Maintain aspect ratio of div but fill screen width and height in CSS?
Want to maintain an aspect ratio and fill the screen using CSS with viewport width (vw
) and calc()
? Set your div
to width: 100vw
and height
using calc()
with your needed aspect ratio, like so:
Apply it to your div
:
This will keep a 16:9 ratio
for a fullscreen div. You can then replace (9 / 16)
to fit your custom aspect ratio needs.
Viewport units: A CSS superhero
Viewport units (vw
, vh
) are like superheroes of CSS, they do heavy lifting for responsive designs. To stretch your div to cover the whole screen, set your max-width
and max-height
in relation to the viewport. A tiny CSS trick that can make your layout design as flexible as a gymnast!
Vertical and horizontal centering: the first hurdle in CSS
Remember, centering content can be easier than catching a fly with chopsticks! Make your life easier with flex
. Here's a little CSS "lifehack" to center your content:
Browser support: No CSS superhero left behind
CSS features are like Avengers — some might not be supported in all browsers (looking at you, IE). So you gotta check the "power rating" of CSS features on caniuse.com. Otherwise, you may need an old-school Captain America-esque trick for fallbacks.
An "Alakazam!" for aspect ratio
Got more elements to deal with? Use a CSS mixin or function like some magical spell to give all of them the same superpowers of maintaining consistent ratios!
When the world isn’t a fixed size
Use media queries to wear "Invisibility Cloaks" on your content at different viewport sizes:
object-fit: For the mirror of Erised
For images and videos, object-fit
is your magical spell to make them abide by your "Desire to fill up the space" while maintaining aspect ratio:
Hidden magic in the backdrop
Put some magic in the backdrop with gradient or patterns to slightly hint the aspect ratio:
Dialing back the magic: Dealing with averagely magical (old) browsers
Before CSS3 came along with its newer spells, wizards used old tricks for aspect ratio. These are still handy for ancient browsers, and they work like a charm (pun intended). Here's a magical "old books" trick:
Manipulating the magic: precise magical charms
Play around with using rem
and vw
to scale your fonts like a magic trick:
Last but not least, @Danield's spellbook
Consider @Danield's spellbook for an in-depth discussion on aspect ratios and practical implementations.
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