🅰️ Print
Print & Typography Units
Convert points, picas, CSS pixels, inches, centimetres, millimetres and Q. Enter a value, choose the units, then press Convert.
About the Print & Typography Units
A point is 1/72 inch in modern digital typography, a pica is 12 points, and a CSS pixel is 1/96 inch. That makes 1 point exactly 1.333 CSS pixels and 1 pica exactly 16 pixels. Print workflows still use points and picas; screens use pixels; the physical world uses millimetres and inches.
The Q unit is 1/40 of a centimetre, used in Japanese and some European typesetting. The converter keeps all of these on the CSS 96 dpi convention, which is the reference browsers use for physical units like `in`, `cm` and `mm`.
How the calculation works
- 1 inch = 72 points = 6 picas = 96 CSS pixels.
- 1 point = 1.3333 CSS pixels; 1 pica = 16 CSS pixels.
- 1 CSS pixel = 0.264583 mm = 0.0104167 in.
- 1 Q = 0.25 mm = 0.944882 CSS pixels.
Reference values
| Typography unit | Points | Pixels (96 dpi) | Millimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 pt | 12 | 16 | 4.233 |
| 1 pica | 12 | 16 | 4.233 |
| 1 inch | 72 | 96 | 25.4 |
| 1 cm | 28.346 | 37.795 | 10 |
| 1 Q | 0.75 | 1 | 0.25 |
| 16 px | 12 | 16 | 4.233 |
Worked example: from points to print size
Twelve-point type is 12 ÷ 72 = 0.1667 in, or 4.233 mm, and 16 CSS pixels. A six-pica measure is 72 pt, which is 1 in or 25.4 mm. A 1,000 px image is 10.42 in wide at 96 dpi, but only 3.33 in at 300 dpi: the pixel count is fixed, so the printed size depends on the output resolution.
This is why a logo that looks sharp on screen can look soft in print. For a 300 dpi print, supply at least 300 pixels for every inch of finished width. Conversely, a 3,000 px photo printed at 300 dpi is 10 in wide; printing it at 600 dpi halves the physical size without adding detail.
Line length, leading and the measure
A comfortable line of body text runs about 45–75 characters, which in 10–11 pt type is a measure of roughly 20–32 picas. A six-pica column is narrow enough for a caption; a 40-pica column at 10 pt is too wide, and the eye loses its place on the return. When a measure is long, increase the leading as well: 10 pt type on 12 pt leading works at 24 picas but feels cramped at 40.
Leading is specified as the baseline-to-baseline distance, not the gap between lines. “10 on 12” means 10 pt type with 12 pt leading, a ratio of 1.2. Screens generally need a little more, around 1.4–1.6, because the reading distance and the absence of paper texture change how the eye tracks. CSS line-height accepts that ratio directly.
Frequently asked questions
Sources and standards
The PostScript point is 1/72 inch and the pica is 12 points, while the Didot point used in continental Europe is slightly larger. The W3C CSS Values specification fixes the ratios browsers apply, and the page notes where print typography and screen CSS diverge.