How to vertically align an image inside a div

Question

How can you align an image inside of a containing div?

Example

In my example, I need to vertically center the <img> in the <div> with class ="frame":

<div class="frame" style="height: 25px;">     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" /> </div> 

.frame's height is fixed and the image's height is unknown. I can add new elements in .frame if that's the only solution. I'm trying to do this on Internet  Explorer 7 and later, WebKit, Gecko.

See the jsfiddle here.

.frame {     height: 25px;      /* Equals maximum image height */     line-height: 25px;     width: 160px;     border: 1px solid red;      text-align: center;     margin: 1em 0; } img {     background: #3A6F9A;     vertical-align: middle;     max-height: 25px;     max-width: 160px; }

<div class=frame>    <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=250 /> </div> <div class=frame>    <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=25 /> </div> <div class=frame>    <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=23 /> </div> <div class=frame>    <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=21 /> </div> <div class=frame>    <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=19 /> </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=17 /> </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=15 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=13 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=11 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=9 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=7 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=5 />  </div> <div class=frame>     <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=3 />  </div>

Answer 1

The only (and the best cross-browser) way as I know is to use an inline-block helper with height: 100% and vertical-align: middle on both elements.

So there is a solution: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/4RPFa/4570/

.frame {      height: 25px;      /* Equals maximum image height */      width: 160px;      border: 1px solid red;      white-space: nowrap; /* This is required unless you put the helper span closely near the img */        text-align: center;      margin: 1em 0;  }    .helper {      display: inline-block;      height: 100%;      vertical-align: middle;  }    img {      background: #3A6F9A;      vertical-align: middle;      max-height: 25px;      max-width: 160px;  }

<div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=250px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=25px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=23px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=21px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=19px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=17px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=15px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=13px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=11px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=9px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=7px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=5px />  </div>  <div class="frame">      <span class="helper"></span>      <img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=3px />  </div>

Or, if you don't want to have an extra element in modern browsers and don't mind using Internet Explorer expressions, you can use a pseudo-element and add it to Internet Explorer using a convenient Expression, that runs only once per element, so there won't be any performance issues:

The solution with :before and expression() for Internet Explorer: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/4RPFa/4571/

.frame {      height: 25px;      /* Equals maximum image height */      width: 160px;      border: 1px solid red;      white-space: nowrap;        text-align: center;      margin: 1em 0;  }    .frame:before,  .frame_before {      content: "";      display: inline-block;      height: 100%;      vertical-align: middle;  }    img {      background: #3A6F9A;      vertical-align: middle;      max-height: 25px;      max-width: 160px;  }    /* Move this to conditional comments */  .frame {      list-style:none;      behavior: expression(          function(t){              t.insertAdjacentHTML('afterBegin','<span class="frame_before"></span>');              t.runtimeStyle.behavior = 'none';          }(this)      );  }

<div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=250px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=25px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=23px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=21px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=19px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=17px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=15px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=13px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=11px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=9px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=7px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=5px /></div>  <div class="frame"><img src="http://jsfiddle.net/img/logo.png" height=3px /></div>

---

How it works:

1. When you have two inline-block elements near each other, you can align each to other's side, so with vertical-align: middle you'll get something like this:

   

2. When you have a block with fixed height (in px, em or another absolute unit), you can set the height of inner blocks in %.

3. So, adding one inline-block with height: 100% in a block with fixed height would align another inline-block element in it (<img/> in your case) vertically near it.