Introduction to CSS for Paged MediaIntroduction to CSS for Paged Media

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a type of style sheet which can be used for not only Web designs, but also a variety of printing uses and page media such as PDF. This introduction guide will explain CSS Paged Media formatting based on Antenna House Formatter, which implements CSS3, and includes CSS samples.

Free Downloads

➥ HTML+CSS zip — As this document specifies CSS3 for layout, it cannot be rendered completely by any browser. Please download Formatter for rendering.

➥ PDF/UA version

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CSS Formatting Options

CSS is a stylesheet language that is used to set the look and feel of documents you write in HTML, XHTML and XML. When you use Formatter, you’ll have access to the 3 levels of style information available for the CSS stylesheet used:

  1. The document’s default style
  2. A specialized style for the stylesheet itself, which be applied to a wide range of documents
  3. A document-specific style that has its entire layout commands specified in your document

What are the differences between XSL-FO and CSS formatting for paged media? Check out our XSL-FO/CSS Comparison Guide to learn more about which formatting technology best fits your document requirements.

When CSS is used for paged media formatting, Web and print documents are created from a single XML or HTML document. The requirements for CSS has evolved over the years and we are continuously adding new CSS features to Formatter. 

Our compliance efforts allow you to use Formatter to support documents using CSS2.1 and CSS3 — the CSS3 page model support has expanded to high-quality CSS formatting options as they become available. The latest release of Formatter V7 currently meets the requirements of the new CSS3 specifications, so if your company plans to start using CSS for print or is considering transitioning your print media to CSS, we’ve got you covered.

 

Additional CSS Links

CSS Conformance
XSL-FO/CSS Comparison Guide
XSL-FO/CSS Samples
XSL/CSS Properties
XSL/CSS Extensions
Float Extensions
Ruby Extensions