and may also affect the sizing of the box itself. See §5.4 Baseline Content-Alignment.

When specified for align-self/justify-self, these values trigger baseline self-alignment, shifting the entire box within its container, which may affect the sizing of its container. See §6.4 Baseline Self-Alignment.

If both baseline content-alignment and baseline self-alignment are specified in the same axis on the same box, only baseline self-alignment is honored in that axis; the content-alignment in that axis must be treated as start.

Add example images here.

If a box does not belong to a shared alignment context, then the fallback alignment is used. For example, align-content: baseline on a block box falls back to start alignment. The fallback alignment is also used to align the baseline-sharing group within its alignment container.

Note: Because they are equivalent, and baseline is shorter, the CSSOM serializes first baseline as baseline.

Note: For the somewhat-related vertical-align property, due to inconsistent design decisions in CSS2.1, baseline is not equivalent to first baseline as an inline-level box’s baseline alignment preference depends on display. (E.g., inline-block uses its last baseline by default, while inline-table uses its first baseline by default.)

4.3. Distributed Alignment: the stretch, space-between, space-around, and space-evenly keywords

The distributed alignment values are used by justify-content and align-content to disperse a container’s extra space among its alignment subjects.

space-between | space-around | space-evenly | stretch
The distributed alignment values

When space cannot be distributed in this way, these values behave as their fallback alignment. Each distribution value an associated default fallback alignment. (A future level of this module may allow the fallback alignment to be specified explicitly.)

space-between
The alignment subjects are evenly distributed in the alignment container. The first alignment subject is placed flush with the start edge of the alignment container, the last alignment subject is placed flush with the end edge of the alignment container, and the remaining alignment subjects are distributed so that the spacing between any two adjacent alignment subjects is the same.
For example, given three items, all excess space is split in two and distributed: one half between the first two and one half between the last two items.

The default fallback alignment for this value is start.

space-around
The alignment subjects are evenly distributed in the alignment container, with a half-size space on either end. The alignment subjects are distributed so that the spacing between any two adjacent alignment subjects is the same, and the spacing before the first and after the last alignment subject is half the size of the other spacing.
For example, given three items, all excess space is split into sixths and distributed: one sixth at the start, one at the end, and two sixths (one third) each between the first two and between the last two items.

The default fallback alignment for this value is center.

space-evenly
The alignment subjects are evenly distributed in the alignment container, with a full-size space on either end. The alignment subjects are distributed so that the spacing between any two adjacent alignment subjects, before the first alignment subject, and after the last alignment subject is the same.
For example, given three items, all excess space is split into fourths and distributed: to the start, to the end, to between the first two, and to between the last two items.

The default fallback alignment for this value is center.

stretch
If the combined size of the alignment subjects is less than the size of the alignment container, any auto-sized alignment subjects have their size increased equally (not proportionally), while still respecting the constraints imposed by max-height/max-width (or equivalent functionality), so that the combined size exactly fills the alignment container.
For example, given three items, all excess space is split into thirds and distributed: one third to each item.

The default fallback alignment for this value is flex-start. (For layout modes other than flex layout, flex-start is identical to start.)

These values are represented with the <content-distribution> grammar term:

<content-distribution> = space-between | space-around | space-evenly | stretch

4.4. Overflow Alignment: the safe and unsafe keywords and scroll safety limits

When the alignment subject is larger than the alignment container, it will overflow. Some alignment modes, if honored in this situation, may cause data loss: for example, if the contents of a sidebar are centered, when they overflow they may send part of their boxes past the viewport’s start edge, which can’t be scrolled to.

To control this situation, an overflow alignment mode can be explicitly specified. “Unsafe” alignment honors the specified alignment mode in overflow situations, even if it causes data loss, while “safe” alignment changes the alignment mode in overflow situations in an attempt to avoid data loss. The default behavior is to contain the alignment subject within the scrollable area, though at the time of writing this safety feature is not yet implemented.

<overflow-position> = unsafe | safe
safe
If the size of the alignment subject overflows the alignment container, the alignment subject is instead aligned as if the alignment mode were start.
unsafe
Regardless of the relative sizes of the alignment subject and alignment container, the given alignment value is honored.
(no value specified)
If the overflow alignment isn’t explicitly specified, the default overflow alignment is a blend of "safe" and "unsafe" in that an overflowing alignment subject is allowed to overflow its alignment container, but if this would cause it to also overflow the scrollable overflow region of its nearest ancestor scroll container (thus extending into the "unscrollable" region), then its overflow in that direction is limited by biasing any remaining overflow to the opposite side.

It may not be Web-compatible to implement the “smart” default behavior (though we hope so, and believe it to be likely), so UAs should pass any feedback on this point to the WG. UAs that have not implemented the “smart” default behavior must behave as unsafe.

The figure below illustrates the difference in "safe" versus "unsafe" centering, using a column flexbox as an example:
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The items in the figure on the left are set to align-self: safe center;, while those in the figure on the right are set to align-self: unsafe center;. If this column flex container was placed against the left edge of the page, the "safe" behavior would be more desirable, as the long item would be fully readable. In other circumstances, the "unsafe" centering behavior might be better, as it correctly centers all the items.

5. Content Distribution: aligning a box’s contents within itself

5.1. The justify-content And align-content Properties

The content-distribution properties align-content and justify-content (and their place-content shorthand) control alignment of the box’s content within its content box.

Diagram showing that the alignment of the content within the element is affected.
Name: align-content
Value: normal | <baseline-position> | <content-distribution> | <overflow-position>? <content-position>
Initial: normal
Applies to: block containers, multicol containers, flex containers, and grid containers
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no
Name: justify-content
Value: normal | <content-distribution> | <overflow-position>? [ <content-position> | left | right ]
Initial: normal
Applies to: multicol containers, flex containers, and grid containers
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

Aligns the contents of the box as a whole (as the alignment subject) within the box itself (as the alignment container): along the inline/row/main axis of the box (for justify-content) or the block/column/cross axis of the box (for align-content). Values other than normal are defined in §4 Alignment Keywords, above.

For all layout modes, the alignment subject and alignment container both assume the writing mode of the box the *-content property is set on.

5.1.1. Block Containers (Including Table Cells)

Alignment Container The block container’s content box.
Alignment Subject(s) The entire contents of the block, as a unit.
align-content Axis The block axis. If a <content-distribution> is specified its fallback alignment is used instead.
justify-content Axis Does not apply to and has no effect on block containers.
normal Behavior All values other than normal force the block container to establish a new formatting context.

For table cells, the behavior of the normal depends on the computed value of vertical-align: top makes it behave as start, middle makes it behave as center, bottom makes it behave as end, and all other values make it behave as baseline. [CSS2]

normal otherwise behaves as start.

5.1.2. Multicol Containers

Alignment Container The multi-column element’s content box.
Alignment Subject(s) The column boxes, with any spacing inserted between column boxes added to the relevant column gaps.
align-content Axis The block axis, treating the column boxes (and any column-spanning elements), as a singular unit. If a <content-distribution> is specified its fallback alignment is used instead.
justify-content Axis The inline axis.
normal Behavior normal behaves as stretch; both are defined as described in the column-sizing rules of [CSS3-MULTICOL].

In the case of multi-column elements with a non-auto column-width, justify-content values other than normal or stretch cause the columns to take their specified column-width rather than stretching to fill the container. The column boxes are then aligned as specified by justify-content.

5.1.3. Flex Containers

Alignment Container The flex container’s content box.
Alignment Subject(s) For justify-content, the flex items in each flex line.

For align-content, the flex lines. Note, this only has an effect on multi-line flex containers.

align-content Axis The cross axis.
justify-content Axis The justify-content property applies along the main axis, but since stretching in the main axis is controlled by flex, stretch behaves as flex-start.
normal Behavior normal behaves as stretch.

See [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] for details.

5.1.4. Grid Containers

Alignment Container The grid container’s content box.
Alignment Subject(s) The grid tracks in the appropriate axis, with any spacing inserted between tracks added to the relevant gutters, and treating collapsed gutters as a single opportunity for space insertion.
align-content Axis The block (column) axis, aligning the grid rows.
justify-content Axis The inline (row) axis, aligning the grid columns.
normal Behavior normal behaves as stretch.

See [CSS-GRID-1] for details.

5.2. Content-Distribution Shorthand: the place-content property

Name: place-content
Value: <‘align-content’> <‘justify-content’>?
Initial: normal
Applies to: block containers, flex containers, and grid containers
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: see individual properties
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

This shorthand property sets both the align-content and justify-content properties in one declaration. The first value is assigned to align-content. The second value is assigned to justify-content; if omitted, it is copied from the first value, unless that value is a <baseline-position> in which case it is defaulted to start.

5.3. Overflow and Scroll Positions

The content-distribution properties also affect the initial scroll position, setting it to display the appropriate portion of the scrollable area. In other words, the scrollable overflow region is aligned relative to the viewport as specified by the content-distribution properties. Additionally, so that the content remains in the scrollable overflow region in order to be scrollable, the scroll and auto values of overflow trigger safe content alignment always.

For example, if a scrollable flex container is set to justify-content: flex-end (or justify-content: flex-start with flex-flow: row-reverse), it will be initially displayed scrolled all the way to the main-end edge of the scrollable area, and its content will appear to overflow its main-start edge.

5.4. Baseline Content-Alignment

The content of boxes participating in row-like layout contexts (shared alignment contexts) can be baseline-aligned to each other. baseline content-alignment effectively increases the padding on the box to align the alignment baseline of its contents with that of other baseline-aligned boxes in its baseline-sharing group.

The set of boxes that participate in baseline content-alignment depends on the layout model:

Table Cells:
A table cell participates in first (last) baseline content-alignment in its startmost (endmost) row if its inline axis is parallel to that of the table itself and its computed align-content is first baseline (last baseline).

Note: Baseline content-alignment of cells sharing a column is not supported; however this may be added in a future level if there is sufficient demand and implementer interest.

Flex Items:
A flex item participates in first (last) baseline content-alignment in its flex line if its computed align-content is first baseline (last baseline), its inline axis is parallel to the main axis, and its computed align-self is stretch or self-start (self-end). For this purpose, the start, end, flex-start, and flex-end values of align-self are treated as either self-start or self-end, whichever they end up equivalent to.
Grid Items:
A grid item participates in first (last) baseline content-alignment in its startmost (endmost) row or column (whichever is parallel to its inline axis) if its computed align-content is first baseline (last baseline), and its computed align-self or justify-self (whichever affects its block axis) is stretch or self-start (self-end). For this purpose, the start, end, flex-start, and flex-end values of align-self are treated as either self-start or self-end, whichever they end up equivalent to.

See §8.3 Aligning Boxes by Baseline for exact details. Baseline content-alignment can increase the intrinsic size of the box.

6. Self-Alignment: Aligning the Box within its Parent

The self-alignment properties align-self and justify-self (and their place-self shorthand) control alignment of the box within its containing block.

Diagram showing that the alignment of the element within its containing block is affected.

6.1. Inline/Main-Axis Alignment: the justify-self property

Name: justify-self
Value: auto | normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <overflow-position>? [ <self-position> | left | right ]
Initial: auto
Applies to: block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

Justifies the box (as the alignment subject) within its containing block (as the alignment container) along the inline/row/main axis of the alignment container: the box’s outer edges are aligned within its alignment container as described by its alignment value. Values have the following meanings:

auto

Behaves as normal if the box has no parent, or when determining the actual position of an absolutely positioned box. It behaves as the computed justify-items value of the parent box (minus any legacy keywords) otherwise (including when determining the static position of an absolutely positioned box).

normal

Represents the “default” alignment for the layout mode. Its behavior depends on the layout mode, as described below.

stretch

When the box’s computed width/height (as appropriate to the axis) is auto and neither of its margins (in the appropriate axis) are auto, sets the box’s used size to the length necessary to make its outer size as close to filling the alignment container as possible while still respecting the constraints imposed by min-height/min-width/max-height/max-width.

Unless otherwise specified, this value falls back to flex-start generally, and to self-start or self-end if the box has also specified first baseline or last baseline baseline content-alignment (respectively) in the same axis.

Note: The stretch keyword can cause elements to shrink, to fit their container.

<baseline-position>

Indicates baseline self-alignment, as defined in §4.2 Baseline Alignment: the baseline keyword and first/last modifiers, §6.4 Baseline Self-Alignment, and §8 Baseline Alignment Details.

<overflow-position>? <self-position>

Defined in §4 Alignment Keywords, above.

Values other than stretch cause a width/height of auto to be treated as fit-content.

Note: auto margins, because they effectively adjust the size of the margin area, take precedence over justify-self.

6.1.1. Block-Level Boxes

justify-self Axis The block’s containing block’s inline axis.
Alignment Container The block’s containing block, except that for block-level elements that establish a block formatting context and are placed next to a float, the alignment container is reduced by the space taken up by the float, assuming the writing mode of the containing block.
Alignment Subject The block’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the block.
normal Behavior Behaves as stretch.
Other Details In terms of CSS2.1 block-level formatting [CSS2], the rules for “over-constrained” computations in section 10.3.3 are ignored in favor of alignment as specified here and the used value of the margin properties are therefore not adjusted to correct for the over-constraint.

This property does not apply to floats.

The effect of these rules is that an auto-sized block-level table, for example, can be aligned while still having side margins. If the table’s max-content size is narrower than its containing block, then it is shrink-wrapped to that size and aligned as specified. If the table’s max-content size is wider, then it fills its containing block, and the margins provide appropriate spacing from the containing block edges.

6.1.2. Absolutely-Positioned Boxes

This section describes the effect of justify-self on how the margin box of an absolutely-positioned box which is not statically-positioned is positioned with respect to its (absolute-positioning) containing block.

justify-self Axis The block’s containing block’s inline axis.
Alignment Container The box’s containing block, as modified by the inset properties (top/right/bottom/left), assuming the writing mode of the containing block.
Alignment Subject The box’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the box.
normal Behavior

Note: This somewhat bizarre behavior is required for compat with the behavior specified in CSS 2.1.

Other Details In terms of CSS2.1 formatting [CSS2], the rules for “over-constrained” computations in section 10.3.7 are ignored in favor of alignment as specified here, and the used value of the inset properties are not adjusted to correct for the over-constraint.

Values other than stretch or normal cause non-replaced absolutely-positioned boxes to use fit-content sizing for calculating auto sizes in the affected axis.

Note that stretch does cause replaced absolutely-positioned boxes to fill their containing block just as non-replaced ones do.

If either inset property in this dimension is auto, justify-self has no effect. (If only one inset property is auto, the computations in CSS2 section 10.3.7 determine its size and position; if both are auto, then the box is statically-positioned, see §6.1.3 Static Position of Absolutely-Positioned Boxes.)

6.1.3. Static Position of Absolutely-Positioned Boxes

This section describes the effect of justify-self on how the margin box of an absolutely-positioned box which is statically-positioned is positioned with respect to its static-position rectangle.

justify-self Axis The inline/row/main axis of the box’s parent box.
Alignment Container The box’s static-position rectangle, as defined by its parent box’s layout mode, assuming the writing mode of the static-position containing block.
Alignment Subject The box’s margin box after laying out the box, treated as fixed-size for the purpose of alignment, assuming the writing mode of the box.
normal Behavior Behaves as flex-start (the fallback of stretch for fixed-size boxes).

6.1.4. Table Cells

This property does not apply to table cells, because their position and size is fully constrained by table layout.

6.1.5. Flex Items

This property does not apply to flex items, because there is more than one item in the main axis. See flex for stretching and justify-content for main-axis alignment. [CSS-FLEXBOX-1]

6.1.6. Grid Items

justify-self Axis The grid’s row axis (inline axis).
Alignment Container The grid item’s grid area, assuming the writing mode of the grid container.
Alignment Subject The grid item’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the grid item.
normal Behavior Effectively stretch for items with no intrinsic aspect ratio, and start for items with an intrinsic aspect ratio: see Grid Item Sizing in [CSS-GRID-1]. The resulting box is start-aligned.

See [CSS-GRID-1] for details.

6.2. Block/Cross-Axis Alignment: the align-self property

Name: align-self
Value: auto | normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <overflow-position>? <self-position>
Initial: auto
Applies to: flex items, grid items, and absolutely-positioned boxes
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

Aligns the box (as the alignment subject) within its containing block (as the alignment container) along the block/column/cross axis of the alignment container: the box’s outer edges are aligned within its alignment container as described by its alignment value. Values have the following meanings:

auto

Behaves as normal if the box has no parent, or when determining the actual position of an absolutely positioned box. It behaves as the computed align-items value of the parent box (minus any legacy keywords) otherwise (including when determining the static position of an absolutely positioned box).

normal

Represents the “default” alignment for the layout mode, as defined below.

stretch

As defined for justify-self in §6.1 Inline/Main-Axis Alignment: the justify-self property.

<baseline-position>

Indicates baseline self-alignment, as defined in §4.2 Baseline Alignment: the baseline keyword and first/last modifiers, §6.4 Baseline Self-Alignment, and §8 Baseline Alignment Details.

<overflow-position>? <self-position>

Defined in §4 Alignment Keywords, above.

Note: auto margins, because they effectively adjust the size of the margin area, take precedence over align-self.

6.2.1. Block-Level Boxes

The align-self property does not apply to block-level boxes (including floats), because there is more than one item in the block axis.

6.2.2. Absolutely-Positioned Boxes

This section describes the effect of align-self on how the margin box of an absolutely-positioned box which is not statically-positioned is positioned with respect to its (absolute-positioning) containing block.

align-self Axis The box’s containing block’s block axis.
Alignment Container The box’s containing block, as modified by the inset properties (top/right/bottom/left), assuming the writing mode of the containing block.
Alignment Subject The box’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the box.
normal Behavior

Note: This somewhat bizarre behavior is required for compat with the behavior specified in CSS 2.1.

Other Details In terms of CSS2.1 formatting [CSS2], the rules for "over-constrained" computations in section 10.6.4 are ignored in favor of alignment as specified here and the used value of the inset properties are not adjusted to correct for the over-constraint.

Values other than stretch or normal cause non-replaced absolutely-positioned boxes to use fit-content sizing for calculating auto sizes in the affected axis.

Note that stretch does cause replaced absolutely-positioned boxes to fill their containing block just as non-replaced ones do.

If either inset property in this dimension is auto, align-self has no effect. (If only one inset property is auto, the computations in CSS2 section 10.6.4 determine its size and position; if both are auto, then the box is statically-positioned, see §6.2.3 Static Position of Absolutely-Positioned Boxes.)

6.2.3. Static Position of Absolutely-Positioned Boxes

This section describes the effect of align-self on how the margin box of an absolutely-positioned box which is statically-positioned is positioned with respect to its static-position rectangle.

align-self Axis The block/column/cross axis of the box’s parent box.
Alignment Container The box’s static-position rectangle, as defined by its parent box’s layout mode, assuming the writing mode of the static-position containing block.
Alignment Subject The box’s margin box after laying out the box, treated as fixed-size for the purpose of alignment, assuming the writing mode of the box.
normal Behavior Behaves as flex-start (the fallback of stretch for fixed-size boxes).

6.2.4. Table Cells

This property does not apply to table cells, because their position and size is fully constrained by table layout.

6.2.5. Flex Items

align-self Axis The flex container’s cross axis.
Alignment Container The flex line the flex item is in, assuming the writing mode of the flex container.
Alignment Subject The flex item’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the flex item.
normal Behavior Behaves as stretch.

See [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] for details.

6.2.6. Grid Items

align-self Axis The grid’s column axis (block axis).
Alignment Container The grid item’s grid area, assuming the writing mode of the grid container.
Alignment Subject The grid item’s margin box, assuming the writing mode of the grid item.
normal Behavior Behaves as stretch for non-replaced items. For replaced items, see Grid Item Sizing in [CSS-GRID-1].

6.3. Self-Alignment Shorthand: the place-self property

Name: place-self
Value: <‘align-self’> <‘justify-self’>?
Initial: auto
Applies to: block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: see individual properties
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

This shorthand property sets both the align-self and justify-self properties in a single declaration. The first value is assigned to align-self. The second value is assigned to justify-self; if omitted, it is copied from the first value.

6.4. Baseline Self-Alignment

Boxes participating in row-like layout contexts (shared alignment contexts) can be baseline-aligned to each other. baseline self-alignment effectively increases the margins on the box to align its alignment baseline with that of other baseline-aligned boxes in its baseline-sharing group.

The set of boxes that participate in baseline self-alignment depends on the layout model:

Flex Items:
A flex item participates in first (last) baseline self-alignment in its flex line if its computed align-self is first baseline (last baseline). See [CSS-FLEXBOX-1] for details.
Grid Items:
A grid item participates in first (last) baseline self-alignment in its startmost (endmost) row or column if its align-self or justify-self property (respectively) computes to first baseline (last baseline).

See §8.3 Aligning Boxes by Baseline for exact details. Baseline self-alignment can increase the intrinsic size contribution of the box.

7. Default Alignment

The align-items and justify-items properties (and their place-items shorthand) set the default align-self and justify-self behavior of the element’s child boxes.

Diagram showing that the alignment of grid items within the element is affected.

7.1. Inline/Main-Axis Alignment: the justify-items property

Name: justify-items
Value: normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | [ <overflow-position>? <self-position> ] | [ legacy || [ left | right | center ] ]
Initial: legacy
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value, except for auto (see prose)
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

This property specifies the default justify-self for all of the child boxes (including anonymous boxes) participating in this box’s formatting context. Values have the following meanings:

legacy
This keyword causes the value to effectively inherit into descendants.

If the legacy keyword appears on its own (without an accompanying left, right, or center keyword): if the inherited value of justify-items includes the legacy keyword, this value computes to the inherited value; otherwise it computes to normal.

When justify-self:auto references the value of justify-items, only the alignment keyword, not the legacy keyword, is referenced by it. It exists to implement the legacy alignment behavior of HTML’s <center> element and align attribute.

Other values have no special handling and are merely referenced by justify-self.

7.2. Block/Cross-Axis Alignment: the align-items property

Name: align-items
Value: normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | [ <overflow-position>? <self-position> ]
Initial: normal
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: specified value
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

This property specifies the default align-self for all of the child boxes (including anonymous boxes) participating in this box’s formatting context.

Values have no special handling and are merely referenced by align-self.

7.3. Self-Alignment Shorthand: the place-items property

Name: place-items
Value: [ normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <self-position> ] [ normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <self-position> ]?
Initial: see individual properties
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: no
Percentages: n/a
Media: visual
Computed value: see individual properties
Canonical order: per grammar
Animatable: no

This shorthand property sets both the align-items and justify-items properties in a single declaration. The first value is assigned to align-items. The second value is assigned to justify-items; if omitted, it is copied from the first value.

8. Baseline Alignment Details

Boxes in a baseline-sharing group are aligned to each other using their alignment baselines. For example, in horizontal writing modes, specifying align-content: baseline on table cells in the same row will align the baselines of their first formatted lines. This section defines exactly how baseline alignment is performed in consideration of the myriad baselines and writing modes that exist in internationalized modern CSS.

A baseline set is a set of baselines (alphabetic, central, etc.) associated with a common baseline table. Typically, a typesetting tradition will use only one of these, but different writing systems use different baselines, and mixing writing systems can result in using more than one within a single line. Refer to CSS Writing Modes 3 §4.1 Introduction to Baselines for more information on baselines and writing modes.

8.1. Determining the Baselines of a Box

The first baseline set (and last baseline set) of a box for a given axis is the baseline set nominally associated with the first (last) line of text within the box. The alignment baseline is one of these, usually the dominant baseline associated with the shared alignment context. (See the dominant-baseline and alignment-baseline properties in [CSS-INLINE-3].)

The first and last baseline sets of a box are determined differently based on the layout model, as follows:

block containers
The first (last) baseline set of a block container is generated from the dominant first (last) baseline of the first (last) in-flow line box in the block container, or is taken from the first (last) in-flow block-level child in the block container that contributes a set of first (last) baselines, whichever comes first (last). If there is no such line box or child, then the block container has no baseline set.
tables
The first (last) baseline set of a table box is the first (last) baseline set of its first (last) row.

When finding the first (last) baseline set of an inline-block, any baselines contributed by table boxes must be skipped. (This quirk is a legacy behavior from [CSS2].)

table rows
If any cells in the row participate in first baseline (last baseline) alignment along the row axis, the first (last) baseline set of the row is generated from their shared alignment baseline and the row’s first available font, after alignment has been performed. Otherwise, the first (last) baseline set of the row is synthesized from the lowest and highest content edges of the cells in the row. [CSS2]
flex containers
See Flex Baselines in [CSS-FLEXBOX-1].
grid containers
See Grid Baselines in [CSS-GRID-1].

To generate baselines for a box from a single baseline, use the baseline table from the font settings and first available font of that box, and align that baseline set to the given single baseline.

To synthesize baselines from a rectangle (or two parallel lines), synthesize the alphabetic baseline from the line-under line, and the central baseline by averaging the positions of the two edges or lines. See CSS Inline Layout 3 § Synthesizing Baselines for rules on synthesizing additional baselines.

Note: The edges used to synthesize baselines from a box depend on their formatting context: inline-level boxes synthesize from their margin edges [CSS-INLINE-3], table cells synthesize from their content edges [CSS2], and grid and flex items synthesize from their border edges [CSS-GRID-1] [CSS-FLEXBOX-1].

In general, the writing mode of the box, shape, or other object being aligned is used to determine the line-under and line-over edges for synthesis. However, when that writing mode’s block flow direction is parallel to the axis of the alignment context, an axis-compatible writing mode must be assumed:

For the purposes of finding the baselines of a box, it and all its in-flow descendants with a scrolling mechanism (see the overflow property) must be considered as if scrolled to their origin. Furthermore, if, in the case of a box with non-visible overflow, the resulting position of a first (last) baseline is past a box’s end (start) border edge, its position is clamped to that border edge.

8.2. Baseline Alignment Grouping

A baseline-sharing group is composed of boxes that participate in baseline alignment together. This is possible only if they

Boxes share an alignment context, along a particular axis, and established by a particular box, when they are:

Note: Conceptually, the inline-level boxes in a line box also share a self-alignment context and participate in a baseline-sharing group; however they only baseline-align in response to the vertical-align property, not any of the properties defined in this module. See [CSS-INLINE-3].

If a box spans multiple shared alignment contexts, then it participates in first (last) baseline alignment within its start-most (end-most) shared alignment context along that axis. For example, a table cell spanning three rows participates in first-baseline alignment with the table cells in the first row that it spans, or alternatively in last-baseline alignment with the table cells in the last row that it spans.

The baseline alignment preferences of two boxes in a baseline-sharing group are compatible if they have:

8.3. Aligning Boxes by Baseline

Given a set of alignment subjects and their baselines that all belong to a single baseline-sharing group, the alignment subjects are baseline-aligned as follows:

First, generate the baseline-sharing group’s baseline table from the first available font of the group’s alignment context and overlay also the mirror of this baseline table by aligning their central baselines. These are the baseline “grids” to which the alignment subjects will align.

Next, align each alignment subject by its specified alignment baseline to the group’s baseline table or its mirror, whichever matches the alignment subject’s line orientation. Unless otherwise specified (e.g. via the alignment-baseline property), the alignment baseline is the dominant baseline of the alignment context.

Position the aligned baseline-sharing group within the alignment container according to the fallback alignment associated with the specified baseline alignment preference. For first (last) baseline content-alignment, then add the minimum necessary extra space between the alignment container’s start (end) content edge and the alignment subject’s edge to align the start (end) margin edges of all the alignment containers in the alignment context while maintaining baseline alignment within the baseline-sharing group.

9. Changes

Changes since the previous Working Draft include:

Changes since the 7 April 2017 Working Draft include:

10. Privacy and Security Considerations

As a simple layout spec, this introduces no new privacy or security considerations.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks goes to David Baron, Javier Fernandez, Markus Mielke, Alex Mogilevsky, and the participants in the CSSWG’s March 2008 F2F alignment discussions.

Conformance

Document conventions

Conformance requirements are expressed with a combination of descriptive assertions and RFC 2119 terminology. The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in the normative parts of this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119. However, for readability, these words do not appear in all uppercase letters in this specification.

All of the text of this specification is normative except sections explicitly marked as non-normative, examples, and notes. [RFC2119]

Examples in this specification are introduced with the words “for example” or are set apart from the normative text with class="example", like this:

This is an example of an informative example.

Informative notes begin with the word “Note” and are set apart from the normative text with class="note", like this:

Note, this is an informative note.

Advisements are normative sections styled to evoke special attention and are set apart from other normative text with <strong class="advisement">, like this: UAs MUST provide an accessible alternative.

Conformance classes

Conformance to this specification is defined for three conformance classes:

style sheet
A CSS style sheet.
renderer
A UA that interprets the semantics of a style sheet and renders documents that use them.
authoring tool
A UA that writes a style sheet.

A style sheet is conformant to this specification if all of its statements that use syntax defined in this module are valid according to the generic CSS grammar and the individual grammars of each feature defined in this module.

A renderer is conformant to this specification if, in addition to interpreting the style sheet as defined by the appropriate specifications, it supports all the features defined by this specification by parsing them correctly and rendering the document accordingly. However, the inability of a UA to correctly render a document due to limitations of the device does not make the UA non-conformant. (For example, a UA is not required to render color on a monochrome monitor.)

An authoring tool is conformant to this specification if it writes style sheets that are syntactically correct according to the generic CSS grammar and the individual grammars of each feature in this module, and meet all other conformance requirements of style sheets as described in this module.

Requirements for Responsible Implementation of CSS

The following sections define several conformance requirements for implementing CSS responsibly, in a way that promotes interoperability in the present and future.

Partial Implementations

So that authors can exploit the forward-compatible parsing rules to assign fallback values, CSS renderers must treat as invalid (and ignore as appropriate) any at-rules, properties, property values, keywords, and other syntactic constructs for which they have no usable level of support. In particular, user agents must not selectively ignore unsupported property values and honor supported values in a single multi-value property declaration: if any value is considered invalid (as unsupported values must be), CSS requires that the entire declaration be ignored.

Implementations of Unstable and Proprietary Features

To avoid clashes with future stable CSS features, the CSSWG recommends following best practices for the implementation of unstable features and proprietary extensions to CSS.

Implementations of CR-level Features

Once a specification reaches the Candidate Recommendation stage, implementers should release an unprefixed implementation of any CR-level feature they can demonstrate to be correctly implemented according to spec, and should avoid exposing a prefixed variant of that feature.

To establish and maintain the interoperability of CSS across implementations, the CSS Working Group requests that non-experimental CSS renderers submit an implementation report (and, if necessary, the testcases used for that implementation report) to the W3C before releasing an unprefixed implementation of any CSS features. Testcases submitted to W3C are subject to review and correction by the CSS Working Group.

Further information on submitting testcases and implementation reports can be found from on the CSS Working Group’s website at https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/Test/. Questions should be directed to the public-css-testsuite@w3.org mailing list.

Index

Terms defined by this specification

Terms defined by reference

References

Normative References

[CSS-CASCADE-4]
Elika Etemad; Tab Atkins Jr.. CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 4. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-cascade-4/
[CSS-DISPLAY-3]
Elika Etemad. CSS Display Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-display-3/
[CSS-FLEXBOX-1]
Tab Atkins Jr.; Elika Etemad; Rossen Atanassov. CSS Flexible Box Layout Module Level 1. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-flexbox-1/
[CSS-FONTS-3]
John Daggett. CSS Fonts Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-fonts-3/
[CSS-GRID-1]
Tab Atkins Jr.; Elika Etemad; Rossen Atanassov. CSS Grid Layout Module Level 1. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-grid-1/
[CSS-INLINE-3]
Dave Cramer; Elika Etemad; Steve Zilles. CSS Inline Layout Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-inline-3/
[CSS-OVERFLOW-3]
David Baron; Florian Rivoal. CSS Overflow Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-overflow-3/
[CSS-POSITION-3]
Rossen Atanassov; Arron Eicholz. CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-position-3/
[CSS-SIZING-3]
Elika Etemad. CSS Intrinsic & Extrinsic Sizing Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-sizing-3/
[CSS-TEXT-3]
Elika Etemad; Koji Ishii. CSS Text Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-text-3/
[CSS-VALUES-3]
Tab Atkins Jr.; Elika Etemad. CSS Values and Units Module Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-values-3/
[CSS-WRITING-MODES-3]
Elika Etemad; Koji Ishii. CSS Writing Modes Level 3. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-writing-modes-3/
[CSS-WRITING-MODES-4]
CSS Writing Modes Module Level 4 URL: https://drafts.csswg.org/css-writing-modes-4/
[CSS2]
Bert Bos; et al. Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 1 (CSS 2.1) Specification. 7 June 2011. REC. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2
[CSS22]
Bert Bos. Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 2 (CSS 2.2) Specification. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS22/
[CSS3-MULTICOL]
Håkon Wium Lie. CSS Multi-column Layout Module. 12 April 2011. CR. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-multicol
[CSS3-SELECTORS]
Tantek Çelik; et al. Selectors Level 3. 29 September 2011. REC. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-selectors/
[RFC2119]
S. Bradner. Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. March 1997. Best Current Practice. URL: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119

Property Index

Name Value Initial Applies to Inh. %ages Media Ani­mat­able Canonical order Com­puted value
align-content normal | <baseline-position> | <content-distribution> | <overflow-position>? <content-position> normal block containers, multicol containers, flex containers, and grid containers no n/a visual no per grammar specified value
align-items normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | [ <overflow-position>? <self-position> ] normal all elements no n/a visual no per grammar specified value
align-self auto | normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <overflow-position>? <self-position> auto flex items, grid items, and absolutely-positioned boxes no n/a visual no per grammar specified value
justify-content normal | <content-distribution> | <overflow-position>? [ <content-position> | left | right ] normal multicol containers, flex containers, and grid containers no n/a visual no per grammar specified value
justify-items normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | [ <overflow-position>? <self-position> ] | [ legacy || [ left | right | center ] ] legacy all elements no n/a visual no per grammar specified value, except for auto (see prose)
justify-self auto | normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <overflow-position>? [ <self-position> | left | right ] auto block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items no n/a visual no per grammar specified value
place-content <‘align-content’> <‘justify-content’>? normal block containers, flex containers, and grid containers no n/a visual no per grammar see individual properties
place-items [ normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <self-position> ] [ normal | stretch | <baseline-position> | <self-position> ]? see individual properties all elements no n/a visual no per grammar see individual properties
place-self <‘align-self’> <‘justify-self’>? auto block-level boxes, absolutely-positioned boxes, and grid items no n/a visual no per grammar see individual properties

Issues Index

Add example images.
Make it easier to understand the dual-axis nature of "start" and "end" wrt orthogonal flows.
Add example images here.
It may not be Web-compatible to implement the “smart” default behavior (though we hope so, and believe it to be likely), so UAs should pass any feedback on this point to the WG. UAs that have not implemented the “smart” default behavior must behave as unsafe.