EM to Point

EM to Point Converter

Convert context-relative em values into absolute typographic points. Enter the em value and the parent font size in pixels; the converter multiplies them to get pixels and then applies the fixed CSS ratio of 0.75 points per pixel.

Formula

pt = em × parent font size × 0.75

The 0.75 factor comes from the CSS definition of an inch: 96px = 72pt.

Worked example: checking footnotes before printing

A report page is styled with a 16px body. Footnotes use font-size: 0.75em inside a .notes section that is already 0.875em. The footnote size is 16 × 0.875 × 0.75 = 10.5px, which is 7.875pt. Many print guidelines recommend at least 8pt for small print, so the footnotes are slightly too small; bumping the inner value to 0.8em gives 11.2px, or 8.4pt.

To reproduce this in the tool, first convert 0.875em with a base of 16 using EM to PX (14px), then enter 0.75 here with 14 as the base.

When em to pt is useful

• Setting a minimum legible size in print stylesheets
• Matching web components to a brand guide that lists sizes in points
• Comparing browser output with a Word or PDF template

Keep the parent in mind

Because em inherits through nesting, always use the computed font size of the direct parent as the base. You can read it in your browser's developer tools under the Computed tab.

For root-relative values, use REM to Point instead.